Explosion at fertilizer plant happened inside herbicide tank

Aug. 10--The State Fire Marshal's Office is continuing the investigation into the origin and cause of the explosion that punched a hole in the roof of a building at a fertilizer plant Monday in Bonham. Officials with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said the incident was a pressure explosion involving a 6,000-gallon container of liquid herbicide.

Jerry Hagins, a public information officer for the Texas Department of Insurance, said SFMO personnel are investigating, but while the investigation is open, they don't provide details on that investigation. He said there is not an exact timetable for the completion of an investigation, and it could take a few weeks depending on the complexity of the case.

"They conduct the investigation, then they submit a report," Hagins said. "Until that report is in, they don't release any details."

The small explosion happened at about 7:30 a.m. inside the bulk tank storage facility on the far north side of the Voluntary Purchasing Group complex, which is on FM 87 near that roadway's intersection with Highway 56. The blast was contained to the one building and no employees were injured. VPG President/CEO Steve Money said on Monday the building housed several different types of chemicals, but they do not handle ammonium nitrate or anhydrous ammonia at the facility.

The compound manufactures herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and plant nutrients primarily for home lawn and garden use. Brian McGovern, TCEQ media relations specialist, said in an email that the chemical was Alligare Triclopyr-3 and the TCEQ personnel out of the Dallas-Fort Worth office arrived on-site the same day. He said the TCEQ's role in this situation is to coordinate cleanup with VPG as the agency provides regulatory oversight to ensure proper containment and cleanup.

While SFMO personnel are still determining the exact cause, Money said on Tuesday he believes the herbicide was being pumped into the tank at the time of the explosion. He said the chemical is a basic herbicide mostly for ranges and pastures, and it's a chemical they have handled many times.

"The tank we believe was mainly empty, so it probably had vapors in it," Money said. "We believe something caused that explosion inside that tank. We don't know for sure what that was or how it occurred."

Money said the tanks are designed in a way that if there is an explosion, they blow upwards and not out, which is what happened in this incident. The reason for this motion is that it causes minimal damage to the tanks and the rest of the system around the exploding tank, he said.

"It literally blew the force blast straight through the roof of the building, which it's designed to do," Money said.

The Bonham Fire Department responded to the scene Monday morning and was stationed at the building for most of the day. Multiple trucks and ambulances were at the compound with hoses ready in the event of a fire. McGovern said the explosion broke the sprinkler system and there was about one foot of water inside the facility.

"The majority of the water was contained inside the building; however, some water from the sprinkler system was released from the building at the time of the explosion and ran down a drainage ditch on the eastern side of the building," McGovern said. "The contractor has contained the area of the runoff for further assessment."

Fire Chief Brad Nichols said the private cleanup crew from Oklahoma arrived at about 11:30 a.m. and once they arrived nobody else made entry into the building. The crew specializes in these types of cleanups.

"They went ahead and vacuumed up the liquid that was outside the structure and of course it was mixed with water from the sprinkler system," Nichols said.

The building was diked to prevent the runoff from leaving the area, and the cleanup crew also started a decontamination process on Monday. According to the TCEQ, 10,000 gallons of waste water was pumped out of the building and stored on-site. Two more tanks were damaged during the explosion, but the tanks were empty. All valves and other tanks were secured.

Money said all the safety measures functioned as they should, and the rest of the VPG complex was operating normally. The bulk storage section of the building will remain closed. He said that part is a building within the building as it's in a fire safe room. He said the sprinkler system only went off in that section.

After the SFMO personnel showed up to VPG at about 3 p.m., Nichols said his firefighters started packing up. The last Bonham fire truck left the scene after 5 p.m. Two off-duty firefighters stayed overnight for a fire standby, where they checked periodically to make sure conditions were safe.

Money said he does not believe that the community was in danger at anytime. He said the emergency responders acted quickly and professionally.

"They did an outstanding job of coming in and taking control of the situation and doing the right things," Money said. "... I'm really impressed with all the state and community agencies that came in and did their part here to help and are still helping us."

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