DANVERS — Fire Chief James Tutko yesterday joined chiefs from around the state in calling for stricter regulation of chemical processing to head off an explosion like the one that rocked Danversport in November 2006.
About 30 fire chiefs from the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts Inc. stood in the bay of the Danvers Fire Department urging Beacon Hill lawmakers to pass a bill to address a dearth of regulations on chemical processing by Bay State firms great and small.
The program would require plants of all sizes to provide a chemical processing safety plan to the State Fire Marshal's Office, where a team of experts would audit the plans at least twice a year.
"If that had happened in the Danvers incident, they probably would have found shortcomings in the processes that would have prevented what happened there that night," Tutko said.
The Danvers Fire Department and others like it do not have the expertise on staff to inspect chemical plants for how they mix chemicals. While chemical storage is regulated at the state and local levels, chemical processing is not.
The bill, which has been working its way through the Legislature, would also create a database of companies that mix chemicals, including information on the types and amounts of chemicals they are storing.
The Nov. 22, 2006, explosion at the CAI Inc. and Arnel Corp. ink and paint plants at 128R Water St. damaged 250 buildings, destroyed 19 of them, injured 20 people, including two firefighters, and damaged scores of vehicles, according to a recent report by the State Fire Marshal's Office.
"We are here today to issue a call to action, to our Legislature and the governor, to stand behind our efforts to make the commonwealth safer," said Concord fire Chief Ken Willette, president of the Fire Chiefs Association.
State and federal investigators have concluded there were shortcomings in how CAI operated. Investigators have said the blast resulted when solvents were inadvertently overheated after they were left stirring in an unsealed mixing tank. That resulted in flammable vapors that escaped, built up and blew up.
Investigators also found vapors from the solvent heptane built up because the ventilation system was routinely turned off overnight, something investigators considered the "immediate cause."
The present state fire code does not deal with chemical process safety, and this bill, sponsored by state Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, was filed to address this shortcoming.
"You may be asking yourself, is this just another layer of bureaucracy?" Tutko said. He said a recent State Fire Marshal's Office initiative bore fruit when it inspected 40 chemical plants throughout the state.
"Out of that 40 plants that they entered, they found two that had conditions that were conducive to the type of explosion we had here in Danvers," Tutko said.
Leominster's chief said investigations of chemical blasts there in 1997 and 2005 led to a city ordinance on chemical processing.
"In review of the incidents, we found the problem was not to be with the storage of the chemicals," Chief Ronald Pierce said, "but it dealt with the process the company was using."
The cost to put the bill in place would be $1.8 million, Tutko said. The program would be overseen by the State Fire Marshal's Office.
Fees or user certificates could cover expenses moving forward, but Tutko said the blast has already cost $26 million, not including another $1.5 million the town will spend this year to fix roads and utility lines damaged by the blast.
"We are confident, having periodic information submitted to the Fire Marshal's Office, and reviewed by experts, is the best way to prevent an incident in the chemical process before it occurs," Willette, Concord's fire chief, said.
"We have a substantial industrial segment here in the community, and the potential (for another explosion) is always there," said Danvers Town Manager Wayne Marquis. "We like to think people are doing what they should be doing, but unless we have that outside expertise handling those processes, you can't know for certain."
Chemical processing bill at a glance
r House Bill 4521 would establish a process for businesses to be inspected and apply to the State Fire Marshal's Office for user certificates for chemical processing. They would have to provide a chemical processing safety plan.
r The plan would then be audited by expert staff of the State Fire Marshal's Office at least biannually.
r Changes in a company's processing procedures would trigger a notification to cities, towns and the state for review.
r The bill creates a centralized database monitored by a small team of chemical-safety engineers, fire-protection engineers and process-safety experts within the State Fire Marshal's Office.
r Fire departments would then tap into this expertise.
Source: Fire Chief Association of Massachusetts, Concord fire Chief Ken Willette
