Chemical Safety Board to investigate deadly explosion at Tennessee munitions facility

An explosion at Accurate Energetic Systems on Oct. 10 in Bucksnort, Tennessee killed 16 people. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will investigate the explosion at Accurate Energetic Systems near Bucksnort that killed 16 people. 

“This is one of the deadliest industrial incidents in our country in years,” said Steve Owens, the chairperson of the Chemical Safety Board, in a news release Monday. “The (Chemical Safety Board) investigators will conduct an initial assessment of the incident location and will be meeting with (Accurate Energetic Systems) management, the (U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives), and other officials to identify the information necessary to determine the cause of this horrific event.”

The ATF estimated that on Oct. 10, between 24,000 and 28,000 pounds of explosives detonated in a building on the 1,300-acre Accurate Energetic Systems campus located in Humphreys County, Tennessee. 

A preliminary investigation by the ATF determined the blast originated in a building on the campus where “mixed explosive materials were heated in production kettles.”

Investigators have so far been able to identify 14 of 16 people who died. Two remain unidentified. 

The Chemical Safety Board’s investigation begins now that the ATF has concluded its activities at the Accurate Energetic Systems campus and returned control of the site to the company.