Posted on 10/25/2009 3:00:25 PM PDT by Ebenezer
More than 100 federal agents entered the smoldering Caribbean Petroleum Corporation fuel depot on Sunday as the investigation began in earnest into the cause of an explosion that rocked the San Juan metro area early Friday morning and sparked a massive fire that burned for more than two days.
The blast registered 2.8 on the Richter scale and the ensuing blaze sent up an enormous tower of toxic smoke that forced the evacuation of some 1,500 residents from communities surrounding the Bayamón facility.
Marcial Orlando Félix, the head of the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Bureau in Puerto Rico said Sunday marked the first time that ATF and FBI agents have been able to enter the site since the blast shortly before 12:30 a.m. Friday. Federal agents have been at the scene since then as a crew of nearly 200 firefighters battled the blaze around the clock before nearly snuffing the flames on Sunday.
Officials said only one tank containing 210,000 barrels of jet fuel remained burning and that was finally extinguished sometime Sunday afternoon. The facility supplies the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, some 200 Gulf gas stations on the island and stores jet fuel.
“We have extinguished the fire completely. Life is starting to get back to normal,” Gov. Luis Fortuño said Sunday afternoon.
“Now comes the step of reconstruction these communities and continuing with the investigative stage,” the governor said. “The imminent danger is over.”
Félix said the investigation could be a lengthy one due to the extent of the damage; some 21 of the 40 tanks at the facility burned.
“Processing the scene is going to be hard,” Félix said. “It is big and complicated. ... They are going to take their time.”
The ATF and FBI each deployed some 60 agents to the probe, including specialists flown in from the U.S. mainland.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Luis Fraticelli said the team includes experts in chemistry, explosives, security and fires.
“They are here to analyze the scene, to analyze the evidence and, later, will present a report based on the results that will tell us what happened here,” said Fraticelli after inspecting the site with Police Superintendent José Figueroa Sancha and ATF regional chief Hugo Barrera.
“We are confident we can determine exactly what happened here,” said Fraticelli, who also expressed confidence that the scene had not been tampered with.
Officials have not speculated on the cause of the explosion as investigative efforts had been on hold as the fire continued to rage. Federal and local authorities are working together on the case. Federal agents were treating the depot as a crime scene and investigating graffiti found on two San Juan tunnels that referred to the fire and the depot’s owners, FBI Special Agent Harry Rodríguez told CNN.
Environmental Quality Board spokesman Luis Antonio Ocasio said personnel from the island agency had already begun clean-up work.on fuel and the foam used to snuff the flames that marked the grounds and bodies of water at the site.
“The environmental damage is evident,” Ocasio said.
Federal aid has been freed up for Puerto Rico after President Barack Obama declared an emergency zone in the five island towns surrounding the site of the massive fire at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. fuel depot facility in Bayamón, where crews got the upper hand on the blaze Sunday.
The White House ordered federal aid to supplement commonwealth and local response efforts in the area struck by explosions at around 12:30 a.m. Friday and the subsequent fire. The blaze reached 18 of the facility’s 40 tanks, but had been nearly snuffed by Sunday after fire crews battled it around the clock for more than two days.
“It’s almost extinguished entirely,” Fire Chief Pedro Vázquez said Sunday morning.
Obama’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the municipalities of Bayamón, Cataño, Guaynabo, San Juan, and Toa Baja.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75% funding.
FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate named Philip E. Parr as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.
The governor had declared a state of emergency in San Juan, Bayamón, Cataño, Guaynabo and Toa Baja, but estimated the cost of battling the blaze at $6.4 million.
Also, despite concerns over changing weather patterns, government officials said air quality remained good in communities near the fire and no new evacuation orders were expected.
Fire crews had been fighting the fire since an explosion at around 12:30 a.m. Friday that rocked the San Juan metropolitan area and quickly torched 11 of 40 tanks, eventually reaching 21.
