US chemical tank disasters remain rare despite recent incidents, experts say | US news
For several tense days last week, tens of thousands of Southern California residents wondered whether a 7,000-gallon chemical storage tank would explode or spill into the streets.
The division has sharply eliminated the risk of chemical leaks and explosions that lurk behind every corner of modern life. Methyl methacrylate, which recently brought the city of Garden Grove to the brink of disaster, is just one of many toxic chemicals commonly found in American cities.
Oil refineries process petroleum products whose flammability is exactly what makes them so valuable. Refrigerated warehouses across the country rely on the cost-effective refrigerant ammonia, which is both corrosive and flammable. The paper industry uses hydrogen sulfide, a compound whose accidental release caused the deaths of six workers in three separate incidents in the past three years. According to the Chemical Safety Board (CSB).
But despite being surrounded by industrial hazards, the risk of a catastrophic event is not as high as it seems.
Chemical disasters remain extremely rare, according to the CSB’s latest research. The CSB has investigated only five major chemical spills or explosions in 2025 and 2024.
These are very small numbers considering that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) oversees it. approximately 12,000 industrial sites Stephen Kmiotek, a professor of chemical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said a company is addressing hazardous chemicals in its risk management plan.
“Almost everywhere you look, in every industrial site you can think of, there are tanks with lots of dangerous chemicals in them,” Kmiotek said. “The risk of tank failure is really, really low. These are manufactured to very strict standards. The risk to the general public is really, really low.”
Today’s standards are due in part to the long shadow the Bhopal incident cast over the global industry. In 1984, 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant. Killed 3,800 people immediately and clearly at least 100,000 more people In what is widely considered the worst chemical disaster in history.
Global reaction to Bhopal incident led to major reform In the United States, efforts including the overhaul of Osha regulations for industrial facilities and the passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 ultimately led to storage tank requirements existing today.
When disasters occur, they can have serious consequences. Garden Grove near misses often occur in dangerous industries densely populated cities and towns.
At least nine people were killed and two workers remain missing in an explosion at a paper mill in Longview, Washington, on Tuesday. The explosion occurred when a chemical tank containing a caustic alkaline solution called white liquor exploded and some of its contents spilled into a nearby drainage ditch.
Still, Kmiotek likened the risks of chemical disasters in the United States to airline crashes: highly unexpected events that attract great attention when they eventually occur because they are so scary.
“It’s kind of like airplanes,” Kmiotek said. “Their safety record is very, very good. Unfortunately, when something bad happens, it’s usually really, really bad.”
People who want to know what hazardous chemicals are stored in their area can get a list from their local fire department, Kmiotek said.
“We don’t understand chemicals,” Kmiotek said. “And that’s why they’re scary.”
