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[KCB #420] KEYCODE BAYER 420

August 11, 2009, Fox4 News

Fire Crews Investigate Chemical Leak At Bayer Plant

Kansas City fire and police crews were monitoring a chemical leak at the Bayer Plant at 8400 Hawthorne Road on Tuesday morning. Anhydrous hydrogen chloride was leaking from a tube trailer. Employees noticed the leak around 8:30 Tuesday morning and immediately sounded the alarm.

Bayer officials say the chemical is used for insecticides and pesticides. The chemical is an inhalation hazard and an absorption hazard, but there are no residences in the area and others in the area should be safe.

The leak was contained by several fire departments on the scene who sprayed it with water. The air in the area was also monitored. About 300 people were working at the plant at the time and are confined to an area away from the leak.

In addition to Kansas City fire and police, North Kansas City and Platte County Fire and Hazmat assisted in the cleanup.

The Kansas City Star, Aug. 11, 2009

Kansas City firefighters contain leaking gas at Bayer plant

A leak of corrosive gas brought several emergency crews to the Bayer CropScience plant in northeast Kansas City Tuesday morning. No one was injured, said Joe Vitale, Kansas City Fire Department spokesman. The leak was contained just after 2 p.m.

It began just after 8:30 a.m. when a cylinder containing anhydrous hydrochloric acid gas was being offloaded. No gas was released beyond the immediate area, said Greg Coffey, a company spokesman.
Crews dispatched to the facility at 8400 Hawthorne Road sprayed water over the affected area to suppress and contain the gas, Vitale said, and the product largely was neutralized when it comes into contact with the ground.However, much of the gas was captured from the cylinder and vented through normal processing equipment to neutralize it, said Paul Nagy, site manager.

The Kansas City Fire Department responded with a haz-mat crew and other units. Haz-mat crews from North Kansas City and South Platte County also were standing by during the morning. The site’s fence line was being monitored Tuesday afternoon to make sure none of the anhydrous hydrochloric acid gas had traveled beyond the immediate site of the leak. The monitoring was being conducted by Bayer industrial hygienists, as well as area haz-mat units.

The cylinder that was the source of the leak had been transported to the Bayer facility by a vendor, said Nagy. Bayer representatives will work with the supplier to determine what caused the leak, he added.
The gas is used as a raw material in the production of herbicide products. By BRIAN BURNES

August 25, 2010, Kansas City Environmental News Examiner

EPA (finally) fines Bayer CropScience for failed 2007 inspection

Bayer CropScience LP has agreed to pay a $37,790 civil penalty to the United States to settle allegations that it failed to adequately implement a risk management program aimed at preventing and responding to chemical accidents and releases at its pesticide-manufacturing facility in Kansas City, Mo.
Bayer CropScience LP has also agreed to spend $100,000 on a supplemental environmental project to install a series of air monitors around its facility, located at 8400 Hawthorn Road in Kansas City, Mo., to aid in the detection of any future chemical releases from the plant. The company produces more than 35 million pounds of pesticides at the facility annually.
According to an administrative consent agreement filed today in Kansas City, Kan., EPA inspected the facility in August 2007 to determine if it was in compliance with federal risk management program regulations. Under the Clean Air Act, operations such as Bayer’s must develop a risk management program and submit a risk management plan to assist with emergency preparedness, chemical release prevention, and minimization of releases that occur. Inspectors found that the facility had not adequately implemented those regulations.
Bayer is subject to the risk management regulations because it stores large quantities of regulated substances at its Kansas City, Mo., plant. The substances include ethyl mercaptan, vinyl chloride, phosphorous trichloride, formaldehyde, 2-methyl-1-butene, carbon disulfide, chlorine, hydrogen chloride and hydrazine. The facility processes large quantities of the substances, including up to 5.2 million pounds of chlorine per year.
In a separate administrative order on consent filed today, Bayer has agreed to hire a third party consultant to conduct a review of all accidents and chemical releases that have occurred at the facility over the past five years. The consultant will develop recommendations to address issues discovered during the review, including potential changes in processes, administration, training, operation, maintenance and staffing, all aimed at making the facility safer.
“EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has declared that accident prevention at large, high-risk facilities such as Bayer’s is a priority for the Agency,” Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. “Bayer has one of the largest chemical inventories in Region 7, and EPA has an important role in regulating the way that those chemicals are safely stored so that the community is protected.” Alison Reber

See also: Fatal explosion at Bayer´s Institute/W.Va. Plant