An explosion Wednesday morning at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren seriously injured one worker and damaged a research facility.
One person working in a battery research laboratory was taken to St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, Warren Fire Commissioner Wilburt (Skip) McAdams said.
McAdams said the injured man had serious injuries. Later, a GM spokesman said the worker was expected to recover and would be held overnight for observation. At least four people were treated on the scene by medical personnel.
GM said the incident occurred at 8:45 a.m. at the Alternative Energy Center at its sprawling research campus in Warren.
"Chemical gases from the battery cells were released and ignited in the enclosed chamber," GM said in a statement. "The battery itself was intact."
Smoke throughout the multi-lab building forced the evacuation of about 80 workers. A Free Press reporter was denied access to the facility, which is subject to intense security due to the proprietary nature of product development.
McAdams told the Free Press this afternoon that several agencies would investigate the incident, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
"We don't have an origin or cause, but we do know that the explosion occurred in one of the labs within the building, causing significant structural damage to the building" and equipment, he said. "But safety systems in the building directed the blast force upward and thus saving the structure."
GM released a statement saying the incident was "unrelated to the Chevrolet Volt or any other production vehicle."
"It didn't take out the entire building; whatever they were working on in this lab, something happened, causing the explosion," McAdams said.
Analysts said the explosion was not cause for concern about GM's technological development.
"People need to understand that part of developing new technology is pushing it to the limits," said Brett Smith of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research. "Stuff is going to go wrong. That's not to say it's acceptable. You're going to take your lumps."
Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst for auto researcher Edmunds.com, said the industry is in the "very early days" of developing battery technology for use in electric vehicles.
"They are stretching the envelope," Krebs said. "Everybody's trying to get a breakthrough. They're dealing with new volatile materials and new ways of doing things that haven't been done before."
Emergency responders found no traces of dangerous chemicals in the air at the site of the explosion.
McAdams said the advanced safety features in the building may have saved it from destruction. GM conducts advanced battery research and testing in the laboratory.
"When it was being constructed, because it was so new, there were a lot of decisions that were made because we were writing the book on this," he said. "In a sense, I'm happy with the work we did in permitting this building."
The high-security aspect of the site creates accessibility issues recently addressed in a mock-disaster drill. The fire department worked with General Motors on training about two months ago, in a staged explosion attributed to a terrorist, McAdams said. The training helped prepare on-site GM first responders and fire department crews for today's event.
"Obviously, in a high-security area, there are multiple locked doors -- by design they're trying to keep people out, and we're trying to get in," McAdams said. "When you're trying to protect industry secrets, it's not like you're a flea market. Obviously, there's additional issues associated with that. But so far, we're pretty happy with how it's gone."
Firefighters arrived at the scene at 8:51 a.m. McAdams declined to offer a damage estimate because of the high value of the equipment in the facility.
Copyright 2012 - Detroit Free Press
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
