What is MMT -- Did it cause the T2 Labs Plant Explosion that killed 4?

In its "finished" form, MMT is safe; however, the manufacturing process reportedly involves chemical reactions that put the components under high pressure. It's thought that the manufacturing of Ecotane® caused the massive chemical explosion on December 19, 2007 that killed 4 and injured 33. Originally, it was reported that only 14 were injured, but one month later the number was more than double that.

A few months ago, I received some additional news about the explosion. It seems that they had lost the feed of water to the reactor that helps to cool the process. This had happened previously.

With the power of the internet coupled with the incredible reach of Squidoo, I was contacted by both the Associated Press and the Chemical Safety Board asking for interviews. In respect of the memories of my friends and the families, I have declined to grant such interviews.

* MMT is a gasoline octane enhancer produced by the Afton Chemical Corporation (Afton), formerly known as the Ethyl Corporation. MMT is allowed in U.S. gasoline at a level equivalent to 1/32 grams per gallon manganese (gpg Mn).

* In its decision on the use of MMT in the U.S., the Agency determined that MMT, added at 1/32 gpg Mn, will not cause or contribute to regulated emissions failures of vehicles. Some have expressed concerns that the use of MMT may harm on-board diagnostic equipment (OBD) which monitors the performance of emissions control devices in the vehicle. As of this time, the Agency believes the data collected is inconclusive with regard to OBD.

* Manganese is a neurotoxin and can cause irreversible neurological disease at high levels of inhalation. However, ingested manganese is a required element of the diet at very low levels. There is a concern that the use of manganese additives in gasoline could increase inhalation manganese exposures.

* After completing a 1994 risk evaluation on the use of MMT in gasoline, EPA was unable, based on the available data, to determine if there is a risk to the public health from exposure to emissions of MMT gasoline. The Agency stated "Although it is not possible based on the present information to conclude whether specific adverse health effects will be associated with manganese exposures in the vicinity of or exceeding the [estimated safe level over a lifetime of exposure], neither is it possible to conclude that adverse health effects will not be associated with such exposures." This assessment was based upon the level of MMT allowed in U.S. gasoline.

* More specifically, modeling indicates that, as a result of MMT use in unleaded gasoline, certain portions of the population may be exposed to levels in the same range as the Reference Concentration (RfC or safe level for a lifetime exposure with an order of magnitude uncertainty). Because the expected exposure is not much higher or much lower than the RfC, a definitive conclusion about risk is impossible to reach. Long-term animal testing and exposure research are needed to more accurately define the risk.

* Under Clean Air Act authority to require testing of motor fuels and additives, EPA has required the Afton Corporation to perform testing to help fill data gaps and potentially provide information that would result in a more definitive risk evaluation.
This testing included three health pharmacokinetic (PK) studies and one emission characterization study. Completed final reports for all of these studies have been submitted to EPA. These final reports can be found in the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at www.regulations.gov identified by docket number EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0074.

* In addition to the already completed tests, the manufacturer is now in the process of developing physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models for manganese which are being derived from data generated from the completed testing. Afton anticipates that these PBPK models will be completed in 2008.

* After submission of this additional information, the Agency will study the results. The Agency may then be able to refine its risk evaluation or may ask for further testing based upon the results of the submitted testing and resulting model now being developed, as well as any other available data.
With funding from Afton, Research Triangle Institute (RTI) also completed a study of manganese exposures in Toronto, Canada where MMT is used. The Agency is also evaluating this study to determine what impact it might have on any evaluation of risk associated with use of the additive.

Contact: Joe Sopata, phone: (202) 343-9034, email: sopata.joe@epa.gov

--epa.gov.

Ecotane® is T2 Labs' trademark for the gasoline additive methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (sometimes called MMT® or MCMT). This innovative product has been used for decades by modern refineries around the world to increase the octane number (RON and MON) of gasoline, reduce tailpipe emissions, increase the size of the gasoline pool, and reduce refinery emissions.

