CSB Launches Probe Into Fatal Release at Pemex Texas Site

• Last Thursday’s  fatal release of hydrogen sulfide at the Pemex petroleum refinery in Deer Park, Texas, is now under investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).
• Two contract workers died as a result of  the release, and an additional 13 workers reportedly were transported to local medical facilities, according to the CSB’s Friday announcement.
• The release at the suburban Houston Pemex refinery also prompted a shelter-in-place order for two neighboring cities, and a portion of Texas State Highway 225 was closed temporarily.
• While the CSB does not issue citations or fines, it  makes safety recommendations to companies, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
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EPA Finalizes Pesticide Application Exclusion Zone Requirements

• The US Environmental Protection Agency has published a final rule restoring pesticide application exclusion zone requirements that it says are intended to protect farmworkers and pesticide handlers, along with their workers’ families.
• The rule defines the application exclusion zone as “the area surrounding the application that must be free of all persons, other than appropriately trained and equipped handlers, during pesticide applications.”
• An October 2020 EPA final rule revising the application exclusion zone requirement was put on hold when the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued multiple stays of the rule.
• “Farmworkers help to provide the food we feed our families every day and it’s EPA’s job to keep them safe from pesticides,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator of the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in a press release. “No one should be at risk from pesticide-related illness because of their job or where they live.”
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Uncertainty Over Release of Baltimore Heat Safety Report 

• An external law firm’s review of heat safety protocol and culture issues at Baltimore’s Department of Public Works has been delivered to city officials but a public release date has not yet been set.
• Washington, D.C. law firm Conn Maciel Carey LLP was hired to review the department’s policies and procedures after DPW sanitation worker Ronald Silver II died while on the job in August. His death was ruled accidental, caused by hyperthermia brought on by overheating. 
• New DPW Director Khalil Zaied said the city intends to make the report public, but he couldn’t say when.
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