The Use and Storage of
Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)
at Bayer CropScience

Committee on Inherently Safer Chemical Processes:
The Use of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) at Bayer CropScience

Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology

Division on Earth and Life Studies

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
               OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

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COMMITTEE ON INHERENTLY SAFER CHEMICAL PROCESSES:
THE USE OF METHYL ISOCYANATE (MIC) AT BAYER CROPSCIENCE

ELSA REICHMANIS (Chair), Georgia Institute of Technology

PAUL AMYOTTE, Dalhousie University

PETER BEAK, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

MICHAEL L. P. ELLIOTT, Georgia Institute of Technology

WAYNE B. GRAY, Clark University

DENNIS C. HENDERSHOT, Independent Consultant

ANDREA KIDD TAYLOR, Morgan State University

MICHAEL K. LINDELL, Texas A&M University

JACQUELINE MCDONALD GIBSON, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

JEFFERY J. SIIROLA, Eastman Chemical Company (retired)

JOHN SORENSEN, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (resigned from committee on 2/28/2011)

National Research Council Staff

KATHRYN HUGHES, Study Director

DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director

JEFFREY JACOBS, Director, Water Science and Technology Board

ERICKA MCGOWAN, Program Officer (until April 2011)

SHEENA SIDDIQUI, Senior Program Associate

AMANDA CLINE, Administrative Assistant

RACHEL YANCEY, Senior Program Assistant

BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

PABLO DEBENEDETTI (Co-Chair), Princeton University

C. DALE POULTER (Co-Chair), University of Utah, Salt Lake City

ZHENAN BAO, Stanford University

ROBERT G. BERGMAN, University of California, Berkeley

HENRY E. BRYNDZA, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company

EMILY CARTER, Princeton University

DAVID CHRISTIANSON, University of Pennsylvania

MARY JANE HAGENSON, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC

CAROL J. HENRY, The George Washington University

JILL HRUBY, Sandia National Laboratories

MICHAEL KERBY, ExxonMobil Chemical

CHARLES E. KOLB, Aerodyne Research, Inc.

JOSEF MICHL, University of Colorado, Boulder

SANDER G. MILLS, Merck, Sharp, & Dohme Corporation

DAVID MORSE, Corning Inc.

ROBERT E. ROBERTS, Institute for Defense Analyses

DARLENE J. SOLOMON, Agilent Technologies

JEAN TOM, Bristol-Myers Squibb

DAVID WALT, Tufts University

National Research Council Staff

DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director

KATHRYN HUGHES, Program Officer

TINA M. MASCIANGIOLI, Senior Program Officer

DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN, Program Officer

AMANDA CLINE, Administrative Assistant

SHEENA SIDDIQUI, Senior Program Associate

RACHEL YANCEY, Senior Program Assistant

Acknowledgments

The Committee on Inherently Safer Chemical Processes: The Use of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) At Bayer CropScience would like to thank the many technical, chemical, and engineering experts who contributed to the integrity of this report through the submission of informative materials and attendance of committee meetings. The committee would like to acknowledge Amy McCormick and Lucy Sciallo-Tyler of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; Steven Smythe, Patrick Ragan, Connie Stewart, Cindi Lester, Walter Martin, and the staff of the Bayer CropScience facility in Institute, West Virginia; Scott Berger, Center for Chemical Process Safety; Randall Sawyer, Contra Costa County; George Famini and George Emmett, Department of Homeland Security Analysis Center; John Carberry, Carberry EnviroTech; Matthew Blackwood and Larry Zuspan, Kanawha Putman Emergency Planning Committee; Craig Mattheisson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Warren Woomer of Charleston, South Carolina. We would also like to thank West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia for hosting the committee members and National Research Council staff for an open public comment session. Our thanks to all those who participated in the comment periods and who contributed information in support of the committee’s data-gathering efforts.

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Acknowledgment of Reviewers

This report has been reviewed in draft form by persons chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets institutional standards of objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following for their review of this report:

DANIEL A. CROWL, Michigan Technological University

CHAU-CHYUN CHEN, AspenTech

MARTIN SHERWIN, W.R. Grace & Company, Retired

JOHN SAWYER, MATRIC Research

MICHAEL WRIGHT, United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (United Steelworkers)

SCOTT FARROW, UMBC

GAIL BINGHAM, RESOLVE

NED HEINDEL, Lehigh University

MICHAEL R. HOFFMAN, California Institute of Technology

PAM NIXON, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection

MAY BERENBAUM, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

JOHN H. SORENSEN, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired)

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by David Bonner, Stematix, Inc. and W. Carl Lineberger, University of Colorado at Boulder. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authors and the institution.

Contents

Summary

Technical Summary

1 Introduction

2 Bhopal and Chemical Process Safety

3 Industrial Production and Use of MIC at Bayer CropScience

4 The Concepts of Inherently Safer Processes and Assessment

5 MIC and Pesticide Production at the Institute Plant: Alternatives Assessment

6 A Framework for Decision Making

7 Process Safety Management at Bayer CropScience

8 Post-incident Retrospective Process Assessment

Appendixes

A Statement of Task

B Carbamate Pesticide and Methyl Isocyanate Timeline

C Emergency Response and Emergency Preparedness

D Policy Context of Inherently Safer Processes

E Meeting Agendas

F Biographies of Committee Members

G Acronyms

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