By John Stang
US Ecology said Friday it agreed to a $50,000 federal fine for safety violations related to a Nov. 17, 2018, explosion in Idaho that killed one employee and injured eight others.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration had originally proposed a fine of $66,300 for five “serious” safety-related violations that led to the explosion at the Grand View, Idaho, waste treatment and disposal facility.
The lower fine has already been paid.
OSHA concluded hydrogen and oxygen were generated during a process to convert magnetism into a more stable magnesium oxide — and the hydrogen ignited to create the explosion. However, US Ecology disagreed, concluding the explosion was caused by a reaction among water, magnesium, and a mixture of other chemicals that were not supposed to be in the wastes shipped by a customer.
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has been conducting its own investigation of the explosion. The state agency did not respond to a query on the status of the probe by deadline Friday for RadWaste Monitor.
The explosion severely damaged the site’s primary waste-treatment building, as well as nearby waste handling, waste storage, maintenance, and administrative support structures.
Most of the repair work at the site is done, said US Ecology spokesman David Crumrine. The exception is a new stabilization building, which is expected to be complete in the last quarter of 2020, he said.
While US Ecology traditionally does not discuss specific customers and some specific business figures, Crumrine said by email the Boise-based waste management specialist has been able to handle all of its waste traffic at Grand View or at other sites. “There has been no impact to our receipt of radioactive streams,” he wrote.
Crumrine added that insurance covered the property damage and interrupted business costs due to the explosion. In a late 2019 quarterly conference call with analysts, US Ecology said it collected more than $13 million in insurance recoveries in the first nine months of 2019.
The Grand View site, in southwest Idaho, is one of 30 environmental services facilities US Ecology operates in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It provides disposal and treatment of hazardous and nonhazardous wastes, including very low-activity radioactive waste, naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM).
