All the news reports on the explosion at Belvidere’s NDK plant mentioned the fact that the building was designed so that in the event of an explosion, the exterior walls would detach and hurtle themselves away from the structure.
“The building was designed so that panels will fly away in an explosion, and it worked perfectly,” said Belvidere Fire Chief David Worrell.
It worked perfectly unless you were Ronald Greenfield of Chesterton, Ind., a trucker parked at the nearby Belvidere Oasis on the Illinois Tollway, which is adjacent to the NDK plant. He died when hit by flying debris from the NDK building.
The next to paragraphs are in quotes because they’re from the Register Star story on the blast:
“The tall, 55,000-square-foot building, visible from Interstate 90, opened in 2003 at a cost of $12.5 million. It houses NDK Crystal and NDK America Inc., and serves as the North American headquarters for their Japan-based parent company, Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co. Ltd.
“Inside the building are several 50-foot-tall, 75-ton vessels in which synthetic quartz crystal is grown. That crystal is used to make frequency-control devices, which NDK then sells to mobile telephone makers and others for use in electronic devices.”
The vessels are highly pressurized.
Given the kind of work going on inside the factory, and the fact that it was designed to have the wall panels fly off the building in an explosion, it seems to me that the building should not have been constructed close to a busy Interstate highway and a busy tollway Oasis.
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Terrible that that man was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, are you kidding? Where should the plant have been built?
If the plant were out in the middle of a cornfield and exploded and the debris killed a farmer, you’d point out that it shouldn’t have been built close to a farm.
While you’re Monday-morning quarterbacking, you might want to call Chrysler and see if they can move their plant further away from I-90 as well.
I agree we can’t build everything in the middle of nowhere, as everything would be there.
I am interested in hearing the lawsuits surrounding this. I suspect at least as many as the train derailment.
Chuck, you’re on the money this time. “It worked perfectly unless” I can hear the chief wincing from here. From what I hear, Worrell has many things to wince about from yesterday.
I think Chuck’s comments make sense. Would it have hurt to build this plant another 200 feet back from the road? As sad as it is that someone died, at least it was only one. What if that piece of debris had hit the highway instead? Say clobbered a charter bus or semi, causing a pile-up? Would you still be poo-pooing Mr. Sweeny’s comment if the death toll had been 25 or 30?
I also would not call it “Monday morning quarterbacking”. To me it seems to be an honest question being asked in retrospective. Like you’ve never done that? For those of us that were not involved in the decision, had no say in it, or (in my case) even knowledge of what that NDK plant was, now that we are finding out it seems like a valid question and safety concern.
As the the Chrysler plant, I can only say that it is a poor comparison Carl. To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing in the Chrysler plant with he same potential explosive level as at the NDK facility.
because if they had built it another 200 feet in any other direction someone still would have been hurt. There are shopping centers on 2 sides and a High School on the side opposite of the tollway.
While have the plant so close to I90 might not have been a stellar idea, moving the plant away from the highway would then have put it that much closer to the high school. Imagine the repercussions if students had been harmed or killed.
While very tragic, the man killed at the Oasis was a freak accident. Before you go bashing whomever for it being close to the Oasis, how about looking at the fact that for an explosion that sent debris 1/4 a mile, no one in the NDK building was killed. There are residences and businesses closer to the NDK building than the Oasis, yet none of those places reported significant injuries or fatalities. When Chuck takes a minute from playing the blame game, maybe he’ll realize that the building’s construction actually did what it was supposed to do.
Robert, I think you meant Monkey’s comment above mine, I agree with you.
I do think there are items at Chysler that may have that explosive potential, but the chances are small that I am not worried. Think of the welding materials and boilers that they must have.
It certainly is Monday-morning quarterbacking. It’s easy to sit at a keyboard in the news tower and pontificate AFTER the fact. Where was Chuck when the plant was built? Where was he after it was built and why didn’t he question its proximity then? How many other businesses are there with potentially explosive stuff in them that might be in proximity to people? Ummmm, hundreds? Thousands?
