Explosion kills one at chemical factory

      CEDAR CITY, Utah -- A flash fire and single explosion killed one worker and critically injured another Wednesday at a chemical plant that relocated to Utah after blasts leveled its operation near Henderson nine years ago.
      The 8:54 a.m. explosion occurred at Western Electrochemical Co., located in a remote area 14 miles northwest of Cedar City. The company -- the Utah operations of Las Vegas-based American Pacific Corp. -- produces ammonium perchlorate, a rocket fuel component used by the space shuttle program.
      Daniel J. Balduck, 48, was killed in the accident. Ron Meachum, 44, was in extremely critical condition at the Intermountain Burn Unit at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City, said hospital spokesman Chris Nelson.
      Three other workers were treated for minor injuries and released from Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City, said hospital spokeswoman Sandy Gillies. Company and fire officials said only two were treated for minor injuries.
      Damage to the plant was minimal, fire officials said. The exterior of a two-story metal building was stained brown and black from what Fire Chief Clint Neilsen described as a "flash fire with a small explosion" that sent shock waves as far as 70 feet.
      Wednesday's blast paled in comparison with the May 4, 1988, chain of explosions at the Pacific Engineering plant near Henderson that left two dead, injured 300 and caused $75 million in damage.
      Days after the 1988 explosions, officials with Pacific Engineering & Production Co. of Nevada, or PEPCON, claimed an underground pipe ruptured and saturated the plant grounds with flammable natural gas. The officials said a spark, which did not come from plant operations, ignited the gas and later touched off the explosions.
      Clark County Fire Department investigators later ruled out leaking natural gas as the cause of the disaster. After a two-month inquiry, fire officials blamed the blasts on welders, cramped storage, messy conditions and windy weather.
      Community concern over the emergency prompted company officials to relocate operations to the Southern Utah location.
      Comparing Wednesday's incident to the accident at Pacific Engineering, Neilsen said, "This is nothing, I mean nothing."
      The Pacific Engineering accident prompted officials to design the Utah plant to prevent a similar disaster, fire officials said. Each building has a sprinkler system, and the buildings are spaced far enough apart to prevent a chain of explosions.
      Fire officials said this was the first major accident at the plant since it opened in 1989. A hazardous materials team, four fire engines and 22 firefighters responded.
      "It was just a bad scene. There was a lot of smoke and a lot of stuff in the air. We just got people out," said Utah Highway Patrol trooper Bruce Fox, a member of the hazardous materials team.
      The plant remained shut down after the blast until 1 p.m., when operations resumed, fire officials said.
      At the time of the accident, workers may have been trying to clear a clogged dust collector, according to a statement by the company.
      Neilsen said the explosion occurred on the outside of the batch dryer building, where the next to last step of production is performed. Dust created during the process contains some of the explosive material -- a white granular compound.
      The accident's cause is under investigation by local, state and federal safety authorities. "It's going to be accidental, guaranteed," Neilsen said. "I honestly believe it was a fluke."
      The fire chief said company officials are "very, very safety minded" and conduct training sessions to familiarize firefighters with the plant. The chief said his office conducts three or four plant inspections annually.
      The plant's record is not spotless. In 1992, the Utah Environmental Quality Department fined the company $99,000 for violations, including storage of materials in barrels with no lids.
      Scott Anderson, the department's hazardous waste manager, said Western Electrochemical also was cited for accumulation of sludge. He said $39,000 of the $99,000 fine was eliminated contingent on the company's cleanup.
      "These are typical violations you see at a lot of (industrial) generators that are not quite sure of the rules," Anderson said. "They are usually typical of first-time violations."
      Anderson said he doesn't think the violations could have led to the ignition of ammonium perchlorate. If the violations had been a threat, the agency's files likely would have noted such a danger.
      Administrators with American Pacific Corp. did not return calls for comment Wednesday. Instead, calls were referred to the company's Las Vegas public relations firm, Rogich Communications Group, which issued a news release seven hours after the explosion.
      In that statement, American Pacific President and Chief Executive Officer John Gibson said, "Although there was only damage to one small and confined area of the facility, and the production of ammonium perchlorate has not been interrupted, that does not detract from the tragic loss of human life and the pain endured by those who were injured."
      Officials at Rogich Communications would not discuss safety records at the plant, or maintenance and cleaning procedures.
      The $92 million facility started producing ammonium perchlorate in July 1989 with its first shipment in October that year. Two of the buildings are named after Roy Westerfield and Bruce Halker, who were killed as a result of the 1988 explosions.
      When the Iron County plant went on line, it employed 130, including 20 workers from the plant near Henderson.
      It is designed to produce 15,000 tons of the oxidizing compound per year.
      Neilsen said on Wednesday, enough ammonium perchlorate -- 1,500 tons -- was stored at the site Wednesday to launch two space shuttles.
      Another ammonium perchlorate producer, Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp., stores about 500 tons of the compound at its Basic Management Inc. plant near Henderson. Another 5,000 tons of ammonium perchlorate is kept at Kerr-McGee's Apex facility, 17 miles northeast of Las Vegas, said company spokesman Ron Cady.
      At BMI, six pads, each capable of storing 125 tons of the compound, are housed in Quonset-type huts and separated by blast walls. A similar arrangement is used for storage at Apex, he said.
     Review-Journal writers Glenn Puit and Carri Geer contributed to this report.