A Wednesday morning explosion that killed a Cedar City man and injured four others, one critically, is preliminarily being blamed on a plugged dust collector, Las Vegas officials for the rocket motor propellant company say.
The 9 a.m. blast killed Daniel Balduck, who turned 48 last week, the Iron County Sheriff's Office confirmed late Wednesday. Balduck was a supervisor at Western Electrochemical Co. He had been with the company for about 16 years.Balduck died at the scene of the explosion in one of the northwest buildings of the 220-acre isolated plant, some 10 miles northwest of Cedar City. The plant was built in Utah eight years ago after a series of explosions leveled the firm's Henderson, Nev., plant in 1988. Those blasts killed two and injured 326 people, causing some $74 million in damage.
After Wednesday's explosion, Ronald Ray Meachum, 44, Parowan, was flown to the Intermountain Burn Center at University Hospital in Salt Lake City with burns over 50 percent of his body, Iron County Sheriff's communication supervisor Ron Johnson said.
Meachum, a fork-lift operator, remained in critical condition Thursday morning, said hospital spokesman John Dwan.
Three other workers, Vincent Halwell, 34, Cedar City; Parowan resident David Chapman, 44; and John Garrett, 37, Cedar City, were treated and later released at Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City for observation of contaminant inhalation, Johnson said.
Damage to the plant was minimal, said Cedar City Fire Chief Clint Neilsen. The exterior of the two-story metal building was blackened from what Neilsen described as a "flash fire with a small explosion."
John R. Gibson, president of Las Vegas-based American Pacific Corporation, which owns the plant, said in a prepared statement that according to conflicting eyewitness accounts, "the incident may have occurred as employees were attempting to clear a plugged dust collector."
Gibson said the cause of the obstruction was the matter of "intense focus and investigation." Officials of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration arrived late Wednesday and were expected to investigate.
The $92-million company manufactures the chemical ammonium perchlorate, an oxidizer and component used in most solid propellant rocket motors. The chemical comprises 70 percent of the 1.1 million pounds of propellent used in each motor for the space shuttle, officials said.
Jim Peveler, president of the company's Cedar City offices, said the explosion only minimally damaged part of one of the plant's 22 buildings, and production of ammonium perchlorate was not interrupted.
Utah and Nevada news reporters and cameras were not allowed beyond the plant's front gate Wednesday afternoon. But Iron County Attorney Scott Burns, who was on site to see if any criminal element was involved, confirmed that the damage was "not severe,"
"It took out part of the back of one of the buildings," he said. "And we're pretty certain this was just an accident. An investigation will continue, though."
Four engines and some two dozen firefighters responded to the scene with Iron County Ambulance Service and deputies, said Cedar City Fire Capt. Neil Gentry.
Residents and town leaders had mixed reactions to the accident."We are, of course, shocked and saddened for the families with this loss of life and injury," Mayor Harold Shirley said from his home late Wednesday. "It was just a freak accident. That plant has taken so many safety precautions; they're very safety conscious."
When asked if he still felt the plant was safe for the some 175 workers and the residents of Iron County and Cedar City, the mayor said yes.
"I believe when the plant opened in 1989 we were getting a safe facility," he said. "I still believe that. I mean people have stuff in their gas tanks that is more explosive than what's out there."
Shirley also called the economically viable business "a good blue chip-type company."
American Pacific Corporation last year paid more than $600,000 in property taxes to the county and school district on the 4,800 acres that it owns in the area, Shirley said.
But for one woman, who asked not to be named, the incident was unnerving.
"When I heard about it this morning, I didn't know what to do," she said Wednesday while walking out of Lin's Marketplace on Main Street. "I guess I'm glad it didn't send out a lot of chemicals in the air, but it bothers me because I live relatively close (to the plant) on the west end of town."
Brent Drew, Iron County economic development director, said the company had not had any problems since relocating from Nevada. "We look for companies that are responsible and (this company) fits that criteria."
Drew said he has talked to fireworks manufacturing companies and others that may not have as many safety precautions. "My response is always if you aren't going to do something safely, we don't want you in this county," he said.
Only a small amount of the chemical was blown into the atmosphere following the explosion, said Neilsen. The contaminant was quickly dispersed as morning winds blew, he said.
The chemical, if contacted with skin, can cause mild irritation and is not considered life-threatening. It could, however, react with people suffering from pulmonary problems, Neilsen said.
The explosion occurred on the outside of the batch dryer building where one of the final production steps is performed, Neilsen said.
Dust created during the process contained some of the explosive material, a white granular compound.