Accidental and Unplanned Releases
EnviroComp Consulting, Inc. has investigated more than a hundred cases of accidental releases of chemicals in the atmosphere. These studies generally require a multi-disciplinary team with: a chemical engineer performing accident reconstruction and emission characterization; a combustion engineer calculating the products of combustion (for fires/explosions); a meteorologist performing a meteorological characterization of the event; a plume modeler calculating the ambient concentration impact of the release; and a GIS expert visualizing the results.
We have developed unique skills and experience in investigating accidental releases in a rigorous scientific manner, yet providing a cost-effective performance.
Selected projects
Highway 5 Traffic Collision
A fatal traffic collision occurred at 5:10 PM Local Time on October 13, 2009, along the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 within 1 mile north of State Route 119 in Kern County, California. A total of 11 vehicles collided, and 6 of the vehicles caught fire. The collision and resulting fires ended the lives of three people. The cause of the collision was low visibility from a fast-moving dense cloud of dust from fields west of Interstate 5 blowing eastbound across the traffic lanes. [Read More]
BioLab Fire
On May 25, 2004, a warehouse containing pool chemicals at the BioLab, Inc. facility in Conyers, GA, experienced a fire. This caused the evacuation of an area nearly 1 mile downwind of the facility and the shutdown of I-20 for several hours. The fire was extinguished by the morning of May 26, 2004. [Read More]
TOSCO-Carson Refinery Fire
At approximately 4:49 p.m. on Monday, April 23, 2001, a fire broke out in the Coker processing unit at Tosco's Los Angeles Refinery, Carson Plant. There were no injuries associated with the fire which was extinguished at approximately 8:20 p.m. The initial fire was large and the resulting heat caused numerous process lines to fail and feed the fire. Analysis of events and data indicate the cause of the fire was a failure of the 4-inch quench line to the coke drum overhead vapor lines. [Read More]
Monsanto Case
On September 18, 1998, at about 10:38 AM local time, at the Monsanto Company Plant in Luling, Louisiana, a pipe nipple fractured allowing a release of ammonia gas into the atmosphere. The release of 1,010 kilograms (2,227 pounds) of ammonia (NH3) lasted for two hours, with most of the material (936 kilograms = 2,064 pounds) released during the first hour. The release consisted of a high velocity horizontal jet which generated an initial cloud expanding into a volume source. After the initial jet expansion, the plume traveled downwind carried by the wind and expanding according to the laws of atmospheric transport and diffusion. [Read More]
The Atmospheric Release on January 5, 2001 from a Chemical Facility in Geismar, LA
This incident was initiated by a power outage within the facility that resulted in a loss of the instrument air supply for the plant. Loss of instrument air resulted in control valves defaulting to their failed (loss of power) positions. The power loss also resulted in the shutdown of the motor driven chlorine compressor and the loss of power to the instrumentation and control system for the facility. [Read More]
Traffic Collision and Visibility Issues, Fresno County, CA
On October 16, 2004, a traffic collision occurred on California Avenue, 100 feet east of Bryan Avenue in Fresno County. At the time of the collision there was large cloud of dust covering the roadway that was caused by farm equipment used to harvest an almond orchard. The cloud of dust obscured the vision of the parties involved in this traffic collision. At the time of the collision, two almond-harvesting equipments were in operation. [Read More]
Possible Airborne Contamination of Legionella Bacteria in the Lens Region of France
Between November 6, 2003, and January 4, 2004, outbreaks of Legionella epidemics were reported in the Lens region of France. Some of the subsequent environmental investigations identified the Noroxo petrochemical factory located in Harnes as the possible origin of the outbreak. However, subsequent large-scale outbreaks raised doubts about the actual origin of the epidemics. [Read More]
Arts St. Fire in New Orleans, LA
A warehouse fire at the Advanced Commercial Contracting facility on 2740 Arts Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, occurred at approximately 6:30 PM local time on May 14, 2004, and lasted through the early morning of May 15, 2004. The fire produced a visible plume that traveled in the neighboring areas. This event generated a legal case with approximately 1,000 plaintiffs claiming adverse effects caused by the chemicals in the fire plume. [Read More]