On the day before Thanksgiving in 2006, an ink and paint manufacturing plant located in Danvers, Massachusetts was engulfed in flames due to an explosion in the plant. After the explosion the Environmental Protection Agency rushed into help with the clean up and investigates the cause of the accident. The C.A.I. and Amel building in Danvers was the site of the accident. It was determined that a not one but several small explosions had been the cause of the fire that demolished the building. The nature of the products the factory produced required them to store large quantities of paint, thinners, industrial coatings, and solvents, all highly flammable and extremely volatile substances.

The enormous strength of the explosion and subsequent fire not only engulfed the twelve thousand square foot building it also caused major damage to surrounding areas. An estimated twenty four residences and six businesses suffered major damages that caused them to have to be removed completely. Seventy other homes suffered damages that were fixed by repairs and more than 300 other homes had to be evacuated during the disaster to ensure the safety of the locals. Firefighters worked at the site for almost 17 hours, luckily no lives were lost and everyone taken to the hospital had their injuries treated and then were released.

The EPA continued their involvement in the clean up when they removed hazardous waste from the site that was in danger of being introduced into the environment. This process took five months. Once the cleanup was finished and all of the hazards like chemical drums, contaminated soil, and storm water runoff had been removed, the EPA released the findings of their investigation into the facilities liability and level of responsibility for the accident. The EPA report stated that some of the conditions at the plant had led to the explosion and there for the company was liable for some of the damage. A few of the sited failures included, inappropriate ventilation conditions, the lack of a detection, alert, and shut off system for vapor buildup when the plant was not staffed, the lack of fire permits, no venting system in case of explosions, and not addressing the hazards of ink mixing during the unstaffed overnight hours. All of these deficiencies lead to the conditions that allowed the explosions to occur and become unmanageable. In addition to paying a fine for these failures that company was also forced to answer for withholding information requested by the EPA about their handling of extremely toxic chemicals.

The settlement includes several different costs to the company. They will first have to pay a one hundred thousand dollar fine for the violations that lead to the explosion and their failure to comply with the EPA’s information requests. In addition, the company is being forced to sell the property to help reimburse the EPA for the 2.7 million dollar clean up costs invested in hazardous waste removal. The settlement could have been much larger but the limited assets and resources of the defendants required that concessions be made.

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Author Bio: Find out more about Contractor Pollution Liability here and how Beacon Hill Associates can help you.

Category: Advice
Keywords: Environment, Business, Industry, Insurance, Accident