Today the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a
study of explosions at oil and gas production sites across the U.S., identifying 26 incidents since 1983 that killed 44 members of the public and injured 25 others under the age of 25. The report found that children and young adults frequently socialize at oil sites in rural areas, unaware of the explosion hazards from storage tanks that contain flammable hydrocarbons like crude oil and natural gas condensate. CSB identified regulatory gaps at the federal and state levels and called on the EPA and state regulatory bodies to improve current safety and security measures at exploration and production sites, such as warning signs, full fencing, locked gates, locks on tank hatches and other physical barriers. “As the demand for domestic energy resources continues to grow and the number of active extraction and production sites continues to rise steadily, it is important to ensure that these sites have the appropriate safeguards to save young people’s lives,” says CSB Chair Moure-Eraso.
