Washington, DC, November 5, 2006 – An investigator from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has been deployed to the site of a fatal incident yesterday at 3V Inc., a chemical manufacturer in Georgetown, South Carolina, northeast of Charleston. Reports indicate that one worker died and another was injured inside a confined space, a dryer. The company has told CSB staff that the interior of the dryer had an oxygen-deficient atmosphere.

CSB Investigator Randy McClure will arrive in South Carolina later today to probe the circumstances of the incident.

According to its website, 3V is a producer of specialty chemicals and additives that operates five manufacturing sites and has headquarters in Italy. The Georgetown site is the sole manufacturing facility in the U.S.

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency’s board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in safety management systems, regulations, and industry standards.

The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA. Visit our website, www.csb.gov.

For more information, contact Sandy Gilmour at (202) 251-5496 cell or Dr. Daniel Horowitz at (202) 441-6074 cell.