The Danger of Popcorn Polymer: Incident at the TPC Group Chemical Plant

A CSB safety video on the November 2019 incident at the TPC Group Chemical Plant in Port Neches, Texas. A series of explosions destroyed a portion of the TPC facility, damaged nearby homes and businesses, and prompted a mandatory evacuation of residents living within four miles of the plant. Several workers and members of the public reported injuries and fires burned at the facility for over a month. The incident caused $450 million in on-site property damage and $153 million in off-site property damage to nearby homes and businesses. Media reports indicated that the blast was felt up to 30 miles away.

[billiondollardan]

I can't believe that a government agency makes some of my favorite YouTube videos. I've been watching these for years now

[texasslingleadsomtingwong]

I live about 4 miles away . The blast was something out of this world . A couple thousand homes were damaged as well as many businesses.
And for added fun, my wife, three sons and I spent Thanksgiving in my sisters spare room, while fractional distillation tanks tried to enter the space program. At that point we were about 7 miles from the refinery.
For what its worth, ive spent alot of time in that refinery as well a couple of refineries next door to it . Butadiene is always in the air. They ran that plant like they could care less if it blew up . Run til it breaks policy .
Its still shut down today, thank god.

[nirbhay_raghav]

I am not even a US citizen but from what we know about government agencies worldwide it would be more than safe to say that this organization has a benchmark of its own. After watching this video I have realized that not only did they analyzed the whole incident and recommended changes but they also took the pain to make this video. The animatio is top notch which is almost never seen in government videos. Thanks a lot to the team for sparking curiosity in us.

[hoodedferret]

USCSB is the only US government agency I have subscription notifications on for. You all have done fantastic work for these 25 years, even while your recommendations have been continually ignored by Congress, the API, the NFPA, and OSHA. It would be easy to give up and feel that it's all pointless, but I hope everyone at the USCSB feels proud that they have successfully transcended into and captured the interest of a new generation of Americans (a feat virtually no other government agency can currently claim.) Happy anniversary, and I hope that this newfound interest in the work of the USCSB leads to more voter interest in funding, maintaining, and expanding the investigatory and regulatory agencies of the US government that spend American taxes trying to keep Americans safe from real threats and gross negligence instead of using those taxes to send (mostly poor) Americans off to pointless wars.

[Snarklz]

I am not involved in industrial process safety, but I do work in the MEP building systems field. Listening to these fascinating failures is very educational, and the CSB does a great job of making the videos compelling, even for those with limited technical expertise. Please continue to produce this content, it is very well done!

[riverrebel]

No deaths is insane. I work in a factory and it's easy to overlook and not have the knowledge to identify things, which is why getting that information out is so important

[ladyrazorsharp]

My dad, grandpa, and uncles worked in construction as pipe fitters and welders all my life. I’m sure that they worked in many plants like this, and it brings home that following safety policies and procedures can save not only the lives of plant workers but folks who work on contract, like my family. I thank God that none of them were seriously hurt on the job. This video was excellently presented and the information was easy to understand even for a layperson like me.

[Esbbbb]

Can we get a moment to appreciate the production value here? The animations, narration and editing are just excellent.

[tunatuna]

Our day is made! Thank you, USCSB, for continuing to produce such high-quality content. May we all take lessons from the loss of others.

[zqxzqxzqx]

(Just an interested librarian here!) This channel is informative, interesting, and somewhat depressing, considering that your recommendations tend to be routinely ignored. When this video stated that the company accepted a recommendation, I almost fell out of my chair. Seconds later, we learned that they did nothing, as usual. Regardless, thanks for all you do. I like to dream of a world where human life is valued above the profits of a handful of sociopaths. It's a nice dream. Keep up the good work!

[Nickelbender]

I love these videos, for a person like me who looves to see how things work, being able to go inside the equipment and literarly see the flow of gasses and liquids just makes things soo much more interesting, also I find the accident investigations really fascinating, what happened where and why. I think animations like this should be used everywhere, in order to explain any sort of technical concepts, no matter if its an accident investigation or just teaching someone how a oil refinery works. I have been obsessed with these videos every now and again since I was like 7 and I remember having my dad try to explain me what happened when I didn't understand. Thank you CSB for teaching me and entertaining me for years.

[MrDael]

I work in the petrochemical industry, with polymerizable substances that are quite similar to butadiene. The findings hit home. I will share this video tomorrow with all my colleagues in the plant management, who I am sure will appreciate it.

[sourhour]

The graphic upgrade is insane! These are the highest quality and most informative workplace accident breakdowns on Youtube. There are equals in other fields, but none get close in this one. Blessed be the regulations!

[blakemalley]

one thing I will never figure out, is companies not performing repairs or maintenance due to "slowing down production", when the obvious known risk is the loss of the whole plant or factory with everyone with it (which does more than just "slow down production")

[kngurfer]

Please come back USCSB! You had some of the best content on youtube!

[moe]

This is easily my favorite channel on Youtube. No sensationalizing, just straight facts, science, well put together animation that's easy to follow. Wish more documentary type channels did theirs like this when disasters. Thanks USCSB for keeping these up!

[render]

Just wanted to say that I really enjoy the narrator. His cadence and vocal tones add a lot of warmth and interest to what is (purposefully) a dry script. I respect the all-info, no nonsense aspect of this channel, and the engaging narrator plus excellent animations make it easy to pay attention to.

[rustymotor]

I have worked in the petroleum industry as a process maintenance technician, I love these videos and help my awareness of the dangers of handling volatile substances. I sure hope these videos are used as training material for anyone involved in industrial process systems and especially for people new to the industry such as apprentices. I must say these videos have excellent attention to detail in the research of past events and the narration is fantastic! Well done USCSB!

[dudeeee]

I've been watching these videos for a long time, and I'm always blown away at how far the animation has come.

[randomman]

A month's long fire? Wow. It's interesting how you don't hear about many of these incidents on the national news. I really appreciate the USCSB creating such well produced informational videos for the public.