On this day in labor history, the year was 1973.
That was the day the worst industrial disaster in Staten Island took place.
Staten Island housed the world’s largest Liquefied Natural Gas storage tank.
The Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation owned the tank and operated a pipeline system that stretched from Texas to the East Coast.
The tank measured 272 feet across and was as tall as an 11-story building.
When leaks were suspected, the company had the tank emptied and shut down.
Workers had been repairing the torn Mylar insulation in the tank’s liner for months.
But then, vapors released during the repair process ignited the lining.
This created extreme temperature and pressure rise, which caused an explosion inside the tank.
The entire 6” thick concrete dome covering the tank immediately crumbled and rained down on workers inside.
Concrete and Excavating Laborers Local 731 reported that 40 workers and 3 safety inspectors were inside at the time.
None of them survived.
The explosion caused a massive crater.
Smoke billowed out for over five hours.
Investigations revealed that nitrogen, Freon 11 and oxygen, and not LNG, caused the explosion. But the cause was never determined.
Some 25 years later, the New York Planning Board began re-evaluating a moratorium on LNG facilities, in place since 1978.
They concluded that: "The government regulations and industry operating practices now in place would prevent a replication of this accident.
The fire involved combustible construction materials and a tank design that are now prohibited.
Although the exact causes may never be known, it is certain that LNG was not involved in the accident and the surrounding areas outside the facility were not exposed to risk."
January 25 - Solidarity Works!
January 24 - Arturo Alfonso Schomburg is Born
January 23 - If Poison Doesn’t Work, Try Briggs!
January 22 - Tragedy in the Mines & in the Union Hall
January 21 - On Strike for Health & Dignity
January 20 - The Flint Womens Emergency Brigades
January 19 - A Snapshot in Misery
January 18 - Is Colorado in America?
January 17 - Standing Against Wage Theft
January 15 - We Want to Live, Not Just Exist
January 14 - The Rise of the Bellamyites
January 13 - Johnny Cash Plays Folsom Prison
January 12 - The Cost of Wartime Industrial Peace
January 11 - Battle of the Running Bulls
January 10 - The Rise of Settlement Houses
January 9 - Courts Stand Against Workers
January 8 - Oil Workers Walk Out Across the Country
January 7 - Tragic Youngstown Massacre
January 6 - Remembering Ida Tarbell
January 5 - Ohio First to Enact Black Laws
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