LOCAL

State complaint reveals explosions at Exide

Seth Slabaugh
The Star Press
The Exide Technologies battery recycling plant on Mt. Pleasant Blvd. near Cowan Road Friday afternoon. The state contends Exide Technologies failed to appropriately notify environmental agencies following three explosions at the plant in February of 2017.

MUNCIE, Ind. — A complaint filed against Exide Technologies reveals that three explosions rocked its secondary lead smelter in Muncie on Feb. 20, 2017.

A recent complaint filed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management seeks a civil penalty from Exide of $3,000.

The plant recycles lead-bearing scrap from lead-acid automotive batteries and other material.

According to an IDEM inspection report, three explosions occurred "when water was released from a failed welded patch in the metal afterburner water jacket above the reverbatory furnace."

The leak caused water to contact furnace material at temperatures in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The explosions damaged the exhaust system, furnace, walls and roof of a containment building, according to IDEM. The reverbatory furnace shared its exhaust system with a blast furnace. Both furnaces had to be shut down. Water that didn't flash from contact with the hot material flowed out the door and was cleaned up. Negative pressure in the building was overcome, allowing dust to be released through various openings in the structure.

A contingency plan was implemented and the plant was evacuated. The furnaces remained shut down for 11 days.

Exide on Feb. 21 notified IDEM's Emergency Response Section of the incident. The plant provided a report on the incident to IDEM's Office of Air Quality on Feb. 22. However, Exide failed to notify IDEM's Office of Land Quality as also required by its operating permit.

In addition to the civil penalty, the complaint demands that Exide send the Office of Land Quality an incident report that will become a permanent part of the operating log for the facility.

The report would include a description of how the incident occurred, the types and quantities of materials involved, any injuries, an assessment of hazards to human health or the environment, and an estimated quantity and disposition of recovered material resulting from the accident.

The incident generated no publicity at the time. The local 911 communications center says it received no calls from Exide on that date (though it did receive a call about a man suffering burns at Exide on Feb. 22; he was transported to the hospital). The Muncie Fire Department says it made no runs to Exide on Feb. 20.

David Miller, chief inspector at MFD, told The Star Press Exide did not necessarily need to notify the department of explosions at the factory but it would have welcomed a courtesy call.

"If we had to go in there, we'd like to know what we're walking into," Miller said.

Exide officials declined comment because the complaint remains pending.

The relatively small fine is an indication of how serious IDEM views the alleged violation. The same complaint also accuses Exide of maintaining two unstable stacks of batteries that leaked on the floor and on cardboard spacers between the batteries.

In 2015, Exide agreed to pay an $820,000 civil penalty to settle a lawsuit accusing it of violating the Clean Air Act at the Muncie smelter, which recycles millions of lead-acid automotive, truck and other batteries.

The violations resulted in increased emissions of lead and particulate matter (soot), and might have resulted in increased emissions of total hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds and dioxin/furans, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Exide rejected $31 million clean air proposal in 2015

Exide was fined $820,000 in 2015 for Muncie pollution

Seth Slabaugh is an environment reporter at The Star Press who can be reached at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com.