Fire stops production at Chemtura's EPDM plant in US -- Update 1

By David Shaw, ERJ staff

Geismar, Louisiana -- A fire at Chemtura's EPDM factory in Geismar, Louisiana, has stopped production at the plant. A spokeswoman for Chemtura said the plant would be stopped for a period of days or longer, but could not give any further details until a full assessment had been made. Only the EPDM unit is affected, adjacent rubber chemicals units continue to run as normal. Chemtura sells its EPDM under the Royalene brand.

The spokeswoman confirmed details given in a local newspaper report: a supply of hexane caught fire just before 1 pm yesterday (Wednesday). The blaze was restricted to the plant and extinguished within an hour. No-one was hurt, said the spokeswoman.

There was minimal damage to the plant, according to the spokeswoman, but the unit that caught fire and two similar units have been shut down pending investigations into the cause of the blaze. A spokesman for Chemtura was quoted saying "We will not start any of them up until we feel 100 percent certain that the root cause was found and addressed, and I don't know how long that will be." Chemtura told ERJ that this means all three reactors and production lines for EPDM are stopped in the short term.

The spokeswoman told ERJ that initial suggestions that the plant would be out for weeks were probably pessimistic. "We know it will be out for some days, but we have initiated a full investigation and will be able to offer a clearer picture in 24 to 48 hours" she said

A spokesman told ERJ that prior to the fire the Geismar plant was working at full capacity, attempting to re-fill the disrupted pipelines.

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The Advocate (US - Louisiana) story