Ecotane® is compatible with all modern gasoline engines, and all modern vehicle emission control systems (including catalytic converters). This unique additive is EPA approved for use in the US, and has seen widespread use in over 70 countries worldwide.

T2 Labs is now manufacturing Ecotane® at its state-of-the-art facility in Jacksonville, FL using a novel, safe, and efficient process. Ecotane® is a registered trademark of T2 Labs. MMT® is a registered trademark of Afton Chemicals.

--www.t2labs.com.

Four people were killed in Wednesday's chemical plant explosion on the Northside, including one of the lab company's owners.

They are 49-year-old Robert Scott Gallagher, co-owner of T2 Laboratories Inc., 48-year-old Charles Budds Bolchoz, 35-year-old Karey Renard Henry and 36-year-old Parish Lamar Ashley.

--www.jacksonville.com.

I knew both Scott Gallagher and Charles Bolchoz when I worked at SCM Glidco Organics [later Glidco Organics and then Millennium Specialty Products] in the early 1990s. Scott was in the Marketing & Sales department where I worked while Charles worked out in the plant. Charles met his wife, Peggy, at Glidco.

My deepest sympathy goes out to their families, friends and co-workers of T2 Labs.

GALLAGHER Scott Gallagher, 49, died December 19, 2007, at T2 Laboratories, Inc, the business he started along with his partner, Mike Wyatt, in 1994. Scott was a devout Christian and an active member of Southside United Methodist Church. He was known and loved for his infectious enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge. Scott never met a stranger and will be dearly missed by the many friends he made over the years. He was a man who exemplified love and fun. A jack-of-all-trades, Scott was a brilliant man who could do anything. Scott was a Florida Gator through and through and was a member of the University of Florida Chemical Engineering Advisory Board and the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.

Known as a devoted family man, Scott will be dearly missed by his beloved wife, Gwen; his parents, M. Irene and Robert A. Gallagher; five children, Chris, Courtney, Tess, Amelia, and Alec; two aunts, Shirley Scott and Sandy Smith; several cousins and friends all over the world.

Funeral services will be held at 10am Friday, December 28th, at Southside United Methodist Church with Reverend Bruce Jones officiating. Interment will follow in Oaklawn Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Southside United Methodist Church or the University of Florida Department of Chemical Engineering. Arrangements are by Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home, 4115 Hendricks Avenue. --www.legacy.com .

Scott Gallagher is a Gator Chemical Engineer and entrepreneur. He received his B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1981. Together with a Chemist from the University of Florida, Scott co-founded T2 Laboratories Inc., a specialty chemical manufacturing business in Jacksonville, FL.

While in school, Scott learned semiconductor fabrication with IBM in Research Triangle Park, NC, and utility planning with Jacksonville Electric Authority in his home town. Immediately after graduation, Scott became a design engineer for the M.W. Kellogg Company in Houston, TX specializing in fired process heater design. After the birth of his first son, Scott relocated back to Jacksonville to become a Process Engineer for SCM Glidco Organics (now Millennium Specialty Chemicals), a world-class manufacturer of flavor and fragrance chemicals. Having completed tours of duty as a process engineer, pilot plant development engineer, and project manager, he became an intrapreneur within the company, starting a new Industrial Solvent business unit for Glidco.

In 1995, Scott left Glidco to start T2 Laboratories, a manufacturer of terpene-based industrial solvents for a variety of industries. With (2) patents granted and (2) pending, Scott and his partner continue to develop new ways to reduce worker exposure to hazardous and environmentally dangerous materials.

In 2004, Scott started up a newly designed facility for the manufacture of a low-toxicity fuel additive called Ecotane. He is Chairman-elect of the UFChE Advisory Board, on which he has served as an active member for over 10 years. --www.che.ufl.edu.

