Dia de los Muertos: When the CSB Reports Fatalities

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”  — Thomas Campbell

Remembering the dead. For those U.S. military personnel who died while serving, we have Memorial Day, the last Monday in May. For those who died doing their job, we now have the International Worker’s Memorial Day, on April 28. At my church, we have All Saints’ Day, on November 1, and All Souls’ Day, on November 2. And, most dramatically, here in our offices on Cherokee Street in the middle of a thriving Hispanic neighborhood, we have Dia de los Muertos, on November 1 and 2, to remind us to think of all our dead.

Perhaps coincidentally, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released its most recent report on events that cause “an accidental release of a regulated substance or extremely hazardous substance that results in a death, serious injury or substantial property damage” on October 23, just in time to remind us of the dead in our industry.

CSB’s Accidental Release Reporting Rule Data

The most recent report lists all of the releases that facilities have reported to the CSB, going back to the first on April 10, 2020. Altogether, the report lists 445 incidents. Of those, 63 had fatalities. The report does not list the names of people who died, or even the number of people who died, so by itself it is not a way to remember the dead. It is only a starting place.

But it is a good starting place for those willing to do a little digging.

63 Incidents of Releases with Fatalities

Remembering the Dead

The most recent event on the CSB list was on October 13, 2024. The list attributed it to CenterPoint Energy. CenterPoint Energy is a utility company based in Texas with natural gas distribution operations in Minnesota and five other states. The CSB list says the release occurred in Rogers, Minnesota. News accounts showed that there was a house fire in Rogers on Sunday, October 13. Two firefighters suffered injuries, and the Rogers Fire Department found the body of Bradley Hemmesch, 41, in the home after they extinguished the fire.

Another two releases on the CSB list were both in Rapid City, South Dakota and were both attributed to Montana-Dakota Utilities. One was on February 10, 2023, and the more recent one was on April 9, 2024. It seemed that it would be hard for an operation to suffer two fatal events within 14 months of each other.

The February 10 event involved a driver crashing into a home and severing a gas line. The resulting gas cloud exploded, and the fire damaged the home beyond repair. The driver, Mark Anthony Linn, 55, died in the event.

The April 9 event also involved a car wreck. Two men were in an SUV that crashed into an apartment building and again, severed a gas line. Fortunately, there was no explosion or fire, but natural gas concentrations exceeded the lower explosive limit. Both men, Zachary Vermeulen, 28, and Andrew Smith, 24, died in the incident.

Montana-Dakota Utilities operations included natural gas pipelines and distribution. They operate in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.

The Names We Know, The Names We Don’t Know

• Bradley Hemmesch, 41, died Sunday, October 13, 2024, in a natural gas fueled house fire.
• Mark Anthony Linn, 55, died February 10, 2023, in a car crash that severed a natural gas line and exploded.
• Andrew Smith, 24, died Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in the same SUV crash that severed a natural gas line that did not burn.
• Zachary Vermeulen, 28, died Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in a SUV crash that severed a natural gas line that did not burn.

Even though these fatalities appear on the CSB list of events, we wouldn’t consider any of these fatalities as “work-related” or “process safety” issues.

But they are still dead. Dia de los Muertos is a good day to remember them, and all the dead represented on the CSB list.