Stricter laws on explosives manufacturers considered

CARSON CITY - A Senate panel has heard testimony on bills aimed at preventing another blast of the sort that killed four workers and injured six others at the Sierra Chemical Co. plant near Reno.

The proposals are among several measures suggested by a special commission headed by Nevada National Guard Adjutant Gen. Drennan "Tony" Clark. The plant was destroyed in a January 1998 explosion.

AB111 requires that workers get safety training in their language or by a videotape in a language they understand.

"Most if not all of the Sierra Chemical workers were of Hispanic background with limited use of the English language," Clark told the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Friday.

AB110 requires employees who work with explosives to be paid solely on the basis of hours worked. Workers at Sierra Chemical, which made explosives used by the mining industry, were paid on a piecework basis.

Commerce and Labor Chairman Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, stressed the importance of the legislation, adding "None of us want to hear about an incident like this two, four or six years from now."

Other bills would expand the authority of the Division of Industrial Relations to include oversight of the manufacturing and handling of explosives, and add dynamite to the list of chemicals under the scrutiny of state inspectors.

AB112, which requires annual certification of explosives manufacturing facilities and annual training of workers, had been stalled because of an estimated $376,000 price over the next two years.

But state occupational safety officials now say the measure will have no cost and they can handle the program with existing money.

The development, assuring the bill's movement from Assembly Ways and Means to the Assembly floor, was welcomed by Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance.

PLAN, with a wide-ranging membership that includes labor groups, had lobbied for all the measures that were developed following the Sierra Chemical explosion.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board decided the Sierra Chemical blast was likely caused by friction or static electricity in a unit where explosives were mixed or stored.

After surveying the scene and company records, Nevada officials found 43 safety violations and fined Sierra $1 million, a penalty the company is appealing.

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