by MARK REUTTER

     A September explosion that sent hundred-foot flames, burning debris and dirty gases out of a furnace at Severstal Sparrows Point was more serious than the company had publicly reported — but a spokesperson said the company does not expect to be fined.

     Officials from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) met with Severstal officials on Friday to discuss the September 29 accident at the Baltimore County facility. The meeting follows a company report to MDE revealing that far more pollution was released into the atmosphere than indicated to the media.

     Severstal spokesperson Bette Kovach said in an email that the company has not been cited for pollution violations, “nor do we expect to be.” Steve Lang, chief of MDE air quality compliance, had threatened to take action against Severstal two days after the incident, according to documents obtained by The Brew. An MDE spokesman said yesterday that the case was still under investigation.

     The magnitude of flames and debris that erupted from the top of “L” blast furnace on Sept. 29 had employees fearing for their safety and nearby residents concerned about a thunderous roar that could be heard for miles around the steel plant.

 

 

     Baltimore County firefighters were called to put out brush fires started by fiery chunks of coke (a form of coal) that blew hundreds of yards out the furnace. “It was like a volcano,” one employee told The Brew. “It was a miracle nobody was injured.”

     A media statement issued by Severstal after the incident said that a single emergency bleeder valve on the L furnace had opened and was quickly shut. “Once the bleeder valve was closed, normal furnace conditions resumed.”

     However, Russell Becker, Sparrows Point environmental program manager, told MDE in his Oct. 9 report that not only the clean gas bleeder, but all three dirty gas bleeders had opened, releasing untreated gas, dust, burning coke and other materials into the atmosphere. The valves remained open for three minutes between 1:59:49 and 2:02:48 p.m.

     “A dirty gas bleeder opening is a rare event on L furnace,” Becker stated, and “when it has happened in the past, it normally lasts about 30 seconds or less.”

     Employees called the incident one of the worst at the furnace in some time. “Think of four or five jet planes revving up their engines – that’s how loud the [pressure] buildup sounded,” said an employee who witnessed the event. “Then you looked up and saw L furnace on fire. Then you saw pieces of coke, 2-3 inches in diameter, falling over the roads, the buildings, the parking lots, cars and dumpsters.”

     L furnace is an enormous, 300-foot-high pressure cooker that operates around the clock. Thousands of tons of iron ore, coke and limestone are dumped at the top of the furnace. Blasts of hot air ignite the raw materials as they slowly drop through the furnace and separate into molten iron and slag waste.

     The furnace is supposed to stop inserting raw materials whenever a bleeder valve opens. But in this case, according to Becker’s report, “a batch of coke” was inserted into the furnace after the valves had opened. The coke ignited as the pressure from the furnace shot the material out of the valves.

     According to Becker’s report, the emergency valves had opened following a small “slip,” or sudden drop of raw material inside the furnace. The slip went undetected by the furnace’s computer controls. This led to the accidental release of coke into the furnace, Becker wrote.

    In fact, according to a knowledgeable source, the furnace had just experienced a “tremendous” slip. This had caused the inside furnace pressure to suddenly spike to 25 pounds per square inch (psig) – far above the furnace’s hazard point of 15 psig.

     “If this was just a little slip, then why did all four bleeders open up?” asked the source. Furnace operators scrambled to lower the pressure without causing a potentially catastrophic “breakout” of hot metal in the furnace hearth.

     The untreated emissions released by the furnace would typically contain iron dust, zinc, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Becker said that the company could not reliably estimate the type or amount of pollutants released “from the open burning of the gas and … coke for three minutes.”

     Under state law, equipment malfunctions that temporarily release pollutants are subject to fines.

     One of several unanswered questions is why Severstal operates bleeder valves under state pollution permits that are not attached to “scrubbers” and other pollution control equipment. Attempts to clarify this and other issues with MDE have been unsuccessful.

     Spokesman Jay Apperson said yesterday that “because this investigation has not been completed, it would be inappropriate for the department to comment at this time.”

     Sparrows Point is under a 1997 court-ordered decree to reduce pollutants. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has threatened to file a lawsuit against MDE for failing to enforce the terms of the decree.

     Severstal spokesperson Kovach said the company’s release was based on information she knew at the time. “On the afternoon of September 29, I had to respond as quickly as I could to reporters’ deadlines and to head off any customer concerns about the operational status of the furnace. Hence, we developed and released a statement based on what we knew at the time – all within an hour of the event.”

     She said the company then completed “a much more comprehensive account of the event as a result of a thorough investigation.”