A fire at a Newburgh, Indiana, manufacturing plant that performed anodizing, plating, and other finishes caused concern among many residents in the area, who were concerned about contamination.
The September 6 fire at the PBTT plant in southern Indiana produced large flames and smoke, which some residents claim was followed by caustic ash falling on surrounding communities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the issue, and state and local fire officials are also conducting their own investigations.
No one was injured in the fire, which investigators say they still don’t know what started.
PBTT says it is a high-tech contract manufacturer specializing in the “development and commercialization of disruptive technology.” The company says it has developed Tier 1, 2, and 3 relationships with original equipment manufacturers “for fulfillment of production within the firearms, optics, aerospace, automotive, electronics, and oil and gas industries.”
PBTT says on its website that it has “developed a proprietary, disruptive, anodizing process, called Aladize, that can convert the surface of a magnesium alloy into an oxide layer. The oxide layer developed can take the form of magnesium oxide (type I), aluminum oxide (type II), or a ceramic (type III), depending on the technique used. Post processing, the type II Aladize aluminum oxide layer can be dyed to achieve a decorative surface.”
The fire took 14 hours to extinguish, as firefighters say, as magnesium alloy pellets burned white hot and produced a large plume of smoke and ash that forced thousands of residents to shelter in place until early Sunday morning.
The company released a statement that says, “PBTT is actively responding to the fire that took place at our Newburgh, Indiana, facility on September 6th. Our employees are accounted for with no injuries reported. Our top priority is to ensure the community’s safety. We are grateful for the partnership with first responders and local, state, and federal authorities as we work together to remediate the situation at our facility. An environmental remediation team has been put in place to bolster these efforts. In the meantime, we recognize that members of our community have had questions and concerns.”
The EPA set up a page on its webpage at https://response.epa.gov/pbttincfireresponse and says it is “working on an ash debris assessment plan.” The agency says that “Following the Sept. 6 fire at the PBTT Inc. manufacturing facility, city, state and federal officials have formed a unified command to assess and clean up the fire site and surrounding community.”
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is “coordinating with the PBTT facility owner. The facility owner has hired an environmental contractor and is cooperating with response efforts. IDEM will work with the contractor to begin property assessment, identify any potential environmental impacts, and determine appropriate remediation measures,” the EPA says.
PBTT also offers machining, deburring, tumbling, polishing, and blasting services, in addition to conversion coatings and plating services.
Visit https://pbttcorp.com.
