Thursday, January 27, 2000
Tank rupture blamed on faulty welding
No one agency responsible for construction check
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A tank rupture in Riverside this month likely was caused by faulty welding when the tank was built, and investigators have found that nobody seems to monitor how such tanks are constructed.
The Cincinnati Fire Division continues to investigate the incident, and officials are exploring ways for authorities to get more involved with inspecting tanks as they're built, said Fire Capt. Robert Becker.
“It seems like there wasn't one agency in particular that would monitor the construction of these tanks,” he said. “In the future, we're going to attempt to get more control over these things.”
The State Fire Marshal's Office is working with the Cincinnati Fire Division to determine whether the welding problem was an abnormality or whether it might be a problem in other tanks similarly built, said State Fire Marshall Robert R. Rielage.
“It has the possibility of being, perhaps, a much larger situation,” he said.
The tank owned by Southside River Rail ruptured Jan. 8, spilling 882,000 gallons of liquid farm fertilizer into the Ohio River and onto the ground. The force of the spill pushed two trucks into the river, breaking a cord that moored a barge nearby. Because the spill happened on a Saturday, no employees were around. Nobody was hurt. The solution that spilled wasn't hazardous.
Authorities are not sure yet how they can oversee the construction of such tanks to try to prevent similar accidents. Capt. Becker said a city ordinance or state regulation might be needed to give local inspectors more authority.
Capt. Becker said that after the spill Southside River Rail found five other tanks at the site with similar welds. Company spokeswoman Jody Mangeot did not return calls.
When such tanks are built, the weld is supposed to go all the way through the wall of the tank, Capt. Becker said. But the weld did not go all the way through the wall that ruptured, and the tank failed after several years of use, he said.
The Cincinnati Fire Division has not issued its final investigative report, but Capt. Becker said investigators are confident the faulty weld caused the problem.
The hazardous materials unit of the FBI had been monitoring the investigation but ended its involvement after it became clear the rup ture was caused by the failure of the tank rather than by foul play, said Cincinnati FBI spokesman Ed Boldt.
Capt. Becker said the fire division has formed a committee and is working with the state fire marshal and industry representatives to determine how authorities can better monitor tank construction.
The group also hopes to get help from the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, D.C., which promulgates industry standards for storage tanks.
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