This is just useless opinionating for what is really a minor tragedy, in the scheme of things. Keep it in perspective.
It was actually Tuesday morning when I wrote that.
first off the building was not intentionally \"constructed so the panels would blow off\" … the building was built like all steel framed , steel skinned industrial buildings. a rigid steel beam skeleton and the outer panels are just screwed on with sheet metal screws. the same thing would happen if a tornado came through. it would have ripped the skin off the building , and left the frame intact…
When I worked at Sundstrand, there were explosive cells designed to blow out rather than in on the employees but walls were constructed outside the cells so that the blast would be absorbed by thick waals rather than blow out onto the street.
This common sense safety measure appanently was ommitted by NDK. The distance to I-90 and the Oasis wouldn’t have been as relevent had the proper explosion safties been observed!
I agree with Ted. I worked at Amerock Corporation back in the late 1960′s, early 1970′s. They had a room for storage of potentially explosive paints, thinners, etc for their finishing department. The room was meant to blow “up” vertically and not “out” horizontally. A horizontal explosion would have killed all the people who actually used these stored items. There were several additional safety features unique to that room protecting the employees. And all of this was before there was an EPA or an OSHA to “protect us”. The Aldeen’s cared about their people because they lived in the same town.
Incidentally, I did a little work in the NDK building a few years back. I was told when I was at the top of the tower the placement of the building was a result of a long, global search by Japanese engineers. I was told it was located here partially because the earth’s magnetic alignment was perfect at this location for growing crystals. There were plans to build an addition al plant close by.
Once again, this was a freak occurrance. Tragic yes, but when you look at the big picture, there were several, if not hundreds of people, a lot closer to the NDK site that were not hurt. Anyone looking at the building now would be amazed that no one inside it was killed. It could have just as easily been a passing motorist that was struck by the debris, that\’s how freak and random it was. I\’d hate to see what Chuck would suggest if that happened. Or is it that Chuck just needs to find someone to blame?
Carl, you are correct that I meant monkey’s comment. Thank you for the correction.
TBiondo, I have seen some of those walls at Sunstrand, and I agree they were a very good safety measure.
Monkey, your whole “where was he when…” tirade has no point. Do you assume Mr. Sweeny (and by extension everyone that asks the same question) was..
1) Aware of the explosive potential of the building
2) Aware of the possible danger housed there
3) Aware of the building when it was being constructed
4) Aware of what NDK did/manufactured
5) Heck, even aware that NDK EXISTED?
In order for you to (as you say) “Pontificate” as you are, one would have to know the answers to all of those. I for one wasn’t, nor was I, in any way, involved in the planning, construction, etc, of NDK. Only learning about the place when this event happened, it is NOT unreasonable to simply ask “Why?”.
I agree with Ted. I worked at Amerock Corporation back in the late 1960’s, early 1970’s. They had a room for storage of potentially explosive paints, thinners, etc for their finishing department. The room was meant to blow “up” vertically and not “out” horizontally. A horizontal explosion would have killed all the people who actually used these stored items. There were several additional safety features unique to that room protecting the employees. And all of this was before there was an EPA or an OSHA to “protect us”. The Aldeen’s cared about their people because they lived in the same town.
Incidentally, I did a little work in the NDK building a few years back. I was told when I was at the top of the tower the placement of the building was a result of a long, global search by Japanese engineers. I was told it was located here partially because the earth’s magnetic alignment was perfect at this location for growing crystals. There were plans to build an addition al plant close by.
Robert Swanson Sr. suggested it be built200 ft furthur from the interstate. You should do your hiome work, that would put the high school in jeprody. Why don’t we make the speed limits 30 mph everywhere and eliminate deaths by cars!
Funny, Chuck. Robert, Chuck is a journalist–they know EVERYTHING–much like sports reporters!!!!