14/04/2021
This is an update regarding the April 8th fire and explosion at the Yenkin-Majestic Paint and OPC Polymers Corporation manufacturing site in Columbus, OH
Incident Information:
- A review of security video allowed the investigation team to develop a more precise time of the incident. The first event (loss of containment) occurred at 12:02 a.m. EDT (system time) and the video cameras stopped recording at 12:04 a.m. EDT (system time).
- Yenkin-Majestic provided the investigation team with an overview of the resin manufacturing process. The process is called alkyd resin manufacturing which utilizes the company’s own technology.
- Materials are mixed in a metallic kettle which contains an agitator and is heated by a furnace before it goes to a scale tank and then to product storage. There are a total of six kettles: four are heated by gas furnaces and two are steam heated.
- The incident occurred during the batch production in Kettle #3.
Kettle #3 has a rated capacity of 20,900 lbs. and is heated by a gas furnace.
- The fire suppression system in a portion of the paint production facility was activated during the event. The investigation team verified there was no fire event in the adjacent paint production facility.
- The east wall of the paint production facility sustained damaged as a result of the explosion event in the adjacent OPC Resin facility.
Investigative Activities as of April 13, 2021
- Yenkin-Majestic engaged the services of a structural engineer to assess the structural integrity of the OPC Resin facility.
- Removing the catch tank on top of the damaged OPC Resin building is scheduled for Wednesday April 14, 2021. The catch tank is part of a safety and environmental system used to contain unplanned discharges from a processing vessel.
- Finalizing the Evidence and Site Control (ESCA) document.
Interviews with manager, company leadership, engineers, and operators
