Unit VI Case Study

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Chemistry

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Feb 20, 2024

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Running head: UNIT VI CASE STUDY Unit VI Case Study Chad A. Comeaux Columbia Southern University 1

UNIT VI CASE STUDY The DuPont chemical facility, located in LaPorte Texas, manufactures various agricultural chemicals such as insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, and some organic and inorganic chemicals. On November 15 th , 2014, the plant experienced an uncontrolled release of approximately 24,000 pounds of methyl mercaptan, which is a highly toxic chemical used in the production of insecticides at the facility. This event resulted in the death of 4 employees at the facility. It was determined by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) that “the cause of the highly toxic methyl mercaptan release was the flawed engineering design and the lack of adequate safeguards” (CSB, 2014). The report also referenced numerous safety management system deficiencies which contributed to the severity of the event, such as:  Formal process safety culture assessment deficiencies  Auditing and corrective actions  Troubleshooting operations  Management of Change  Safe work practices  Shift communications  Building ventilation design  Toxic gas detection  Emergency response While DuPont committed to implementing the suggested changes and addressing the issues identified, the corrective actions were never completed. In the spring of 2016, DuPont made the decision to decommission the involved unit, citing changes in market conditions that they 2

UNIT VI CASE STUDY believed would persist thus making the cost associated with the restart of the unit not viable in the long term. When discussing the Process Hazard Analysis Evaluation, provided by the CSB, it was immediately identified that while the facility did acknowledge the hazard potential involving methyl mercaptan hydrate solidifying inside of the piping, they “did not comprehensively evaluate this scenario” (CSB Investigation Report, 2014), and provided inadequate scenario safeguards. Various decision-making methods could have been utilized that may have prevented this event from occurring. One such method, the “Optimal Budget Allocation and Game Theory”, would have been beneficial due to this method being able to deal with interdependencies between measures that were experienced in this facility process and assisted in the safe completion despite the budget issues. Another method would be to utilize a “Balanced Scorecard”. This would have ensured that equal attention would have been given to all aspects of the project, including safety. 3

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UNIT VI CASE STUDY References Pasman, H. (2015). Risk analysis and control for industrial processes - gas, oil and chemicals: A system perspective for assessing and avoiding low-probability, high-consequence events . Elsevier. CSB Investigation Report (2014). Toxic Chemical Release at the DuPont la Porte Chemical Facility . U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Retrieved From: https://www.csb.gov/assets/1/20/dupont_la_porte_final_report_.pdf?16543 Worthy, A. (2023, April 25). Dupont ordered to pay $16 million for deadly 2014 LaPorte Plant Chemical Leak. Houston Public Media. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/energy-environment/2023/04/25/449993/ dupont-ordered-to-pay-16-million-for-deadly-2014-laporte-plant-chemical-leak/#:~:text=In %20November%202014%2C%20DuPont%20released,surrounding%20areas%2C%20including %20Deer%20Park . Chemical Safety Board (CSB). (2015, September 30). Animation of Chemical Release at DuPont’s La Porte Facility. https://www.csb.gov/videos/animation-of-chemical-release-at-duponts-la-porte-facility-/ 4