Ethanol Plant Incidents

This web page was last modified June 27, 2012 at 3:58 AM.

The best-laid plans o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain For promised joy.

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

Didion Ethanol Caustic Chemical Spill

July chemical spill follows June mash spill

July 26th, 2009, Cambria, WI : A failed valve is blamed in the early Sunday morning release of 4,000 to 5,000 gallons of a caustic sodium hydroxide solution at the Didion Ethanol plant next to Cambria. The spill followed essentially the same course as last month’s mash spill. Some of the liquid made it’s way into the wetlands west of the plant.

Massive Spill At Didion Ethanol

Mash enters wetlands on south side of Cambria, WI

June 5th, 2009, Cambria, WI : A botched safety inspection was to blame for a massive early Thursday morning corn mash release at the Didion Ethanol plant bordering Cambria. 30,000 to 40,000 gallons of the thick, fetid liquid flowed past the entrance to the “Travel Green Wisconsin” visitor’s entrance, making its way to a stormwater retention pond and on into the wetlands beyond. Cleanup efforts were still under way as of Friday.

Didion spill photo 1 and Didion spill photo 2

2008 Emergency Response Guide : A Guidebook For First Responders During The Initial Phase Of A Dangerous Goods/Hazardous Materials Transportation Incident

This is the handbook for first responders. It’s an aid in identifying and responding to hazardous situations in the event of transportation related spills and so on. Ever wonder what’s in that tanker trundling through your town? Look it up here.

Fire at Badger State Ethanol Plant

Small fire and explosion in silo

“There was suddenly a whistling sound and heavy black smoke from the auger area and the mail (sic) silo walk-in door,” Briggs said. “The top of the silo began to crease inward at the silo cap.”

Disaster in Baltimore

Driver killed in fiery tanker crash

A tanker rig overturned and burst into flames yesterday evening on a curving interstate ramp over Baltimore’s South Hanover Street, killing the driver and sending a burning stream of its load of ethanol into the street below, igniting a row of parked vehicles, authorities said.

Television news coverage of crash.

Disaster In Western Pennsylvania

Disaster declared after ethanol tanker train explodes and burns

October 22nd, 2006 – Massive rail cleanup in New Brighton : Investigation begins into derailment of 23 Norfolk Southern tankers carrying ethanol by Dennis B. Roddy – Pittsburg Post–Gazette

Emergency crews in New Brighton last night began the delicate task of off-loading nearly 100,000 gallons of explosive ethanol from overturned rail cars, while several other derailed tankers blazed nearby.

Strictly speaking, this doesn't qualify as an incident. It is an alarming report about the growing list of environmental violations committed by players in the rapidly expanding ethanol industry in Iowa.

September 11th, 2005 – Ethanol plants among Iowa’s polluters – from The Des Moines Register : The issue — Iowa's 17 ethanol plants — which produce a corn–based fuel trumpeted as less–polluting than regular gasoline — have contaminated the state’s rivers and air. At times, developers built plants without the required state permits designed to limit pollution. State officials learned about some of the new plants by reading newspapers.

Various Industrial Disasters and Incidents Connected with Ethanol Production

Some items in this list are compiled from the incident logs at Industrial Fire World Magazine's web site and from AcuTech's AcuSafe® web site.

