Chemical Safety Board urges facilities to prepare for extreme-weather emergencies

Washington — A new video from the Chemical Safety Board calls on chemical facility owners and operators to ensure emergency response equipment is ready for extreme weather.

The video explores the August 2020 chemical release and fire at the Bio-Lab Inc. Lake Charles chemical facility in Westlake, LA. Extreme wind from Hurricane Laura caused severe damage to the facility, leading to rainwater seeping into buildings and triggering chemical reactions. This created a large plume of hazardous gases, including toxic chlorine, that compromised the surrounding community, the agency says.

CSB released a final report on the incident in April 2023. It included a recommendation to the state of Louisiana to require facility operators at risk of extreme weather to evaluate hazards presented by hurricanes and enact processes and safeguards to protect against them. Measures include ensuring:

• All buildings and structures can withstand hurricane-force winds and flooding, placing special emphasis on those containing hazardous materials.
• Hazardous chemicals aren’t compromised and released during extreme-weather events.

“The fire and release at Bio-Lab is not the only significant chemical incident in recent years to be caused by extreme weather,” CSB member Catherine J.K. Sandoval says in the video. “Companies and regulators must take steps to ensure that chemical facilities are protected against damage from natural hazards, as extreme weather is becoming more common.”

In a press release, CSB Chair Steve Owens said the substance involved at the Lake Charles facility was involved in previous chemical incidents, including one in September at a Bio-Lab facility in Conyers, GA.

“These dangerous events underscore the need for Bio-Lab and other chemical facilities to have more effective safeguards in place to prevent hazards from reactive chemicals that put communities and workers at serious risk,” Owens said in the release, “as well as the need for the Environmental Protection Agency, OSHA and other regulatory agencies to take comprehensive action to protect against reactive hazards.”