Mill blast kills one, injures two

TERRACE BAY — A worker is dead and two others injured following an explosion at Terrace Bay Pulp Inc.’s mill in the northern Ontario community of the same name.

At about 5:45 pm on October 31, the Ministry of Labour (MOL) was notified of the incident at the company, a division of Buchanan Sales Inc. in Thunder Bay, Ontario. There was an explosion involving a tank measuring four metres in diameter and 12 metres high and located in the mill area where pulp is baked and boiled, says William Lin, an MOL spokesperson in Toronto.

Workers were evacuated after the 4:40 am explosion and all affected areas were taped off, says Ryan Bolan, deputy fire chief of Terrace Bay Fire/Emergency Services.

Fire officials have determined there was a “catastrophic failure” in the blow tank, where cooked wood chips are transferred from a digester, Bolan reports. The explosion sent metal and debris into the air, he notes, adding that “a large portion of the roof is missing.”

Buchanan Sales was issued four orders citing the need to, among other things, provide training records, construction drawings and design specifications to the MOL. A stop-work order and an order not to disturb the scene were to remain in effect until lifted by a ministry inspector.

Hazardous chemicals used in pulp processing include sodium sulphide, sodium hydroxide, chlorine, hydrogen peroxide (which carries an explosion risk if mixed with strong acids or caustics) and hydrogen sulphide (explosive at high concentrations), notes information from the Infrastructure Health & Safety Association in Mississauga, Ontario.

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