Only a few people were slightly injured by the blast, which broke windows, tore doors off their hinges and shook the ground.
Authorities evacuated more than 1,000 residents Friday night in areas near the fire, and 530 people spent the evening in shelters the government set up in public facilities.
The National Weather Service issued a bulletin Saturday warning residents in six towns west of San Juan that winds were turning more easterly, which was pushing the toxic smoke plume their way.
“The smoke plume from the CAPECO/Gulf tank farm is moving west-northwest over the municipalities of Cataño, Toa Baja and Dorado. Additionally, shower activity is developing. This will increase the chance of rain and variability of wind speed and direction. Residents are urged to stay indoors during rain to avoid exposure to harmful particulates,” the NWS said in a special bulletin.
The smoke, which loomed thousands of feet above the raging fire in a tight cone throughout Friday, was hovering much closer to the ground Saturday and was also more dispersed than previously. Despite the development, Environmental Quality Board monitoring in communities near the blaze showed that air quality remained good.
EQB President Pedro Nieves Miranda said Saturday evening that air quality levels remained good and were “well below” federal government limits on air quality particulates. He also said the possibility of acid rain was “nil” because of the almost complete absence of sulfur in the air.
While the governor said there was no need for more evacuations, authorities have urged residents — especially those with respiratory problems — who live near the site to temporarily move elsewhere until the fire is extinguished and the smoke dissipates.
“The smoke is extremely toxic,” said José Bartolomei, a state epidemiologist who monitors asthma. “An asthmatic patient will definitely hyper-react to this."
Firefighters continued to “chill” the unaffected tanks as the National Guard took over the direction of the disaster Saturday, as more heavy equipment and experts from the United States and elsewhere continued to be flown in.
Authorities also set up an above ground pipeline to bring seawater to San Juan Bay to the site to provide more water sources to fight the blaze. They also dug dikes around the site to contain the runoff of contaminated water used to control the blaze, which was being trucked out to processing plants for cleansing.
The governor said schools would open Monday, as officials announced alternate traffic routes because sections of the De Diego Expressway and other adjacent roads remain closed.
Company spokesman Eric Guzmán said Saturday that the company has hired an independent crew to help quell the fire and that it is cooperating with authorities. He said he did not know how much fuel is stored in the tanks.
“Nobody is prepared for a fire like this. I’m calling on the four million Puerto Ricans to thank God tomorrow because this could have been much worse than it was,” the governor said Saturday.
Attorneys John F. Nevares and Camilo K. Salas filed the first lawsuit stemming from the incident, in the name of a married couple, Eliezer Cruz Aponte and Magdalena Caraballo, who live near the site.
The attorneys, estimated $500 billion in damages, are asking for a class action designation on behalf of “all residents and inhabitants of San Juan and surrounding towns, including Cataño, Toa Baja and Bayamón, who have suffered damage or loss for the explosion of the Gulf Oil installation on Oct. 23, 2009.”
Ricardo Santos, an official at UTIER, the largest electrical utility union in Puerto Rico, said Friday information had begun to circulate that work had been done at the facility to try to stop a leak on Thursday afternoon.
“When the situation became critical, the managers of the petroleum company evacuated all the personnel as they were aware of the serious situation that was happening and the danger it posed to employees and the communities,” said Santos, a former UTIER president.
Company officials say they have operated in compliance with federal and local regulations.
ping
Terrorism has already been ruled out.. in the first news report..
Ah......nothing to see here.
I’ll move along.
Maybe by the local labor unions in order to cover themselves, but the site of the fire is still being treated as a crime scene.
Follow up:
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has ruled out sabotage or terrorism.
http://www.elnuevodia.com/nohubomanocriminalencapeco-632348.html
"There was a spill while they were filling one of the tanks. The fuel entered into the water drain which took it to a treatment plant where the gases accumulated and the explosion occurred".
Thanks.
As “promised”, I am VERY surprised.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.