Two killed in synthetic gas explosion at coal plant north of Terre Haute

By Howard Greninger

A faulty flange resulted in synthetic gas exploding and killing two workers Monday at SG Solutions, a coal gasification plant north of Terre Haute.

Danny Turner of Marshall, Ill. and David Shoemaker of Rosedale were presumed killed in the accident about 10:50 a.m., said Vigo County Sheriff Jon Marvel. The sheriff said a positive identification is expected to be made within two days.

SG Solutions at 444 W. Sandford Ave. sits adjacent to Duke Energy Wabash Power Generation Station.

The two were employees of Sterling Boiler and Mechanical Inc., an Evansville-based firm founded in 1982 to help utility companies with emergency repairs, fabrication and construction projects.

“Sterling is assisting local authorities in every way possible in determining the cause of the explosion. Our hearts and prayers are with the families of these individuals,” Sterling Boiler said in a company statement.

The two men, members of Boilermakers Local 374, were working about 150 feet in the air on the eighth deck of a coal gasifier, which is used in the process of turning coal into gas. The men were tightening bolts on the flanged opening, similar to a manhole cover, when the flange failed, causing an explosion, said Richard Payonk, plant manager.

“Our process runs at 400 pounds of pressure producing a synthetic gas, and consequently, when that flanged opening failed, it did release the contents of the gasification facility,” Payonk said. “At 400 pounds of pressure, that is a fairly violent release.

“At this time, we don’t have further information on the cause or root cause of that particular failure; that will come out in the investigation in days to come. Our first and foremost priority of course is our thoughts and prayers with the families of these workers, who are our friends. We are a very close-knit group here at the plant,” Payonk said.

The coal gasification plant shut down within five minutes of the incident and purged gas from its system, Payonk said. The company then dispatched workers to “the nearby community and there was no adverse impact or effect to the local community, even within a half mile of the facility.”

Payonk said counselors from Hamilton Center were on-site to console workers. SG Solutions, including contractors, employs about 80 people at its facility, which is just east of Indiana 63, about six miles north of Terre Haute.

“We will have a full investigation. We have contacted all of the state and local as well as federal authority with regard to this incident … and identify to the extent that we can what has occurred, why it has occurred and put corrective actions in so such a thing can never happen again,” Payonk said.

It was the first fatal accident at the facility.

John Sisco of Clinton said he has worked on other jobs with both men believed to be the victims in Monday’s explosion. Sisco went to the plant after learning of the explosion.

“I knew Danny for 25 years and Dave for 15 years,” Sisco said. “They were great guys, very professional, topnotch, grade-A boilermakers. It’s just a tragic thing to happen. I’m really saddened by it.”

Sisco said he, Turner and Shoemaker are members of the Boilermakers Local 374.

The explosion could be heard by some residents of Terre Town, about five miles southeast of SG Solutions.

“It was pretty loud. It just kept roaring,” said William Christiano, 1315 Dahlen Ave., who said the explosion rattled windows in his home. Christiano said he thought he was experiencing “another earthquake.”

Wabash Valley Power owns 50 percent of SG Solutions, which transforms petroleum coke into synthetic natural gas, which is then burned to generate electricity. The company last year bought one unit of the Wabash River Power Station from Duke Energy. The unit includes a 192-megawatt gas turbine and 100-megawatt steam turbine, along with the unit’s associated equipment and property.

The facility is one of only two integrated gasification combined cycle facilities in the United States.

Wabash Valley Power is a generation and transmission cooperative based in Indianapolis that provides wholesale electricity to 28 electric distribution cooperatives in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio.

Rick Burger, spokesman for Duke Energy, said its 130 employees were accounted for after the incident.

Howard Greninger can be contacted at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.

Tribune Star reporter Arthur Foulkes contributed to this report.

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