By John Stang
It is unknown how long it will take to determine the cause of a Nov. 17 explosion that killed one man and injured three others inside a US Ecology building about 50 miles south of Boise, Idaho.
“US Ecology mobilized a team of national experts and internal resources to complete a comprehensive investigation. The team’s making progress in its understanding, but it is important we allow the process to be completed before we speculate on the cause,” said Simon Bell, US Ecology’s chief operations officer, in a Wednesday email.
The company did not release additional details of the probe. “The investigation is currently underway and at this time we are focused on a thorough investigation,”US Ecology said in a statement Friday. “We will provide more detailed information at a later time.”
The explosion occurred during a routine process at US Ecology’s 328-acre hazardous waste disposal facility near Grand View, Idaho — starting a fire and punching holes in the roof of the building that processed waste barrels prior to burial.
US Ecology employee Monte Green, 48, of Grand View, was an equipment operator moving material when the explosion occurred in a mixing tank at 9:23 a.m. on Nov. 17. He died later from his injuries, the company said in a news release. Three more were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and later released on the same day. Twenty-one people were at the site when the explosion occurred.
The site is closed until further notice following the explosion.
“This is a tragedy that has been felt through the entire US Ecology family and the darkest day in US Ecology’s 66- year history,” US Ecology President and CEO Jeff Feeler said in a prepared statement. “The entire US Ecology family extends its deepest, heartfelt sympathy to the employees, family members, and loved ones affected by this tragic event. Our focus will now be helping our team members cope with this loss while conducting a thorough investigation and working with authorities as they close out their own investigation.”
The site is a lined landfill that holds hazardous and nonhazardous solid wastes covered by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, said Albert Crawshaw, waste and remediation manager for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
The only radioactive materials at the site are those covered by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission exemptions such as for watches, radiation-measuring devices, smoke detectors, mild radioactive medicines, and similar products.
The Idaho DEQ, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and US Ecology are investigating the accident. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing technical assistance at the site, a spokesman said.
US Ecology and the EPA have installed air monitors at the site, and have found no released emissions so far, Bell said: “There will be further environmental analysis as we proceed with cleanup. … There is no ongoing threat to public health.”
The Boise-based environmental services company operates one of four commercial disposal sites for low-level radioactive waste, on the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state.
