Sludge Watch ==> Hagerstown Maryland- Synagro sludge pellets - explosion

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Yup....you heard it here first.  Pelletized sewage sludge and pelletizing 
plants tend to explode or go into auto ignition (spontaneous combustion from 
self heating).

Also note:

"They used to sell it, but the market for sales now has kind of dried up," 
Barton said.

There are alot of reasons not to like 'fertilizer' made from sludge.

Now would someone please forward this  Toronto City Council officials?  And 
copy it to the Fire Station?

Toronto rebuilt its sludge pelletizer after the last one burned down...and 
even the pellets themselves caused fires.  So they decided that was so great 
they decided to spend MORE public funds to continue the practice.


................................................


Wednesday March 14, 2007


Explosion blasts hole in roof of Hagerstown fertilizer plant
by KAREN HANNA  karenh at herald-mail.com


HAGERSTOWN - An explosion Tuesday tore a hole in the roof of a building 
where a company turns sludge into fertilizer for the City of Hagerstown at a 
water-treatment facility on Frederick Street.


One man sustained minor injuries but declined treatment after the 
early-evening explosion, according to Mike Spiker, director of utilities for 
the City of Hagerstown.


Soot covered the edges of a jagged hole in the roof of a beige building near 
the back of the city's treatment plant. A Washington County Emergency 
Services dispatcher said the explosion was reported at 5:10 p.m., and crews 
left the scene at 7:27 p.m.


Hagerstown Fire Marshal Tom Brown said he did not know whether the explosion 
was related to three fires - two of them Tuesday - that had broken out in a 
drying drum at the facility over two days. None of the fires was reported, 
he said.


"The only thing we're sure of is (it was) a dust explosion, but we have 
right now an undetermined ignition point," Brown said.


No flames were visible at the scene, where people began gathering within 
minutes of the explosion.


Kandy Brown, who stood with a cluster of people on Frederick Street near the 
Kenley Village shopping center, said she did not see what happened.


"No, I just heard a bang, that's all I heard," said Brown, who lives near 
the plant.


Donald Barton, wastewater operations manager for the city, said Synagro 
leases the building from the city under a contract to turn sludge into 
fertilizer.


Synagro was operating under a five-year renewal contract, after finishing 
out a 15-year agreement, Barton said. The contract is for about $79,000 a 
month, he said.


"They actually have a real good safety record company-wide," Barton said.


According to its Web site, Houston-based Synagro Technologies Inc. offers 
services that include composting, incineration, and drying and pelletizing, 
the functions it performs for the city.


Synagro serves more than 700 municipal and industrial facilities in 40 
states, and its Web site says safety is its first priority.


Four Synagro employees were in the building at the time of the explosion, 
Spiker said.


Two City of Hagerstown employees also were working, Barton said.


Barton said the city will have to find an alternative way to handle its 
sludge, which Synagro turned into fertilizer pellets.


"They used to sell it, but the market for sales now has kind of dried up," 
Barton said.


Spiker said Synagro and city officials will meet to discuss who will have 
responsibility to pay for equipment and building repairs, but he said he 
could not provide a damage estimate.


The dispatcher said all of Hagerstown Fire Department's units, as well as 
crews from Funkstown and Halfway responded to the scene. Rescue units 
clogged Frederick Street, which temporarily was blocked from Wilson 
Boulevard to Kenly Avenue.


A sign in front of the wastewater plant said City of Hagerstown employees 
have logged 270 workdays without a lost-time injury.

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=160893&format=html


................

Firefighters survey the scene of an explosion Tuesday that tore a hole in 
the roof of a building where Hagerstown's sewage sludge is turned into 
fertilizer. Houston-based Synagro Technologies Inc. leases the building from 
the city. (Photo credit: By Ric Dugan / Staff Photographer)



A firefighter looks over a large hole in the roof of a building Tuesday 
where Hagerstown’s sewage sludge is turned into fertilizer. (Photo credit: 
By Ric Dugan / Staff Photographer)



Fire officials survey damage inside the plant. (Photo credit: By Ric Dugan / 
Staff Photographer)