A year after a chemical explosion at a Danvers factory leveled the surrounding neighborhood on Thanksgiving Eve, state officials said yesterday that a review found that two similarly sized plants in urban areas presented an "imminent hazard" and that other facilities violated state and federal safety codes.
The findings, released to the Globe in advance of a final report due in the coming weeks, are the result of the first federally approved plan to inspect small chemical and hazardous waste plants that state officials have said could pose a significant danger.
The two plants - one in Worcester leaking anhydrous ammonia and the other in Lawrence covered with combustible dust - took action to reduce the threat. If they had not, State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said, "the consequences could have been devastating."
"As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Danvers explosion, those horrific images are still fresh in my mind," Coan said by phone. "It is paramount we prevent a similar tragedy."
Over the past six months, teams from the state departments of fire services and environmental protection joined local fire officials to inspect 41 plants from Pittsfield to Braintree. State officials said that all the companies cooperated in the inspections and that about two-thirds of them had taken action to remedy potential hazards before the inspection teams arrived.
Because of their cooperation, state officials said, none of the plants was fined. They declined to release the names of any of the companies until the report is issued.
"It's still an ongoing investigation," said Mike Gorski, a regional director of the state Department of Environmental Protection who helped lead the inspections.
The targeted plants were chosen based on their proximity to neighborhoods, the types or amounts of chemicals or waste materials they produce, and their inspection histories.
Before announcing the Safe Neighborhoods Chemical Initiative in May, state officials said they had inspected 20 percent of larger plants annually and a few hundred smaller plants. Under the new plan, state and local officials teamed up for the first time to inspect the potentially dangerous smaller plants. Officials said they selected plants that pose the most danger among about 15,000 smaller plants across the state.
At the plant in Worcester, which uses heat to treat metal, inspectors found seven leaks in the valves and piping system that disseminated anhydrous ammonia, which is potentially lethal if inhaled. They also found fencing around a 9,200-gallon tank storing the ammonia had been damaged by vehicles using a nearby loading dock. The nearest house is 75 feet from the tank.
"When we examined the piping closely, it was highly corroded and had the risk of breaching," Gorski said. "If it had corroded through the 1-inch pipe, there would have been a 1.2-mile radius evacuation zone. . . .. When we did the air modeling for a tank breach, it indicated a 5-mile evacuation radius."
He said that the state ordered the plant to take immediate action and that the company has complied.
At the plant in Lawrence, which converts plastic pellets into foam, inspectors found "fine combustible dust" throughout the facility. While the floors and most machines looked spotless to inspectors, the pipes, ductwork, and shelves throughout the plant were covered with the dust.
"If there's more than 1/32d of an inch of combustible dust over more than 5 percent of the facility, it represents a potential dust explosion," Gorski said. "Almost 100 percent of the facility was covered with dust."
He said the company, ordered to take immediate action, has since removed the dust.
Of the other plants inspected, officials referred two facilities to the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration for occupational hazards. They said one light-manufacturing plant in Chicopee put employees at risk of inhaling ethyl acetate by not providing proper equipment and failing to properly ventilate their workspace. The other plant, a metal-plating facility in Springfield, was referred for insufficient exits and its lack of an alarm system to warn employees of potential dangers.
Inspectors told about five other companies to contact the state Department of Labor's Division of Occupational Safety to seek recommendations about how to improve safety at plants. They found several other plants had violated state hazardous waste rules.
The Nov. 22 explosion in Danvers, felt 25 miles away, leveled the building used by ink manufacturer CAI Inc. and Arnel Co., a custom paint maker. Both companies used highly explosive chemical solvents.
The blast left hundreds homeless, damaged about 270 houses and businesses and 365 motor vehicles and boats, and resulted in at least 464 insurance claims of more than $13 million in damage, according to the state Division of Insurance.
State officials said the initiative has shown the need for a second phase of inspections at dozens of facilities in the state that treat drinking water and waste water with toxic chemicals. For the longer term, they intend to review regulatory gaps in the state's oversight of chemical plants and require ink and dye manufacturers, electroplaters, and paint makers to certify their permit status, the chemicals they use, their facility safety and risk-reduction efforts, and their handling of hazardous waste. The program would be subject to agency audits.
David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.
