Judy Clark
Senior Associate Editor
HOUSTON, Mar. 24 -- BP PLC's refinery at Texas City, Tex., remains in production after an explosion and fire damaged an isomerization unit Mar. 23, killing 14 and injuring more than 100.
The unit at which the fire occurred was not in operation at the time of the accident, said company spokesman Hugh Depland. It had been shut down for maintenance turnaround, he said, and was in the process of being brought back online at the time of the accident. The fire was extinguished in about 2 hours.
Although the damaged unit is shut down, Depland said it would not significantly affect production at the refinery.
"We have other units on the site producing the same product," he explained.
The investigation into the cause of the blast is continuing.
