The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has released a second update on the agency’s ongoing investigation of the 12 November 2024 explosion at the Givaudan Sense Colour facility in Louisville, Kentucky. The explosion fatally injured two employees and seriously injured three others.
Large metal fragments of equipment were thrown up to 400 feet away from the facility, damaging nearby homes and businesses and prompting local officials to issue a shelter-in-place order for a one-mile radius. The facility has since ceased operations and is being demolished.
The facility was producing caramel food colouring in a batch reactor at the time of the incident. To determine whether the material being processed in the reactor on the day of the incident experienced a hazardous “runaway” reaction, the CSB conducted laboratory reactivity tests on representative samples of the material.
The CSB continues to examine the causes of the explosion, including equipment analysis and evaluation of the reactor’s relief system. A final report with findings and safety recommendations will be issued upon completion of the investigation.
