Abstract: At approximately 10:59 a.m. on May 30, 2008, Employee #1, owner/operator, was working on a tanker truck. He operated a brine water collection company and collected brine water from gas and oil wells. The brine water was emptied at brine water collection stations or in some cases spread onto roads to control dust. When spreading the brine water onto roads, he would open the main tank ball valve automatically from the truck cab allowing the brine water to flow from the tank to a spreader bar where the brine water was sprayed onto the road. He was attempting to open the holes in the spreader bar that had become clogged with oil well sludge. He was standing at the rear of the truck directly in front of the main tank hatch, using an oxygen acetylene torch to burn the sludge from the spreader bar holes. An explosion occurred, which caused the rear tank hatch to separate from the truck and strike him in the head. Employee #1 was killed.