Safety board offers video of Silver Eagle Refining explosion

WOODS CROSS — The video is silent but violent. A truck drives away from an area about to be engulfed in flame.

Twenty-three seconds after the truck leaves the area, a pipe bursts, spewing a cloud of 800-degree hydrogen gas within 9 feet of an open flame.

Instantly, the hydrogen ignites, erupting into a fireball estimated to be 100 feet high. The fire then continues to burn for several minutes.

What the video doesn't show is the four men who were working nearby and blown to the ground but not seriously injured.

It doesn't show the extent of damage at the nearby Morningside subdivision, where four homes were severely damaged, and two of them were deemed uninhabitable. At least 100 other damage claims are being processed.

The Nov. 4 explosion at Silver Eagle Refining is the third refinery incident in Utah this year being investigated by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. The board also plans to look at how refineries are regulated in Utah. The three Utah incidents account for 20 percent of the board's 15 investigations this year.

"As a percentage, that is a high number," said Don Holmstrom, the board's lead investigator for the Nov. 4 explosion at Silver Eagle, as well as for a Jan. 12 explosion at the same refinery that injured four workers.

The third Utah incident occurred Oct. 21 at the Tesoro Corp. refinery in Salt Lake City, when a pool of crude oil caught fire and spread to become a three-alarm blaze, damaging several trailers and equipment. Interstate 15 and FrontRunner commuter train service near the scene were briefly closed. The Silver Eagle refinery in Woods Cross is currently in the process of shutting down its fifth and final processing unit so it can begin a wall-to-wall inspection of its infrastructure.

"The frequency of accidents at U.S. refineries is very troubling," said U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman John Bresland, who spoke to the media Tuesday in Woods Cross. "The current rate of accidents is not sustainable, and it is not acceptable."

Bresland called on refineries to redouble their commitment to safer operations and safer communities.

Holmstrom said refineries are supposed to have a mechanical integrity program that identifies when certain equipment and materials are maintained or replaced when necessary.

"Our investigation to date indicates that the Silver Eagle refinery was operating with a mechanical integrity program that had some serious deficiencies," Holmstrom said.