Second explosion this year at Silver Eagle

WOODS CROSS — Wednesday's explosion at the Silver Eagle refinery was the second there this year.

A Jan. 12 explosion injured four workers — two employees and two contractors — who were clearing a line with nitrogen gas and bypassed a stabilizing mechanism. The gas forced fumes out of 440,000-gallon Tank 105, which was nearly full at the time. The fumes ignited in a flash fire, burning the men.

That fire led to widespread evacuations in Woods Cross.

Local officials began to work on how to improve communications with other officials and with the public. In a review of nearly every report looking into what went wrong, the answer was almost always communications, South Davis Metro Fire Chief Jim Rampton told the Woods Cross City Council in January.

Residents received conflicting information during the management of the fire about what type of evacuation was necessary and where to go. Some residents were never informed, and neither were some council members.

The fire department originally heard no one was injured, but then learned of the four injured men.

Woods Cross Mayor Kent Parry said he believes Wednesday's explosion will test whether communication among city, emergency and refinery officials has improved.

The refinery had been cited for 13 serious safety violations in recent years, including one that was deemed by inspectors to put workers at a high level of risk, according to officials with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

According to the OSHA Web site, the refinery was cited for 10 "serious" violations in 2005, two "serious" violations in 2004, and one in 2002. One of the 2005 violations was assigned a "gravity" rating of 10, meaning it carried the highest possible risk to workers' safety.

The violation concerned "process safety management of hazardous chemicals," and OSHA initially assigned a penalty of $3,000. The issue was informally settled in March 2007, with the company paying a fine of $2,000, OSHA said.

OSHA records indicated that since April 2002, the facility has been cited for 23 violations overall.

A current inspection report from the OSHA Web site lists four "serious" violations related to the Jan. 12 fire, though that inspection report isn't yet closed.

Silver Eagle is the smallest refinery in Utah and sells the gasoline and diesel it produces to "jobbers," or middlemen, in the fuel industry who then distribute the fuel to gas stations. The company employs about 50 people at its Woods Cross facility and about 25 at its Evanston, Wyo., operation, said Krege Christensen, vice president of finance and legal affairs for Silver Eagle Refining Inc.

Contributing: Jasen Lee

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