Incident Report
Subject: Explosion at Plant During Fireproofing Date of Email reporting Incident: Sun 26/10/2008 Report Detail:
EDMONTON - Crews are cleaning up at a plastics plant in east Edmonton after a massive explosion yesterday morning injured nine people and shook houses in the surrounding area. Now, provincial government investigators will focus on finding out whether this explosion at the AT Plastics Plant -- its fourth blast in 26 years -- was due to the company failing to follow government directives. Of the nine people taken to hospital, one was reported to be in very serious condition, while three were in serious but stable condition. The other five had minor injuries. Five have now been released from hospital, including the person who was at first thought to have suffered very serious injuries. The remaining workers are in stable condition. The explosion involved a tank containing organic peroxide, said Edmonton Fire Services spokeswoman Nikki Booth. A controlled burn to get rid of residual materials has been extinguished. Contract workers with West-cor Services Ltd. were installing fireproofing in part of the AT Plastics building when the explosion occurred at about 8 a. m., she said. "There's no risk to the community, and there's no risk to the surrounding businesses," said fire chief Randy Wolsey. "We don't believe there's any risk to the environment."Smoke was billowing from the east end of the plant for much of the morning at the industrial site, which covers three city blocks. Officials at the scene said there is no danger to air quality, and contaminated water used to douse the fires will be contained. "Our plan is that there will be no run-off from the site," said Chief Wolsey. AT Plastics general manager Michael Stubblefield was in the administration building when he heard the thunderous explosion and the power went out. "The first thing that went through my mind was, 'What's first on the list? Let's get the response going," he said. "And clearly the immediate concern is are there any injuries, and let's start the counting of the heads." All employees have been accounted for. Alberta Environment says it will be investigating the explosion, as will the Edmonton fire department and Occupational Health and Safety. This isn't the first explosion at AT Plastics. A major explosion at the plant in 1982 caused about $5-million in damage when the compressor building blew up. Additional Documentation: http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=a14ad314-3977-40b0-b9c6-d57fa512cf23 |
