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Jolie Rouge
03-23-2005, 10:18 PM
By PAM EASTON

TEXAS CITY, Texas (AP) - An explosion rocked a BP oil refinery Wednesday, killing an undetermined number of people, injuring more than 100 and sending flames and black smoke billowing into the sky, authorities said.

BP spokesman Neil Chapman confirmed fatalities but did not have a total number. The fire was extinguished after a few hours, and workers were searching through rubble for survivors or bodies. The cause of the blast was not immediately known.

Plant worker Charles Gregory said he and several co-workers were inside a trailer getting ready to clean the tank when the floor started rumbling. ``After that is when it exploded,'' he said.

``It was real scary,'' he said. ``Have you ever heard the thunder real loud? It was like 10 times that.''


The explosion occurred in a part of the plant used to boost the octane level of gasoline. BP spokeswoman Annie Smith said terrorism ``is not a primary focus of our investigation.''


Federal investigators had been dispatched, said Daniel Horowitz, director of public affairs for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.


The plant in Texas City, about 35 miles southeast of Houston, sprawls across 1,200 acres with 30 refinery units. About 433,000 barrels of crude oil are processed a day, producing 3 percent of the U.S. supply. The plant employs about 1,800 people.


A refinery explosion forced the evacuation of the plant for several hours in March. Afterward, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the refinery $63,000 for safety violations, including problems with its emergency shutdown system and employee training.


OSHA also fined the refinery after two employees were burned to death by superheated water in September.


It was not immediately clear how production at the plant would be affected by Wednesday's explosion.


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On the Net:


http://www.bp.com



03/23/05 18:59

Jolie Rouge
03-23-2005, 10:23 PM
Oil refinery explosion kills at least 14
Blast felt several miles from plant in Texas City, Texas
Wednesday, March 23, 2005

TEXAS CITY, Texas (CNN) -- At least 14 people died and more than 70 others were injured in an explosion that ripped through a BP oil refinery in southeastern Texas on Wednesday, a company spokesman said.

The fire sent huge plumes of smoke high into the air, and the blaze took nearly two hours to extinguish, Bill Stephen said. "We believe it's 14 people, but we will wait for official confirmation from the medical examiner," he told reporters.

Stephen added that it was possible the number of dead could rise as emergency crews were continuing to search through the site. "We don't want to let anyone be overlooked," Stephen said. "We want to account for absolutely everyone."

The explosion happened in the isomerization unit, where the octane of gasoline is raised. The refinery is spread across 1,500 acres.

It was not immediately clear how many of the 1,800 employees were at the refinery in Texas City, 40 miles southeast of Houston, when the explosion happened at 1:30 p.m. (2.30 p.m. ET). Stephen said he hoped to know how many people were on the site by late Thursday morning.

BP site director Don Parus said: "Our primary focus is really on the family and the people that were injured."


For a short period, as a precautionary measure, Texas City residents were ordered to stay inside, "but that was quickly pulled," Stephen said.

A spokeswoman said terrorism was not suspected in the blast, which could be felt miles away. "It shook our building," said Mary Bonnett, a worker at Glass and Glazing Inc., less than a mile away. "It shook the whole city."

A team of seven investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) was expected to arrive at the site late Thursday morning.

The refinery -- the country's third-largest -- produced 460,000 barrels of gasoline per day, 3 percent of the U.S. supply, said John Bresland, a CSB board member. The CSB is an independent federal agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents. The board does not issue citations or fines, but does make safety recommendations.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/23/plant.blast/index.html

Jolie Rouge
03-24-2005, 01:02 PM
Death Toll in Texas Plant Blast Hits 15
By PAM EASTON

TEXAS CITY, Texas (AP) - The lone worker unaccounted for after an explosion at a BP oil refinery has died, raising the death toll to 15 in a blast that also injured more than 100 people, officials said Thursday.

BP spokesman Bill Stephens said the man was dead but released no details on whether the body was found in the rubble or elsewhere. Earlier in the day, officials said there were indications the man had checked out and left the refinery after Wednesday's explosion. About 1,800 people work the plant, but it was unclear how many were there at the time of the blast.

The fiery explosion shot flames high into the sky, forced schoolchildren to cower under their desks and showered plant grounds with ash and chunks of charred metal. Windows rattled more than five miles from the 1,200-acre plant near Houston.

The explosion happened in a part of the plant used to boost the octane level of gasoline. A thorough investigation is under way, BP America president Ross Pillari said Thursday. ``It's clear that we have a lot of work to do in the coming days to make sure we understand exactly what happened, and we're going to do that,'' Pillari said. ``We are going to put all of our resources into it.'' Federal investigators also planned to review the accident.


Most of those who died were contractors for J.E. Merit Constructors Inc., a field services provider and subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. in Pasadena, Calif., refinery manager Don Parus said.

About 433,000 barrels of crude oil are processed a day at the plant, producing 3 percent of the U.S. supply. Other than the unit affected by the blast, the rest of the refinery was running normally, said Hugh Depland, spokesman for BP, formerly British Petroleum.

He declined to answer questions about the capacity the refinery was running at Thursday or how production would be affected.

Gasoline prices could rise slightly because the plant is such a large gas producer. In afternoon trading Thursday in New York, the price of unleaded gasoline for April delivery was up less than a penny at $1.583 a gallon.

Wenceslado de la Cerda, a 50-year-old retired firefighter, said the blast shook the ground, rattled windows and knocked ceiling panels to the floor. ``Basically, it was one big boom,'' he said. ``It's a shame that people have to get killed and hurt trying to make a dollar in these plants, but that's part of reality.''

The plant and town, population 40,000, have dealt with two other refinery accidents within the last year.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the refinery nearly $110,000 after two employees were burned to death by superheated water in September.

Another explosion forced the evacuation of the plant for several hours last March. Afterward, OSHA fined the refinery $63,000 for 14 safety violations, including problems with its emergency shutdown system and employee training.

Texas City is the site of the worst industrial accident in U.S. history. In 1947, a fire aboard a ship at the Texas City docks triggered a huge explosion that killed 576 people and left fires burning in the city for days. ``Welcome to life in Texas City,'' Marion Taylor, 55, said Wednesday. ``I was born here and pretty much, it happens from time to time.''


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On the Net:


http://www.bp.com



03/24/05 13:10