BOLCHOZ Charles Budds Bolchoz died in a massive explosion at the t2 Labs on Wednesday, December 19, 2007. A memorial service will be held at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, 1431 Broward Rd, Jacksonville, FL on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 3:00PM. The family will receive friends in the Hall at St. Patrick's after the memorial service. Charles will be taken to Charleston, SC, where the Mass of Christian Burial will take place Friday, December 28, at 10:00AM. Interment will follow in Mount Pleasant Memorial Gardens. Charles was born in Charleston, SC on June 13, 1959.

He graduated from Bishop England High School, Mount Pleasant, SC as third honor graduate in 1977 and from Clemson University in 1981 where he was editor of 'The Tiger,' the Clemson school paper. He earned his Masters degree in Chemical Engineering at Clemson in 1984. He was a career, published Chemical Engineer who worked for Westvaco in Charleston, SC and Millennium Specialty Chemicals in Jacksonville, FL prior to his employment at t2 Labs. Charles is survived by his wife Peggy; his parents, Ruford J. and Margaret Bolchoz; two brothers, COL (Ret.) J. Manning Bolchoz (Maureen) of Tampa, FL, and Dr. R. Joseph Bolchoz Jr. (Patty) of Mount Pleasant, SC; two sisters, Karen Ferguson (Lonnie) and Judith Callan (Les). He also leaves a stepson, Shawn Lightsey and one grandchild, Kiara Flentroy; six nephews, Manning, Ryan, Patrick, Trey, Lonnie and Ian; and two nieces, Beth and Lauren, and countless more loving family members and friends.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent in Charles' name to the Bishop England High School Endowment Fund, 363 Seven Farms Drive, Charleston, SC 29492. Arrangements by GIDDENS-REED FUNERAL HOME, 904-266-2337. --www.legacy.com.

By Paul Pinkham and Steve Patterson.

The chemical plant destroyed in a fatal explosion Wednesday housed a Jacksonville company with a worldwide reach.

"It started from the ground up in our garage and went international," said Chris Gallagher, whose father, Scott, is co- owner and marketing director of T2 Laboratories on Faye Road.

Its trademark product, Ecotane, is used by refineries and gasoline blenders in 70 countries. The low-toxicity fuel additive is designed to boost octane levels and reduce emissions.

Ironically, one of the company's main focuses is to reduce worker exposure to hazardous and environmentally dangerous chemicals. It has received two patents for its products and two others are pending, according to the University of Florida, where Scott Gallagher has served on the chemical engineering department's advisory board for 10 years

T2 makes solvents from terpenes, a family of chemicals that includes material in plant oils used in turpentine. The company's products are designed to be environmentally friendly alternatives to more dangerous industrial chemicals, according to the company's Internet site.

Information the company filed with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department listed three hazardous chemicals stored in large amounts in a tank farm on-site.

The chemicals, all liquids, included an ether and a compound containing benzenes that apparently was recycled. Two can become volatile during chemical reactions, and all three could be potentially harmful based on long-term exposure.

In addition to the chemicals already reported to the city, emergency crews at the scene were sorting through other solutions housed there.

The company produces at least 10 products, including several solvents it has promoted as safer than traditional products. They include bioactives, chemicals used in fragrances, a product designed to clean blockages in oil and gas wells and wipe-on cleaners, including one designed for aerospace customers.

The company employs 11 people, Chris Gallagher said.

Scott Gallagher formed the company with fellow chemist Mike Wyatt in 1996. Gallagher opened a newly designed manufacturing facility for Ecotane in 2004.

Wyatt survived Wednesday's blast and was hospitalized with a heart attack afterward. But Gallagher, 49, was missing, and his family wasn't able to reach him, his son said. Four people were confirmed dead but their identities weren't released Wednesday night.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

Times-Union writers Charlie Patton and Dana Treen contributed to this report.

paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4107. steve.patterson@jacksonville.com, (904)359-4263.

(c) 2007 Florida Times Union. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. --www.redorbit.com.

By Steve Patterson, The Times-Union.

It was being used to mix chemicals for a popular fuel additive.

