Plan for Wal-Mart next to BMI raises questions of safety

Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005 | 7:29 a.m.

Wary of potentially putting people in harm's way, Clark County officials have limited development near an industrial area where accidents in the late 1980s and early 1990s killed two and injured hundreds.

But Henderson is considering reversing that policy.

The city is studying a plan to put a 73-acre regional shopping center with a Wal-Mart Supercenter and Sam's Club on the edge of the Basic Management Inc. site, where four companies still store and use hazardous chemicals.

The Wal-Mart would sit about 700 feet from Titanium Metals Corp.'s plant, which manufactures titanium. Sam's Club would sit about 700 feet from Kerr-McGee, which manufactures manganese dioxide and boron.

Also on the industrial site are Pioneer Chlor Alkali, which makes chlorine for water treatment and industrial uses, and Saguaro Power, a co-generation power plant that burns leftover hydrogen from the chlorine process.

Richard Brenner, Clark County Fire Department hazardous materials coordinator, said putting a 758,000-square-foot shopping center that close to the plants -- and the thousands of pounds of dangerous chemicals that the companies use -- wouldn't be a good decision.

"You are talking a lot of people there," he said. "The potential for having another event always exists."

There have been several accidents at the plants over the years. The most notable came just west of the site in 1988, at the former Pacific Engineering and Production Co. of Nevada, a plant that produced ammonium perchlorate, used in rocket fuel. An explosion there killed two people and injured 350.

Three years later, a chlorine leak at Pioneer Chlor Alkali made more than 300 people ill and caused the evacuation of thousands.

Those accidents prompted county officials, who have had jurisdiction over land use decisions at the site, to restrict development near BMI to create a buffer to minimize injuries from any future accidents.

But Henderson recently annexed the land at the northwest corner of Lake Mead Parkway and Water Street, where the proposed development would go, giving the city jurisdiction over development there.

This fall the Henderson Planning Commission and the City Council are scheduled to consider rezoning the land from industrial use to commercial use.

Mark Paris, chief executive officer of the LandWell Co., the real estate arm of the company that manages the huge industrial complex, said the safety concerns shouldn't be an issue.

"The concerns raised happened 15 to 16 years ago," Paris said. "They have a good track record of safety they have demonstrated over the last 15 years."

Doug Baker, a broker representing Wal-Mart, said the company still is analyzing the site's potential risks and has not yet completed the purchase of the land.

Compared to the dozens of calls a year in the 1990s, emergency responses at the site have been few in recent years because of the oversight by the state's Chemical Action Prevention Program that improved safety in the plants' processes, Brenner said.

Some of the plants produce chlorine and titanium tetrachloride, which when inhaled in large concentrations can damage lungs and cause death. If there's a chemical leak, the farther away people are, the safer they are because chemicals dissipate in the air, Brenner said.

He argues that it would be best to leave the property vacant or at most allow a light industrial use that would not generate much traffic.

"My biggest concern is more from the standpoint of establishing a buffer zone," Brenner said. "That way if we have an emergency, that area is clear. ... I can just imagine a super Wal-Mart, and you have a problem and have to evacuate. You dump everyone on Lake Mead (Parkway) when fire and police are responding. It is going to be tough."

Clark County officials said they have expressed concerns about residential and commercial development in Henderson encroaching on BMI, which over the past decade has seen other minor explosions, chemical leaks and fires. There have been fewer incidents recently.

Henderson Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers, who has expressed concerns about the project, fears that the city has not taken the potential dangers seriously enough.

"The last time we had a situation was 1991, and sometimes memories fade," Cyphers said.

Mike Cyphers, Henderson's emergency management coordinator and husband of the councilwoman, inspected the BMI plants during his previous position as a chemical engineer for the Clark County Fire Department. He said he raised concerns with city staff about having a commercial development next to plants where chemicals are stored.

Even though a staff report does not mention the chemical plant proximity and dangers, Henderson Community Development Director Bristol Ellington said the issue is clearly a concern and will be addressed in subsequent reports.

"We are going to make sure we will have safeguards in place," he said.

Brian Wargo can be reached a 259-4011 or by e-mail at wargo@lasvegassun.com.