In 2011, a blow tank explosion took place at Terrace Bay Pulp mill, in Ontario, Canada, killing one worker. The company recently pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable precautions, and has been fined $275,000 by the Ontario provincial court, according to Pulp & Paper Canada.
The explosion at the kraft pulp mill occurred on October 31, while a hairline crack in the wall of a steel blow tank was being welded. The explosion caused the top section of the tank to be driven upward into the steel beams supporting the roof of the facility, creating a big hole in the roof and a debris field with a radius of about 300 feet.
A few months after the explosion, Terrace Bay Pulp Inc. stopped production and became insolvent. The mill was sold in 2012 to Aditya Birla Group, and restarted.
