CITY OF WICHITA FALLS

INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
with copies of the injured employees emergency contact forms printed from the
Laserfische archives. Risk did not go back in to the employees hospital rooms where
Mr. Arredondo and Mr. Sheppard were.
Per-conversation with Harold Burris Waste Water Coll/Treat Superintendent: It was
considered unusual for there to be hazardous levels of hydrogen sulfide in the area in
which the employees were working; however, there have been occasions in the past
where conditions required employees to utilize PPE for maintenance work in this area.
The ventilation (pictured at 4:20 in the video), both outgoing and intake, was functioning
normally. The door to the building was open and there was less than 1 of sewage on the
floor of the basement. The source of the H2S was the sludge that came out of the valve
and what was present in the pipes when the valve was open for repairs. There is no
existing standard operating procedure for this type of routine maintenance; every other
Friday the valves are opened up and cleaned. This is basic PM in order to keep
employees from having to be called in over the weekend to repair damage such as what
occurred with this incident. The Bi-Weekly maintenance would not typically require
SCBA or atmospheric testing. However, employees are instructed to utilize (gas
detectors) atmospheric testing in incidents where sludge has leaked onto the floor. In
discussion with the employees, it was verified that their supervisor does remind them to
use the gas detectors when sludge is on the floor.
Mr. Burris also stated that the only
y new material that had been introduced recently
y was a
gglycerin
y
yp
p
This pproject
j
began
g two weeks prior
p
to
byproduct
from a biodiesel production.
the incident,, and is common practice
p
p
p
amongg Texas municipalities.
The production
companies
p
p wastewater treatment plants
p
p
gy
, and it is
use municipal
to dispose
of the glycerin,
easilyy broken down by
y the bacteria ppresent in the wastewater treatment process.
p
A tanker
truck containingg glycerin
gy
was feeding
g it in to the sludge
g digesters
g
duringg the initial
investigation,
g
, which is located further down the pipeline
pp
from the primary
p
y pumps
p p where
this incident occurred. The gglycerin
y
would not have been passed
p
g the pprimaryy
through
ppumps
p at any
y ppoint. There is also construction taking
g pplace near the entrance at the
opposite
pp
y, currentlyy still in the ggroundbreaking
g stage.
g As of the date of
side of the facility,
this report,
p , there is an ongoing
g g investigation
g
into the effect that this project has had on the
sulfate levels in the waste water sludge.
According to P/P Maintenance Mechanics Timothy Pecka and Dan Langford, the valve
traps debris and must be cleaned bi-weekly to avoid pressure build-up. Maintenance
work had been completed on valve 223 the day before.5/6 In this instance, pressure had
built up in the valve, causing the nut (pictured at 1:55 in the video) to shear off.
According to superintendent Harold Burris, this has occurred 6 times in the past 12
months. Proper procedures were followed by turning off the valve, and turning off air
compressor that feeds the line running through the valve that was being worked on. The
material that had spilled out of the valve and onto the floor was minimal (1/2 layer on
the floor), but was darker than normal, very goopy and thicker than normal. It also
stained the concrete black.6

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