Document MGNBqZNg86vgQj3aMVmzG1B59

(. J. H. Barrett T. 0. Blum 0. H. Cunningham D. L. Engle Or. D. H. Glenn J. S. Knight d: 8. teverton t R. P. Melton W. P. Nickles R. R. Rankin - CLC D. R. Reem R. RitchieR. J. Taylor R. Van tynen - 50T J. W. Whittlesey - 501 A. P. Yalcinkaya N0v24 Jiwj$' P. O. BOX 71, TEXAS ClTV, TEXAS 775*0 November 17, 1980 Subject: October 29th, November 4th OSHA Inspection - Amines SpilT i On October 29, 1980 at approximately 1:30 p.m. Mr. David E. Elskamp, OSHA i Industrial Hygienist, presented himself to the plant receptionist for the ; purpose of conducting an inspection. Mr. Elskamp was escorted to Mr. J. Bt Leverton's office and was met by Mr. R. J. Taylor and this author. Mr. El?kamp presented a complaint alleging "no personal protective equipment provided j employees fbr cleanup of chemical leaking into ditch along east side of plant. Vapors are causing headaches and irritation of eyes." Mr. Charlie Phinneyjwas named as the supervisor in charge. Mr. Elskamp indicated that the complaiht* had been telephoned to OSHA that morning and it was his understanding that! ; the cleanup was still in progress. A union representative was requested and; Mr. Elskamp requested the 8SHA Form 200. | ;, Mr. R. E. Lewis joined the conference at 2:30 p.m. and reported that there!had in fact been a chemical spill on the east side of the plant under a pipe rck / adjacent to'Grant Avenue* and North East of Bldg. 248. Mr. Lewis i.dentif1efr'<the material as "crude amine" which had been contained at 7:30 that morning. | : ;: . -v/v . j v;*- At this time the opening conference was joined by Messrs. 0. H. Cunningham and J. B.Leverton. Mr. Cunningham in response to Mr. Elskamp's questioning \ \ revealed that Clark Industrial Services Inc. was utilized in picking up the spill, estimated tobe 2,000 gallons, and water used to clean up the spill (area. The work was still in progress. The^chemical was identified as 15% aminef 10% Wad, aqueous solution. The contractorsTTnvolved had been instructed to use. rubber gloves and coverall goggles. } ; ! ; Mr. Red Morgan, local 1441 Stewart, and Mr. Charlie Phinney then joined the conference. Mr. Phinney indicated that two Carbide laborers had been assigned the job of washing down the spill-area. I; . :. r: : UcTC2Us, _ Hr. J. H. Barrett, et al November 17, 1980 Page 2 :j The agencies notified about the spill included the Texas City Police, U. S. Coast Guard, and Galveston County Air C! ontrol Board. At approximately 2:40 p.m. the group left Bldg. 1 and went to the spill location (route attached). Upon arrival two Carbide laborers were found working in the vicinity of the spill, Mr. H. W. Bell and Mr. P. S. Christensen. They were wearing rubber boots, gloves, slicker suits, glasses and hard hats. Mr. Elskamp held a private interview with Mr. Christensen from 3:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. (No union rep was present in the interview.) Pictures were taken of the spill site by Mr. Monte Montague at the request of Mr. Elskamp (see attached), and duplicate samples of residual water was collected from the ditch adjacent to the spill area. At 3:45 p.m. the group returned to Bldg. 1. Mr. Elskamp requested that he be provided copies of the health information on amines from the UCC Reactive and Hazardous Chemicals Manual, and indicated that he would return when notified that the information was available. Mr. Elskamp was then escorted to the receptionist area and left the plant. { On November 3rd Mr. Elskamp was informed by this" author by phone that the information he had requested had been approved for release. Mr. Elskamp returned to the plant on November 4th,,at 10:00 a.m. and was escorted to \ Mr. J. B. Leverton's office where he was met by 0. H. Cunningham, A. P. Yalcinkaya, Ed Agnew, Charlie Phinney, Red Morgan and this author. The; information from the UCC Reactive and Hazardous Chemicals Manual was harjded to Mr. Elskamp and was identified as Confidential - Trade Secret (written request attached). Mr. Agnew identified the spilled material as 15* by weight ethyleneamine that was being transferred