Timet’s pollution plan to be aired at public forum

Thursday, March 6, 2003 | 9 a.m.

Titanium Metals Corp. has reduced pollutants at its Henderson plant, officials plan to report at a community meeting tonight.

Residents can ask Timet officials and Clark County Air Quality Department managers about the industry's efforts to lower pollutants. The public forum will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Henderson Convention Center, 200 Water St.

"Timet has implemented a number of programs within its production process to dramatically reduce its air emissions," said Carrie MacDougall, assistant director of the county's Air Quality Department, which is responsible for enforcing local air quality regulations.

The company, in a Henderson industrial complex, has a history of accidents, explosions, fires and spills in its half-century of operation.

In 1996, Timet agreed to pay $125,265 in fines for numerous safety violations, including one that contributed to a worker's death in January 1995.

Douglas Sloan, 45, died when he was overcome by toxic argon gas after climbing to the bottom of a tank to retrieve a tool.

In 1997 state and county officials investigated multiple accidents at the plant, including an explosion that injured two workers.

In August 1998 a spill of 1,000 pounds of molten magnesium triggered a major explosion at the plant. No one was hurt, but the explosion caused a chemical fire that burned for about three hours and forced 40 workers on the graveyard shift to evacuate. The fire caused $300,000 in damages.