Welcoming Remarks

In 2002, a comprehensive CSB review of reactive hazards (Improving Reactive Hazard Management) was issued following a CSB investigation of a serious reactive incident at Morton International in 1998. The purpose of the hazard investigation was to develop recommendations to reduce the number and severity of reactive incidents.

On December 8, 2020, a rotary double cone dryer containing sodium dichloroisocyanurate dihydrate exploded at Optima Belle in Belle, West Virginia. During the first batch of a tolling operation to dehydrate the chlorinated isocyanurate, gases were released resulting in an unexpected rapid increase of the dryer’s internal pressure causing the explosion. One employee was fatally injured. Metal debris and dryer fragments propelled off-site and within the facility. Optima Belle estimated property damage from the incident at $33.1 million.