WOODS CROSS -- Tremors of the explosion that rocked Woods Cross on Nov. 4, 2009, are still being felt today.
J. Michael Redd, Silver Eagle Refining vice president of refining and operations, updated the city council earlier this week. He said the root of the explosion that seriously damaged a number of homes in a nearby neighborhood lay in a section of pipe with improper metallurgic composition. That information had previously been released by the Chemical Safety Board, which is investigating the explosion.
The Chemical Safety Board recently released the equipment that was under investigation back to the refinery,
Silver Eagle is now "clearing away the restrictions and barriers, cleaning up and inspecting all (of the) pieces of pipe throughout that area to be sure that the correct metallurgy is in the correct places," Redd said.
Redd said the work will be done with thermographic radiography, which is an X-ray technique used on longer sections of pipe.
"By using thermographic radiography it is possible to do an X-ray of every section of pipe," Redd said.
Redd said Silver Eagle is eager to resume operations.
"We'd like to, as soon as we can and according to the protocol submitted to the Chemical Safety Board and the Utah Occupational Safety and Health Administration ... bring the other parts of the refinery online."
The refinery restarted a crude unit in February that was not involved in the explosion.
Silver Eagle has hired Jacobs Consultancy as a third-party inspector of all equipment.
Inspections will be conducted by third-party inspectors because Silver Eagle does not employ licensed, certified and trained inspectors at the Woods Cross facility, as it does at its Evanston, Wyo., facility. Silver Eagle plans to train in-house inspectors in the future but for now will continue to rely on third-party contractors.
Silver Eagle and the city plan to announce in November the city council's selection of a third-party auditor to check a proposed safety score card.
Silver Eagle will host a Community Care Meeting at its facility at 2355 S. 110 West at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The meeting will include a question-and-answer session with safety inspectors.
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