CSB Updates Accidental Release Reporting Data – 1-1-26
Yesterday the CSB updated their published list of reported chemical release incidents. They added 8 new incidents that occurred since the previous version was published in December. These are not incidents that the CSB is investigating, these are incidents that were reported to the CSB under their Accidental Release Reporting rules (40 CFR 1604) through December 31st, 2025.
The table below shows the top five states based upon the number of reported incidents since the December update was published. In this case, with the short time frame since the last update, these were the only states that had reported incident.
New Incidents
The new version of the database adds 8 new incidents reported since the December version of the data was published. The new incidents include one incident where deaths were involved; 5 with serious injuries; and 2 where significant property damage was reported. California led the reporting with 3 incidents.
The table below shows the top eleven states with high reported incidents rates since the CSB started collecting their Accidental Release Reporting data in April 2020.
Incidents Removed
There were two incidents (see table below) listed in the December version of this database that were not included in this updated version. There is no explanation provided for the incidents being removed.
Incidents Not Reported
I have been tracking news reports about chemical incidents. While such reports are not necessarily conclusive evidence of a CSB reportable incident, the information included in the news reports seem to indicate that the following incidents should have been reported to CSB:
Cleveland, TN – 12-5-25, possible,
Olean, NY – 12-23-25, possible,
NOTE: Those incidents marked ‘Possible’ were where news reports indicated that one or more people were transported to the hospital but did not note whether or not they were admitted. Transporting someone to the hospital does not make the incident CSB reportable, but admission does. Incidents marked ‘Probable’ were for incidents where news reports did not provide damage estimates, but the descriptions led me to believe that there was more than $1 million in damages.
Many of the facilities involved in these incidents are not part of what people normally consider to be ‘chemical industry’. This means that the owners might not even know about the Chemical Safety Board, much less its chemical release reporting regulations.