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Another entity investigating explosion at Clairton coke works
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The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has joined the investigation into an explosion at the Clairton coke works that injured 20 last week.
A team of evaluators is in Pittsburgh and will gather information to present to the full board, which will determine whether a full investigation of the explosion is warranted.
"We have a three-person evaluation team that arrived Sunday that's going to be looking into issues there and then come back with information, and the board will decide whether to conduct a full-scale investigation and how to proceed," spokesman Sandy Gilmour said Monday.
The board is an independent federal agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents.
Investigators know that the explosion Wednesday was caused by an unplanned release of coke-oven gas that found an ignition source in an area of the plant known as B battery.
Their task is to identify the source of the gas, the ignition and any underlying problems in how the Clairton Plant is run that created the circumstances that led to the blast.
The other entities already investigating the explosion are the plant's owner, U.S. Steel Corp., the United Steelworkers and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
First Published July 20, 2010 12:00 am
