Damage from explosion at Utah plant estimated at $200,000

Friday, Aug. 1, 1997 | 9:03 a.m.

Daniel Balduck, 48, a supervisor and 16-year employee of Western Electrochemical Co., died in the blast Wednesday at the plant 10 miles west of here.

Fork-lift operator Ronald Ray Meachum, 44, Parowan, was in critical condition with burns over 50 percent of his body, a spokeswoman for the Intermountain Burn Center at University Hospital in Salt Lake City said.

Vincent Halwell, 34, Cedar City; David Chapman, 44, Parowan, and John Garrett, 37, Cedar City, were treated for minor injuries and released from Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City on Wednesday.

"There's still nothing totally concrete," on the cause of the explosion, Nielsen said.

John R. Gibson, president of American Pacific Corp., which owns WECCO, said previously the explosion may have occurred when workers tried to clean out a clogged dust collector.

Nielsen said the blast occurred on the outside of the "bag house," where the bag that collects dust is stored. The explosion involved ammonium perchlorate, the main ingredient of solid-fuel rocket propellant.

"The inside of the building is intact," Nielsen said. Because the fire was on the outside of the building, the sprinklers on the inside did not go off.

Utah Occupational Safety and Health compliance manager Bob Dreman said state investigators were at the site assessing damage and interviewing employees to determine if any safety standards were violated. They were expected to issue a report in a week to 10 days, he said Thursday.