CSB working on reducing case backlog

Pittsburgh – The Chemical Safety Board had to delay other investigations to focus on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, but plans to have its case backlog under control in a year, CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said.

In a speech (.pdf file) given March 7 at the United Steelworkers Health, Safety and Environment Conference, Moure-Eraso said 14 cases currently are open – down from 22 in 2010. As part of the Deepwater Horizon investigation, CSB expects to host a public meeting on safety indicators for offshore drilling in a few months and issue a final report a year from now.

Additionally, he said CSB has developed timelines to complete the open investigations in the next six to 12 months.

One of those investigations is the March 12 hydrofluoric acid release at the CITGO refinery in Corpus Christi, TX. In a March 16 statement, CSB team lead Johnnie Banks traced the release to a leaking process vessel and said the board is looking for commonalities between that and a 2009 release at the facility.