CSB provides timeline for investigations

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board is nearing the completion of four major investigations and making progress on several others, agency leaders reported during a Nov. 23 public meeting.

At the meeting, first-year Chairperson Vanessa Sutherland said CSB plans to present four investigations for board consideration by the end of the first quarter of 2016. The investigations include the following incidents:

• April 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico: As of press time, the final two volumes of the investigation were expected to be presented to the board for consideration as early as February.
• April 2013 explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, TX: As of press time, Sutherland said the investigation was in the final review and editing stages.
• June 2013 explosion at a Williams Olefins plant in Geismar, LA 
• February 2015 explosion at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance, CA 

Meanwhile, Sutherland said, work continues on other investigations, such as the November 2014 toxic chemical release at a DuPont facility in LaPorte, TX. She said CSB closed 24 recommendations from previous years during fiscal year 2015, adding that the closures “demonstrate that the CSB recommendations continue to impact safety in American workplaces and communities.”