Refinery Explosion Cause: No Investigation

The Chemical Safety Board, the lead U.S.A. federal agency tasked with investigating and determining the root causes of accidents similiar in severity to the recent massive Big Spring ,Texas refinery explosion will not be able to investigate the incident due to under staffing and under funding.

Horowitz said the Chemical Safety Board would normally investigate Monday's incident as well, but with the recent sugar refinery explosion in Georgia and other incidents they're still investigating, they simply don't have the resources.

Source: mywesttexas.com

This troubling development puts our nation at great
economic and national security risk. Especially since the national petroleum
refining infrastructure is the fuel that maintains and provides the means for the United States in maintaining social and global economic stability.

A national movement is now underway in the United States to capture the attention of federal legislators concerning the ongoing problem concerning failed governmental policy in addressing current meager workplace safety standards that place our industrial sector at risk.

Leading worker organizations today called on the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an emergency standard on combustible dust. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters filed a petition with the U.S. Department

Source: pr-inside.com

For the reader to understand the scope of the problem, one must understand that OSHA's function is solely to determine if safety and health violations were not followed and then to initiate fines and penalty procedures.

So who is tasked with finding the root cause of accident? This is where the U. S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) enters the picture. This independent federal agency is the cream of the crop when it comes to determining the root cause of major accidents.

The problem is under staffing and under financing for the 16 professional investigators that are tasked with deploying and investigating accidents for the entire United States. Last year in 2007
there were 937 incidents with 31 of the accidents that were serious enough in nature to require deployment of the investigators. Yet only eight of the incidents had CSB investigators deployed in determining the root cause of the accident.

Would it be acceptable to have 31 airline crashes and only eight
accidents where the National Transportation Board and FAA deployed?. The
CSB is being funded with appropriations from Congress with less than $10
million dollars. About the same amount it would cost for a new running trail, expanded tennis facilities, a pedestrian bridge, and other amenities at a local park in Houston, Texas.

City officials and local parks advocates Tuesday launched a $10 million fund raising campaign for a new running trail, expanded tennis facilities, a pedestrian bridge and other amenities at Memorial Park.

Source: chron.com

So now we stand at the abyss where our entire nations workforce and industrial infrastructure rates in the same importance as leisure time activities?

Photo Credit:
by Texas-Fire Mookie