The explosion at T2 Laboratories Inc. on Jacksonville's Northside blew apart a 3-inch-thick steel chamber where ingredients for a gasoline additive were mixed, federal investigators have concluded while reconstructing the blast and fire that killed four people.

Parts of the chamber's dome-shaped top were thrown a quarter-mile in the Dec. 19 explosion that sent 14 people to hospitals and damaged nearby buildings. Workers in neighboring businesses were knocked to the ground as the deafening blast rattled offices and scattered equipment in warehouses.

Investigators from a series of agencies, including the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, have been trying to identify the cause of the explosion.

Although stressing that more work needs to be done, the safety board released a short statement Friday saying there was evidence of a rupture in a chamber used in producing Ecotane, an octane-boosting fuel additive. The additive is T2's signature product, used by refineries and gasoline blenders in 70 countries, the Times-Union previously reported.

The ruptured chamber was used to blend two chemicals for an Ecotane ingredient, said Stephen Selk, manager of investigations for the safety board, an independent federal panel that investigates major chemical accidents.

In an earlier Times-Union story, a foreman at a contracting company next door to the chemical plant on Faye Road described seeing T2 employees working urgently about 10 minutes before the explosion. And a supervisor at a sandblasting company recounted seeing a pipe rupture at the top of a three-story tower on the T2 property. He said that was followed by a white cloud forming at the property, then the explosion.

The explosion's magnitude was reflected in video that the U.S. Coast Guard released Friday. The footage, from a camera that monitors Jacksonville port activity, shows a section of the St. Johns River with the area around the plant and the landmark towers of a Northside power plant in the background.

An intense flash of light blots out much of the camera shot for about 12 seconds, then fades to show a tall mushroom cloud lifting above the T2 property.

Selk said he couldn't estimate the force of the blast, except that it was very powerful. Six safety board investigators are still in Jacksonville interviewing survivors and surveying damage, the board reported.

The board expects to release some information about its investigation next week, said Hillary Cohen, an agency spokeswoman.

steve.patterson@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4263 --www.jacksonville.com.

By Steve Patterson, The Times-Union

An overheated chemical chamber caused the T2 Laboratories Inc. explosion that killed four people and rocked a Northside Jacksonville neighborhood last month, a federal investigator said Thursday.

The explosion's force was equivalent to detonating about a ton of TNT, said Robert Hall, lead investigator for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, an agency investigating the blast. He said debris was thrown as much as a mile.

The blast "was among the most powerful ever examined" by the 10-year-old chemical board, Hall said.

The steel cylindrical chamber standing 14 feet tall was being used to mix chemicals for an ingredient in Ecotane, an octane-boosting gasoline additive that the company made at 3043 Faye Road.

It exploded Dec. 19 in what Hall described as "really an uncontrolled chemical reaction." Agency officials have said a liquid solution of methylcyclopentadiene was being mixed with metallic sodium.

Vapors from methylcyclopentadiene can ignite at 80 degrees, according to safety warnings for the chemical solution.

An employee at a nearby sandblasting company who witnessed the blast previously told the Times-Union a pipe ruptured at the top of a tower on the property and a white cloud appeared before the explosion.

Hall said that rupture was caused by mounting pressure inside the chamber, which was designed to withstand force equal to "several thousand pounds" per square inch. When the chamber blew apart, pieces weighing hundreds of pounds were thrown up to a quarter-mile away, he said.

The pressurized chamber was designed to be heated to start the reaction, but then it had to be cooled as the chemicals mixing inside it released more heat, according to Stephen Selk, manager of investigations for the chemical board.

Hall said a huge fire that followed the explosion started when chemicals in the broken chamber were exposed to heat and oxygen. The chamber's volume was about 1,000 cubic feet, but investigators don't know how much material was inside when it exploded, he said.

Hall said investigators plan to use T2's Ecotane recipe to re-create a small sample of their product and carefully measure the chemical reactions as material is mixed. He said modelers will try to measure the explosion's full extent.

