Yenkin-Majestic Paint Corporation pleaded guilty in federal court to a negligent endangerment charge related to an explosion that killed a press room supervisor, hospitalized eight other workers and caused more than $90 million in property damages.
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The Department of Justice reported that the Ohio-based coatings and resin manufacturer fabricated and installed a new door, or manway, on one of the kettles at its Columbus facility in 2020. However, Yenkin did not pressure-test the manway before returning the kettle to service despite several instances of high-pressure spikes.
The manway began leaking after installation. Still, Yenkin kept using the kettle and added a thicker gasket, which it mistakenly believed was made of Teflon but was actually silicone.
In April 2021, Yenkin was making a resin in the kettle when an operator restarted an agitator without realizing it had stopped. The DOJ stated that the stoppage was likely due to electrical work. Turning the agitator back on caused the contents to vaporize and increased the pressure inside the kettle. The closed manway and gasket could not contain the pressure and began releasing a mixture of hot resin liquid and flammable solvent vapor into the plant.
Flammable gas detectors in the facility noticed the vapors, but they were not configured to sound an audible alarm. The vapors eventually found an ignition source and exploded.
Six months later, OSHA cited Yenkin for two willful and 33 serious safety violations and proposed about $710,000 in penalties. The DOJ release did not detail the sentence or other penalties the company could face following the guilty plea.
Yenkin has not responded to IEN’s request for comment.
