Monthly Archives: October 2019

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a factual update on the June 21 explosion and fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) Refinery in Philadelphia. The update notes that a pipe elbow, which had corroded to about half the thickness of a credit card, appears to have ruptured in the refinery’s alkylation unit, releasing process fluid that included over 5,000 pounds of hydrofluoric acid, or HF. The leaking process fluid formed a large ground-hugging vapor cloud which ignited, causing a massive fire and explosions. Five workers were injured. Thanks to the heroic actions of four employees, Barbara McHugh, Sal Diberardo, Dave Farrell and Sean McElhinney - members of the United Steelworkers (USW) - thisa massive explosion on June 21st at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) Refiner in Philadelphia did not turn into a deadly catastrophe. McHugh a control room activated the rapid Acid Deinventory system which dumped HF into a drum away from the fire while Farell, McElhinney and Diberado shut down valves to stop fuel to the fire under firey conditions. All four workers were honored  at a ceremony on September 8 by the Philadelphia Firefighters. "McHugh's actions prevented a much larger and potentially catastrophic release of HF. [...]

A house in New Jersey destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. This coming October 29th will mark the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Sandy.  We can all remember the fear and anxiety that gripped communities as we faced winds up to 90 miles an hour and sea levels 14 feet higher than normal. The storm claimed  hundreds of lives and cost tens of billions of dollars in New Jersey, New York and up and down the East Coast. Health-related costs in New York and New Jersey alone were more than $3 billion. New Jersey is one of the fastest-warming states in the United States according to a recent analysis in the Washington Post. Temperatures here have increased by a full two degrees Celsius over the past century. That’s more than twice as fast as average in the lower 48 states – and the tipping point at which scientists say the impact of climate change becomes irreversible. Is New Jersey ready for the next Sandy? Our state faces an increased risk of hurricanes and other extreme weather events due to the dynamics of ongoing climate change.  Storms that used to happen once in a century will become commonplace, and we also face [...]

As worries over lead in drinking water continue to dominate, Gov. Phil Murphy announced a multi-pronged program Monday to bolster the state’s response to specifically addressing the existence of lead in public schools’ water. The steps announced include: Increasing inspections of school drinking water from the current once every six years to every three years; enhancing enforcement against schools that do not comply with testing protocols; and improving the state’s and the schools’ reporting of water results, including a central database kept by the state. “It’s a whole-of-New-Jersey problem, but it’s one we are here today to strengthen our efforts to overcome,” Murphy said in announcing the steps with Rep. Josh Gottheimer in Bergenfield. Read the full story at NJ Spotlight.