OSHA fines Union Carbide $2.8 million

Pending appeal, Union Carbide has been fined $2.8 million by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration for "willful violations" related to the explosion and fire that destroyed part of its ethylene oxide plant in Seadrift, Tex., last March. The accident, which dealt a blow to Carbide's vigorous post-Bhopal efforts for an accident-free record in its plants around the world, killed one person and injured 32. It also knocked out much of the company's ethylene oxide capacity, resulting in a drop of about $50 million in earnings this year. OSHA Administrator Gerard F. Scannell says Carbide operated the plant "in a manner which created the potential for catastrophic explosion." Not only was there an explosion of the ethylene oxide reactor, but the blast also sent flying metal "shrapnel" that punctured methane lines nearby. OSHA's investigation, says Scannell, "showed that several exits from the area were locked, and some employees had to climb over a fence to ...