Officials determine that mechanical failure caused the blast that rocked a Dow Chemical plant in North Andover, Mass. early last year, according to an article from Wicked Local. The January 7, 2016 explosion reportedly sent four people to the hospital with burns and shrapnel wounds.
According to the article, Jennifer Mieth of the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, wrote in a statement, “Investigators determined that a mechanical failure allowed air to react with a volatile chemical during a reclaiming process that resulted in spontaneous ignition and the explosion.” In a separate investigation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reportedly found several safety violations and issued three citations with fines totaling $129,200. A similar explosion at the plant, which makes materials used in manufacturing LED lights, killed Carlos Amaral in 2013, according to the article.
Read more about the incident here.
