Fire Rocks Biodiesel Refinery at Port of Toledo, Ohio
Blade (Toledo, OH) -- June 16, 2009 -- A faulty safety valve was blamed for a fire at a biodiesel refining business at the Port of Toledo Monday afternoon.PAID ADVERTISEMENT
A vacuum-control valve that should have regulated a vacuum-refining vessel failed to work, causing the vessel to implode, said Alex Johnson, a company co-owner. The biodiesel inside was hot enough that it ignited upon contact with air.
Mr. Johnson said the accident will be cause for an internal investigation before production resumes.
"We need to evaluate what's happened here. We need to find out why our safety system didn't work," he said as he stood outside his building's scorched back door after the fire had been extinguished.
The plant's fire-suppression system, however, worked as intended. Toledo Fire Department Battalion Chief Jerry Abair said the sprinklers had substantially doused the flames by the time firefighters arrived.
Besides extinguishing hot spots, firefighters' role at the scene ended up being primarily keeping the mixture of water and biodiesel on the plant property from seeping into catch basins leading to the Maumee River. Even though it's vegetable oil, Chief Abair said, under pollution regulations it's considered a contaminant.
Midwest Biorenewables had been producing 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of biodiesel daily before the accident, Mr. Johnson said, with most of it being sold either to the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority or Midwest Terminals of Toledo International. Midwest Terminals operates the adjoining general-cargo dock at the Port of Toledo.
No dollar estimate of the damage was immediately available.
Author: By David Patch, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
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