Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 14
Safety and Environmental
Considerations
14.1 SAFETY AND RESPONSIBLE CARE
There is an old saying, “
If you think safety is expensive, try having an acci-
dent
.” The safe production, transport, and use of chemicals require that certain
precautions be taken. There have been some terrible tragedies involving
chemicals. In April 1947, a fire aboard a ship docked at Texas City, TX caused
the explosion of a cargo of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate. More
than 500 people died and more than 3,000 were injured. In 1984, at a Union
Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, there was a release of methyl isocyanate. The
plant was in a highly populated area and more than 3,000 people died. In 1989,
there was a fire and explosion at a Phillips polyethylene plant in Pasadena, TX,
resulting in the death of 23 people. The accident happened when flammable
process gases were released during a maintenance procedure. In 2013, 66
years after the Texas City explosion, another ammonium nitrate explosion
occurred at the West Fertilizer Co. in Texas, killing more than a dozen people.
In response to the Bhopal tragedy, the U.S. enacted the Emergency Plan-
ning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), requiring states
to create emergency response commissions and communities to form local
emergency planning committees to prepare local emergency response plans
for chemical accidents. It also requires chemical facilities to provide infor-
mation necessary for emergency planning, and to submit annual inventory
reports and information about hazardous chemicals. The statute also estab-
lished the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), which requires certain facilities to
annually report the quantities of their emissions of toxic chemicals. These are
for response not prevention.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was estab-
lished in 1970 as part of the U.S. Department of Labor to assure safe and
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