Safety board watching as Imperial Sugar rebuilds Port Wentworth refinery

Oct 13, 2009 (Savannah Morning News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- IPSU | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A federal safety watchdog panel is peeking over Imperial Sugar Co.'s shoulder as it rebuilds its Port Wentworth plant.

The company is replacing parts of the plant destroyed by the Feb. 7, 2008, explosions and fire that killed 14 people and injured many more.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which investigates industrial chemical accidents, has no authority over the reconstruction, but the board still hopes to influence the project, said Chairman John Bresland.

"We're talking with the company and have spoken with people in the state fire marshal's office and Chatham County," Bresland said.

The panel, which recently released its final report on the disaster, blamed mostly Imperial.

Poor equipment design contributed to the disaster and improvements are needed at the new plant, the board concluded.

It called on Imperial to apply design standards the National Fire Protection Association says minimize combustible dust risks. Investigators say combustible sugar dust fueled last year's inferno.

The company has said it will follow that and other recommendations by the board.

"Imperial... is working diligently to implement them," CEO and President John Sheptor has said.

Bresland acknowledges that the board can't require the company to do so.

He said the board -- as it usually does after such disasters -- will monitor the reconstruction -- and hopes to review reports by inspectors hired by the company.

At some point, the board will issue a letter -- a public document -- on whether the company has complied with the recommendations, Bresland said.

A letter that it hasn't "is not the kind of thing most companies like to see," he said.

The prospect that they might receive such a letter "tends to put some fire under them."

Bresland said he was concerned when the Savannah Morning News reported that no agency is making sure the project minimizes combustible dust buildups.

That, he said, prompted his calls to the fire marshal's office and the county.

"We're doing all we can to make sure that the facility is as safe as possible," he said.

Bresland noted that the state has delegated authority for fire safety inspections of buildings such as the refinery to Chatham County.

The county is inspecting much of the project, but not equipment that refines sugar and sometimes causes sugar dust to build up.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which conducted the other major probe of the disaster, says it has no plans to inspect the project.

OSHA has proposed $8.8 million in fines against Imperial for alleged safety violations at Port Wentworth and at its plant in Gramercy, La. The company is appealing.

Lawyers representing victims of the disaster and their families who are suing Imperial praised the board.

"It's good to have an outside third party that has safety in mind watching this process," said Brent Savage.

"It's great," agreed another plaintiffs' attorney, Mark Tate. "I think it's really needed.

But Tate said he's still concerned that no agency has authority over the design of the reconstruction.

Savage said he, too, wishes there was more oversight over the project. "But any help we can get is welcome," he said.

U.S. Rep. John Barrow is pushing a bill he says might provide design oversight.

Legislation by the Savannah Democrat and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., would require OSHA to adopt combustible-dust standards that would apply to plants like Imperial's.

The measure would require OSHA to adopt interim standards within 90 days after the law took effect.

Barrow says such standards could require facilities that don't meet combustible dust safety criteria to be retrofitted.

The bill passed in the House last year but stalled in the Senate.

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