from Tank 3637, process surge tank, to intermediate storage prior to refining. It was noted that no complaints had been directed to the Industrial Hygiene Department concerning the spill cleanup, or to the Environmental Protection Group from the contractors picking up the spill. > Mr. Elskamp then indicated that h^saw no problem with the manner in which the spill had been handled and it woffl'd be his recommendation that no citations be issued. He additionally indicated that the liquid sample collected pn 10-29-80 would not be analyzed. ; Mr. Elskamp then inquired as to the status of the conference room in the cafeteria that had been the subject of an informal complaint. Mr. Elskamp was informed that the conference room had been checked out and that the ventilation met current -SHARE standards on industrial conference rooms.) i UCTC 21183 Mr. J. H. Barrett, et al November 17, 1980 Page 3 *v > Mr. Elskamp was then escorted to the receptionist and left the plant at 11:00 a.m. If there are any questions concerning this Investigation, please contact Kirk E. Martin at ext. 5589. KEM:1r Attachments ^rFTrMartln '^ UCTC 211*4 nal Safety and Health Adr :stration U.S. Department of *'%or form it provided for tha mwk ofany complainant and is not intondad conttitutt the okchttioo moon* by which a complaint may bo ngistarod with tho U.S Dapartmant of Labor. < Form Approve O.M.B. No. 0441 Sac. 8(f) (I) of the Williams-Steigar Occupational Safety and Health Act. 29 U.S.O 65), providesas follows: Any employees or representative of wnpl who believe that a violation of a safety or haalth standard exists that threatens physical harm, or that an imminent danger exists, may request an injpi by giving notice to the Secretary or his authorized representative of such violation or danger. Any such notice shall be reduced cowriting, shall set with reasonable particularity the grounds for the notice, and shall be signed by the employees or representative of employees, and a copy shall be pro the employer or his agent no later than at the time of inspection, except that, upon request of the person giving such notice, his name and the nan individual employees referred to therein shall not appear in such copy or on any record published, released, or made available pursuant to subsection ***** section. If upon receipt of such notification the Secretary determines there are reasonable grounds to believe that such violation or danger axis shall make a special inspection in accordance with the provisions of this section as soon as practicable, to determine if such violation or danger exists, : Secretary determines there are no reasonable grounds to believe that a violation or danger exists he shall notify the employees or representative c employees in writing of such determination. . NOTE: Section It (c) of the Act provides explicit protection for employees exercising their rights, including making safety and health complaints. LOG # 1188 For Official Uto Only Arm Oate Received Time The undersigned (chock ono) - Region Received By Format Non Form X3 Employee Representative of Employees . O Other (spacify) . believes that a violation at the following place of employment of an occupational safety or haalth standard exists which is a job safety or health hazard. Employer's Name UNION CARBIDE Employer's Address (Street) P. 0. BOX 471 lOty) (Statoi Texas City, TX 1. Kind of business cbeaical mfg. 77590 (Zip Coda) Telephone 945-74 11 2. Specify the particular building or worksite where the alleged violation is located, including address. outside of plant along eastside_________________________________ 3. Specify the name and phone number of employer's agent(s) in charge. Charlie Phiney, Supervisor_______________ 4 Describe briefly the hazard which exists there including the approximate number of employees exposed to or threatened by such hazard. I Ko personal protective equipment provided employees for clean-up of chemical leaking into ditch along eastside of plant. Vapors are causing headaches_______ and irritation of eyes. __________________________ . CONTINUED ON REVERSE SIDE VCTC2118S