Regarding the response status of the gas leak accident at Omuta Works
2025.09.03
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.
Mitsui Chemicals,Inc.(Tokyo:4183; President &CEO: HASHIMOTO Osamu) deeply apologize to those who felt unwell due to the gas leak that occurred on the evening of July 27 at our Omuta Works, as well as to their families, nearby residents, related authorities, customers, and many others for the great concern and inconvenience caused by this incident ("the Incident").
Since the Incident, we have been conducting a review of the incident under the guidance of the relevant authorities, estimating the causes leading to the leakage occurrence, compiling recurrence prevention measures, and, after receiving evaluations from the independent third-party experts on these matters, preparing the accident report.
We have now explained and submitted the accident report to the relevant authorities, and it has been accepted; therefore, we will report on the summary of the report. In addition, we will begin operational preparations for restarting the "TDI Plant," which had been shut down, and hereby notify you as follows.
| 1. Location of occurrence |
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30 Asamuta-cho, Omuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Omuta Works Urethane Manufacturing Department Isocyanate Section TDI Unit, TDI Plant (hereinafter referred to as "this plant"). |
| 2. Date and time of occurrence |
Around 17:31 on Sunday, July 27, 2025 Furthermore, at 20:32 on the same day, it was confirmed that there was no chlorine-based gas at the site boundary, and at 23:39 it was confirmed that there was no leaked gas or odor around the plant, reports were made to the police and fire department. |
| 3. Damage situation |
(1) Human damage ・ A total of 234 people have reported health issues and visited medical institutions. (As of August 27, this includes repeat visits.) Among them, 17 people were hospitalized for observation (all have since been discharged). ・ We are sincerely addressing the matter, including compensation for medical expenses, for all the individuals mentioned above. |
(2) Material damage ・ No damage other than to this plant. |
| 4. Effects outside the factory premises |
| In addition to the above mentioned in section 3, we are sincerely responding, including making apology visits to the community. |
| 5. Summary of the accident report |
| Only the Japanese version is available. |
| 6. Outlook for resuming operations |
Regarding the plant that has been shut down since the date of the incident, upon acceptance of the report, preparation for operation toward resuming activities is underway, with production scheduled to resume around September 8. We will make every effort to ensure safety when restarting operations. In addition, accompanying the plant's restart, the partially halted lens monomer production will also be resumed sequentially, and full production will restart. In the meantime, we will continue to respond using our inventory, so there will be no issues with shipments. |
| 7. Toward Becoming a Trusted Chemical Manufacturer |
| We solemnly acknowledge the seriousness of this accident and, not only at our Omuta Works but across the entire company as one, we will revisit our basic principle of prioritizing safety and thoroughly reinforce safety management once again. We will also devote all our efforts to implementing recurrence prevention measures and further raising safety awareness among all employees, striving to strengthen disaster prevention. |