• June 18th, 2006, Missoula, MT : Train derails; Missoula residents evacuated Follow up article, Derailment prompts concern
• June 15th, 2006, Shively, KY : Two Workers Treated For Burns After Fire At Shively Ethanol Plant
• September 22nd, 2005, West Burlington, IA : A grain dryer was the cause of a fire in an ethanol plant.
• September 5th, 2005, Brentwood, CA : Two thousand gallons of ethanol spilled onto a roadway and into a storm drain when a tanker truck overturned.
• August 10th, 2005, Crawfordsville, IN : Highway closed when tanker truck overturns spilling 400 gallons of denatured alcohol. Police evacuated homes at Indiana 32 and County Road 625E Wednesday after a tanker hauling ethanol overturned, spilling part of its load. Indiana 32 was blocked to all traffic and people were out of their homes several hours as emergency workers, fearing the flammable fuel would spark, raced to stabilize it. They struggled to remain cool wearing turnout gear in near 90–degree temperatures with high humidity. More, from the Indianapolis Star , Barton estimated that about 300 to 400 gallons were released before the leak was stopped. The stretch of Indiana 32 about 40 miles northwest of Indianapolis reopened this morning. The remaining fuel was transferred to another tanker.
• August 7th, 2005, Portland, OR : Train cars carrying denatured alcohol overturn in Portland
• July 24th, 2005, Columbia County, WI : Union Pacific Railroad freight cars derail. Initial responders prepared for hazardous conditions until it could be determined the derailed cars carried agricultural byproducts. This track has siding serving the nearby UWGP ethanol plant.
• May 2nd, 2005, Ontario, Canada: A freight train sideswiped a tanker at a rail yard causing about 15,000 gallons of ethanol to leak into the area resulting in the evacuation of nearby residents.
• November 13th, 2004, Aberdeen , UK : A feed screw on a corn dryer broke causing a fire at an ethanol plant.
• August 11th, 2004, St. Louis County, MO : A tanker truck wrecked on Interstate 270 spilling 4,600 gallons of ethanol. Spill reaches creek. Minnows and other aquatic life cease to be.
• July 27th, 2004, Balaton, MN : A train derailment dumped 40,000 gallons of ethanol into a ditch draining into a lake.
• May 17th, 2004, Caro, IL – Firefighters spent 16 hour battling a fire at an ethanol plant that spread to a system of pipes, blowers, and heating elements.
• February 29th, 2004, near Portsmouth, VA – A tanker carrying 3.5 million gallons of ethanol exploded and sank. Only six of the 27-member crew survived.
• (Details of Portsmouth tanker explosion and subsequent sinking. PDF file)
• February 12th, 2004, Woodbridge, NJ : Three railroad tankers, each carrying 28,000 gallons of ethanol fuel additive derailed. 12 to 15 homes were evacuated as a precaution. No spill occurred but people were kept at a nearby elementary school until the tankers were placed back on the rails. ( NYT )
• February 5th, 2004, Cambria, WI : An equipment failure may have caused a grain fire. No injuries were reported. (It has been reported that a thick steel door was blown off its hinges in this incident.)
• January 29th, 2004 - Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia (PDF file) …Hundreds of workers ran for their lives after the 10.10am blast, which rocked areas up to 25 km away and sparked a huge fire that sent flames and black smoke shooting 100 m into the sky. The roof was blown off the ethanol tank and cars parked 60 m away across the road had their tail lights melted…  Kembla fire photo one -- Kembla fire photo two -- Kembla fire photo three
• October 22nd, 2003 in Benson, MN - One man killed in explosion and from the Star Tribune, Blast at ethanol plant kills 1  Benson photo one -- Benson photo two
• August 6th, 2003 in the town of Plover, WI (PDF file)
• (A family member elaborates on the Plover man's condition)
• July 26th, 2003 in St. Paul, MN – Third Gopher State fire (PDF file)
• September 13th, 2002 in Atchison, KS (PDF file) At 3:35 p.m. fire fighters learned that the foam they were using wasn't working and they needed to cap a plug to shut off the flow of alcohol. They were also monitoring anhydrous ammonia tanks across the street. At about 4:01 p.m. they reported the fire was still going and by 4:20 p.m. the Rushville Fire Department was on the scene for backup. Alcohol was still leaking and flames could be seen on the back side of the building. By 4:31 p.m. firefighters had entered the middle section and tried to shut off a valve line… More, from the AcuSafe archive: Tennessee Distillery Explodes, Injures 6 – A major explosion occurred at an alcohol distillery, injuring six workers and halting vehicle and train traffic in the heart of Atchison. Company officials shut down all of the operations after the explosion, which sparked a fire that burned for more than six hours. One of the biggest concerns was averting a secondary explosion from the large amount of alcohol in the plant. Firefighters had to douse 10m(eter) flames for more than six hours because equipment that supplies alcohol could not be completely shut off. It was not clear what the contractors were doing in the plant, but the Atchison Fire Department said outside crews may have been at the plant to cut up some old tanks. The company manufactures wheat proteins and starches, in addition to producing beverage alcohol, industrial alcohol and ethanol.
• May 9th, 2002 in Decatur, IL – A three-alarm fire in a warehouse at an ethanol plant produced heavy smoke.
• December 2nd, 2001 in Winnebago, MN – A dryer fire cut production in half at an ethanol plant.
• April 26th, 2001 in Cleveland, OH – A trailer section of a 18-wheeler carrying 8,000 gallons of ethanol overturned and began leaking. Police closed the area because of the danger of fire or explosion.
• August 21st, 2000 in Huron, SD – Fire and Explosion at Year Old Heartland Grain Fuels Ethanol Plant – Firefighters used foam to control a fire that followed an explosion at the Heartland Grain Fuels ethanol plant. Two of the four workers injured received serious burns and were hospitalized; property damage was light.
• May 23rd, 2000 in Decatur, IL – Two workers were injured after nearly 1 million gallons of a fermenting corn and water mixture spilled out of two ethanol processing plants.
• March 21st, 2000 in South Bend, IN (PDF file) Firefighters are called in when fire reignites in a bag house after plant safety system fails to extinguish the fire completely. The bag house equipment was two weeks old.
• May 2nd, 1999 in London, Ontario – Company officials announced that a fire in the grain dryer at a ethanol plant would not force a shutdown in operations similar to a 1997 fire.

An Interesting Case

• 1999 and onward – Heartland Grain Fuels operates plants in both Aberdeen, SD and Huron, SD . Sometime in 1999, after being cited many times for wastewater violations, the Aberdeen plant dumped or spilled ethanol and ethanol by–products into Moccasin Creek near Aberdeen. The Huron plant has had problems of its own, as noted elsewhere on this page.

  From the EPA 's web site January 18, 2002 – South Dakota Facility Pleads to Clean Water Act Violation – Heartland Grain Fuels of Aberdeen, SD , has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act by illegally discharging ethanol into Moccasin Creek (in 1999). The ethanol reached the Aberdeen wastewater treatment facility and killed bacteria needed to properly digest raw sewage. The ability of the plant to adequately treat sewage was impaired for approximately two weeks. If the U.S. District Court in Aberdeen approves the plea agreement, Heartland will pay up to $40,000 in fines and provide an additional $158,143 to the city of Aberdeen to upgrade the ability of its sewage treatment facility to control and monitor pollutant discharges. The case was investigated by EPA 's Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sioux Falls.

  Perhaps to show there were no hard feelings, a USDA annual report from 2004 announced Heartland Grain Fuels, LP received a USDA Rural Development value-added agricultural product market development grant in the amount of $150,000 to assist with making their plant more profitable and efficient.

  So it goes…