New York City fire inspectors and environmental officials will catch much of the blame today for a chemical explosion that ripped apart a building in Chelsea last year.
The investigation into the blast has gone on that entire time, and the disturbing findings will be laid out today at a public hearing.
That hearing is being held at the Fashion Institute of Technology, not far from the 19th Street sign company where dozens of people were injured. Federal investigators say the explosion there last April could have been prevented if city inspectors and the fire code had done their part.
A preliminary report being presented today will say the blast was set off by untrained workers mixing volatile chemicals in a basement workshop. Within seconds, the mixture began hissing. Workers ran, and the chemicals exploded.
The force of the blast slammed upward through the building, blowing out windows and walls. At least 42 people were hurt, twelve of them were critically injured.
The federal report says company workers were never taught even basic safety measures for dealing with hazardous chemicals. It says company management failed to meet federal safety regulations, and reportedly said they were unaware of the rules.
Investigators also learned that OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, had never inspected the company over a ten year period.
Today's hearing could also call for changes in the New York City fire code for industrial chemicals. City inspectors apparently never visited the building to issue permits and reportedly never went to the basement work area.
The company, Kaltech, did file reports on some of the chemicals it had stored and the city's Department of Environmental Protection forwarded the papers to the fire department. But reportedly, the paperwork never made it to the Bureau of Fire Prevention where the list of chemicals would have raised a red flag.
Other investigations into last April's explosion are still underway, and the Manhattan district attorney is still considering whether to file criminal charges.