Four company employees - co-owner Scott Gallagher and workers Karey Renard Henry Sr., Parrish Lamar Ashley and Charles Budds Bolchoz - died at the scene.

At least 14 people were taken to hospitals, and Hall said a company employee remains hospitalized. He said people up to 750 feet away needed medical treatment, and his agency found damage to buildings as far as 1,000 feet away.

At least three nearby businesses had buildings that city inspectors effectively closed because of their extensive damage.

Much of the T2 site was covered with 55-gallon drums and metal cargo containers where other supplies were stored.

Those containers are still being inventoried to see what chemicals burned and what's still there. That will become the basis for a cleanup plan that Hall said might take months to carry out.

In addition to Ecotane, T2 produced a series of solvents and cleaners designed from oils found in trees. Ecotane is a marketing name for methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, or MMT, a product made by a number of businesses since the 1950s and sold in about 70 countries.

Hall said investigators from his agency still haven't begun sorting through the reactor's rubble and can't until the property is inventoried and they are sure it's safe to work there. He said that could take a couple of weeks more. The Chemical Safety Board is a federal panel that examines major accidents and recommends ways to prevent them.

Board investigators will probably stay in Jacksonville a few more weeks and could take more than a year to finish their review. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating the explosion, and Hall said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Florida Department of Environmental Protection have both been reviewing environmental impacts.

steve.patterson@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4263 --www.jacksonville.com.

Investigators looking into last month's explosion at T2 Laboratories Inc. said 33 people were injured in the accident, more than twice what was initially reported.

Many of the injuries were the result of falling debris from structural damage to offsite buildings. The explosion killed four T2 employees.

"As a result of our interviews, the CSB has discovered that over 30 people were injured, versus the 14 reported the first few days following the accident," said lead investigator Robert Hall.

The evidence gathered by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board indicates the explosion was the result of a runaway chemical reaction during the production of a gasoline additive. The reaction probably occurred during the first step of the process, when more than half a ton of metallic sodium was in a steel vessel with other materials, producing hydrogen gas as a byproduct.

"We will conduct laboratory testing to quantify the amount of heat and pressure released by the reaction," Hall said. "Our goal is to discover what went wrong on Dec. 19 and to prevent a similar accident from happening again."

The investigators from the Chemical Safety Board finished their initial field investigation and will return to Washington, D.C., later today to continue the investigation.

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as the Occupational Safety & Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. --Jacksonville Business Journal.

By DANA TREEN, The Times-Union.

The owners of a Jacksonville laboratory at which four people died in a December explosion have been cited with serious violations of federal safety standards, according to a report issued Wednesday.

The violations at T2 Laboratories include not providing a blast resistant control room or a backup water supply to cool a high pressure reactor as well as a lack of evacuation and other emergency response plans.

The finding by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not determine if the violations caused the explosion.

"We just focus on the violations," OSHA spokesman Mike Wald said.

Alan Howard, an attorney for the lab, received a copy of the final report and said his clients have not had a chance to review the findings. He said he disagrees with some of the findings and noted the citations are not the most serious OSHA can issue.

"The finding does not fix blame for the accident on the company or its employees," he said.

T2 has 15 days to respond and can contest the findings or pay $12,650 in fines.

OSHA found five serious violations of workplace standards in a six-month investigation, according to its report.

The company was fined $4,900 because of the construction of the control room, a lack of a backup water supply to a reactor jacket and lack of maintenance on a relief device on the reactor. The control room at the plant was built of concrete block and had ordinary glass windows, according to the findings.

Other violations include inadequate emergency action plans for emergency evacuations, a hazard communication plan and lack of training on hazardous chemicals. A non-serious violation was a failure to properly log the four deaths and two injuries that required hospitalizations.

Co-owner, Scott Gallagher, 51, died in the blast and co-owner Mike Wyatt was hospitalized. Others killed were workers Karey Henry, 35, Parish Ashley, 36, and Charles Bolchoz, 48. --news.jacksonville.com.

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Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work ... it is just NOT cool so don't do it!