Human Error and Spark Get Blame in Fatal Explosion

A static electric spark inside an oil tank and human error probably caused the Chevron drill-site explosion that rocked a Pacoima neighborhood last week, a Fire Department official told residents Saturday.

“In that tank, there was an explosive mixture,” Bob Aaron, a battalion chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department told the nearly 70 residents attending a two-hour backyard meeting organized by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda). “There were flammable liquids and fumes inside the tank. . . . We have found no outside source.”

The exact cause of the blast and the nature of the human error were still unknown and under investigation, officials said.

Many residents, however, said they believed a natural-gas leak at the Paxton Street drilling facility sparked the blast Wednesday morning as three workers cleaned the tank. The explosion killed Chevron employee John Kuhns, 36, of Rowland Heights and injured two other men employed by a vacuum-truck company that contracts with Chevron.

Odor Permeates Area

Residents told the dozen officials attending the meeting that a gas-like odor has permeated the neighborhood several hours at a time in past weeks, causing many residents to have severe headaches and nausea.

“People are getting physically ill here,” Rosemarie Smith told officials.

“For three to four days before the explosion, I smelled so much gas it made me sick,” said another resident. “When that thing blew the other day, I thought an atomic bomb had gone off on top of my house.”

But officials denied a connection between the odor and the explosion.

“What exploded was not natural gas,” Aaron said.

“We feel the accident in no way relates to plant operations. We’re very comfortable operating,” said Rodney K. Spackman, public affairs manager for Chevron. Spackman said Chevron resumed operation at the site Thursday night.

The experts, however, said they have been unable to determine the cause of the smell.

“There is an odor, but, quite frankly, we don’t know where it’s coming from,” Aaron said.

Investigations by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Southern California Gas Co. also have turned up no clues, representatives of those agencies told residents.

William E. Tinsman, supervising engineering inspector for the AQMD, said a leak of a nontoxic chemical designed to give naturally odorless gas a noticeable smell could be escaping from a facility operated by the Southern California Gas Co. at the Chevron site.

‘Not A Danger’

“It could be a spill of the odorant, making it smell like a natural gas leak,” he said. “It is not a danger, but it is a problem and cannot be ignored.”

Katz said he will organize resident tours of the Chevron facility and promised that AQMD workers will patrol the neighborhood daily this week in an effort to locate the source of the smell.

“The most important answer the Fire Department gave is that they feel it’s safe to operate the plant,” Katz said.

Meanwhile, Chevron officials said they will hold off cleaning more tanks until they pinpoint the cause of the blast.