MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) -- No injuries are reported in an explosion at a biodiesel plant in Mason City.

The Globe Gazette in Mason City says the explosion happened late Tuesday afternoon at the Soy Energy plant on the city's southwest side. The newspaper says fire trucks and firefighters are on the west side of the plant, but no damage or smoke was visible. The explosion was reported about 6 p.m.

The fire department had no immediate details on what happened. Soy Energy produces biodiesel from soybeans and corn stillage.

GALVESTON, Texas -- A crude oil tank exploded and burned at a biodiesel plant on the waterfront docks in Galveston, Texas, rattling the island city Thursday.
KPRC reported that about 35 firefighters were called in to tackle the three-alarm blaze.
A worker was treated for smoke inhalation but no other injuries were reported, city spokeswoman Alicia Cahill told The Associated Press.
Cahill said one tank burned after the 7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. ET) Thursday explosion, but firefighters worked to keep neighboring tanks cool.
Speaking to KPRC, Cahill said boiling crude oil fed the flames -- which made the fire difficult to contain.
A shelter-in-place order for nearby Texas A&M University at Galveston was lifted after two hours, and the nearby traffic arteries and bridge to Pelican Island were opened by midnight.

The state Department of Environmental Protection wants an Erie County judge to put a stop to demolition at a fire-damaged Harborcreek Township biodiesel facility until the chemicals on-site are removed and properly secured or removed.

American Biodiesel Energy Inc. owner Lee Akerly calls the action a "moot point" because, he said, he has already taken the required action to safeguard what's on-site.

The DEP filed a petition to enforce an administrative order on Thursday, seeking a judge's order that would require Akerly to remove all drums of chemicals from the building at 4680 Iroquois Ave.; to place all damaged and leaking drums in secure containers; to remove and properly dispose of visibly contaminated soil and water; and to provide written documentation of the "hazardous waste determinations" on the contents of the drums and the recovered waste material.

Portions of the building were heavily damaged in a fire May 14 that investigators believe started in a front office. The blaze wiped out a powder-coatings business that Akerly operated in the building and shut down his biodiesel operation.

ANDERSON — An affidavit made public Tuesday indicates that more than organic fuel was being formulated in a primitive lab recently discovered in Anderson near Hartwell Lake.

The affidavit says the owner of the property told state investigators that while he was trying to make biodiesel, he was also trying to make another chemical to sell, and was storing still others that apparently date from the 1990s.

The affidavit is part of a search warrant that the Independent Mail sought, and was provided, under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act.

The affidavit says that George Smolen, who owns the former Flex-A-Form on Frontage Road, told state environmental officials that he was trying to use sodium cyanide as a catalyst in a chemical reaction to form another chemical, but that it “did not perform as he had expected.”

Smolen also told investigators that he was working with another chemical, whose identity he was uncertain about, to try to extract crystals from it and sell them.

He told investigators that he had acquired some sodium cyanide — in 30-gallon and 50-gallon drums — to repackage it “into different quantities or amounts.”

A federal coordinator discovered the makeshift lab in late June while he was in the area to supervise the cleanup of an unrelated site nearby on Manse Jolly Road. Crews from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control have been working for a little more than a week to identify, catalog and clean up hundreds of chemicals found in three warehouses and seeping onto the property, which abuts the lake and stands only about 40 feet from Interstate 85.

Firefighters returned to a burning biodiesel plant in Harborcreek Township on Sunday night after flames rekindled in several areas of the facility.

Light, hazy smoke rose off the building, the home to both American Biodiesel Energy Inc. and North American Powder Coatings.

Firefighters from at least five companies were called to the property, at 4680 Iroquois Ave., at 7:30 p.m. They were still there two hours later.

Much of the building had burned Saturday night. About 100 firefighters from multiple volunteer departments had spent more than six hours controlling the blaze then. Three were injured.

Investigators have not yet determined what caused the fire.

Fire officials headed back this morning to investigate.

No one was believed to have been inside plant when the fire broke out Saturday evening. However, three firefighters did suffer minor injuries, said Ronald Hawryliw, first assistant chief of Fairfield Hose Co.

Earlier this month a student left a bottle of biodiesel fuel in the parking garage east of Allen Field House. A short time later, the KU Public Safety Office received a report of a “suspicious bottle.”

In less than an hour, firefighters, KU public safety officers and a hazardous materials team had swarmed the parking garage. While it might seem like an overreaction — particularly for fuel used in a remote control engine — the incident illustrates precautions KU and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical take when responding to reports of hazardous materials.

A hazardous material is anything that can cause physical damage. But usually, in the campus context, it refers to dangerous chemicals.

-Mike Russell

Director of KU Environmental Health and Safety

“We always say, ‘when in doubt, get out, and call for help,’” said Mike Russell, director of KU Environmental Health and Safety.

HAWARDEN, Iowa (KTIV) -- Officials say part of a Siouxland school is "a total loss", after a Tuesday morning fire in Hawarden, Iowa. While there were no injuries, West Sioux Community School has lost more than just a storage building.

About 10:15 Tuesday morning the alarms sounded. Students and staff were evacuated to a church across the street as flames shot from the empty Bio-Fuels building just behind the school.

"It was hot, lots of flames, lots of smoke," said Hawarden Fire Chief Jon Strong.

Crews worked to tear down walls so they could fight the fire raging inside the building.

"We had to pull down the walls, there was false walls in there and so we had to pull them down to get behind the fire," said Strong.

As the smoke settled, the damage was revealed.

Clearfield • Two business owners and their employees wonder what they will do next after a two-alarm fire destroyed their building in Clearfield and injured one person Friday.

The fire began at Clear Sky Biofuels Inc., near 400 West and 200 South, at 11:37 a.m., and in about an hour the fire spread and consumed the whole building, which also housed an automotive-repair business. It also destroyed an adjacent building, fire officials said.

A woman was taken to the hospital with serious burns, according to Clearfield Police Chief Greg Krusi.

At least five fire agencies responded to the blaze. It took about two hours to put out the flames.

"All the sudden I heard a loud explosion and fire was coming past the door of my office," said Gary Clark, a chemical engineer and part owner of Clear Sky.

Fire officials continued their investigation on Sunday into what sparked a three-alarm blaze that destroyed a biodiesel plant in Adams County.

The fire started at the Soy Energy biodiesel plant on Oxford Road in Tyrone Township around 2:00 PM Saturday. 16 different fire departments battled the blaze for 10 hours.

Soy Energy owner Dan Scharrer met with the Fire Marshall on Sunday.

"I was happy nobody was hurt," Scharrer said.  "Because, at the time, the plant was shut down."

Fire crews monitored hot spots as investigators rummaged through the smoldering pile searching for clues on how the fire started.

"I still can't figure out what may have happened," Scharrer said.  "Something just sparked or something. I don't know."

Soy Energy's biodiesel plant also produced a slight chemical scare, according to authorities. Officials said soy bean oil, methanol, and sodium methylate flowed into the runoff. Officials said hazardous material crews thoroughly cleaned up any dangerous mess. Officials said the water is safe to use.

Imperium plant back in business
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 2:11 PM PST
Imperium Renewables announced today that it has completed repairs and restarted production at its Grays Harbor Biodiesel plant, which had paused production after a glycerin tank exploded in December.
The company halted production after a chemical reaction over-pressurized a mixing tank, causing an explosion at the Hoquiam biodiesel plant on Dec. 2, 2009.