At 0507 hours, OSC Mike Nalipinski deployed to a Chemical Plant explosion and resulting 10-alarm fire at CAI, Inc in Danvers, MA. Nearly 90 homes were damaged and many destroyed. These homes and many more were initially evacuated. Ten of the more than 300 people believed to be at home at the time of the explosion suffered minor injuries. Numerous boats at the nearby Liberty Marina on the Waters River were damaged. The explosion was felt by residents up to 20 miles away.
Initial efforts focused upon fire suppression. Though the site is in the USCG Area of Responsibility, EPA was tasked to perform air and water sampling to assess human health and environmental impacts. Public information efforts were also extensive and EPA provided Public Information Officer Support.
Two plants were colocated in the one building. CAI Inc is a 21-year old family-run company headquartered in Georgetown, MA which manufactures inks and coatings. The second company, Arnel Comapny, Inc. is a surface coating manufacturer.
On February 9, 2007 CAI/Arnel completed fencing of their property. EPA transitioned the control of the site to CAI/Arnel which included the investigator's evidence container.
On March 9, 2007 all EPA site activities were completed (including the final soil shipment), and all equipment and personnel were demobilized from the site.
FOR THE MOST UP-TO DATE PUBLIC INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO EPA NEW ENGLAND'S MAIN WEB SITE-DANVERSPORT EXPLOSION PAGE AT:
http://www.epa.gov/region1/er/sites/danvers/index.html
