Nick Snow
Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 18 -- The US Chemical Safety Board has dispatched a team to BP America Inc.'s Texas City, Tex., refinery to investigate a Jan. 10 process-related accident that killed an employee.
Refinery officials told CSB on Jan. 17 that a chemical explosion may have been involved in the ultracracker unit's overpressure event that led to the employee's death. Earlier reports indicated that water pressure was responsible, CSB said.
CSB said its team, which was slated to arrive on site on Jan. 18, will be led by CSB Supervisory Investigator Don Holmstrom, who led the agency's 2-year investigation of the 2005 fire and explosion at the refinery.
William Joseph Garcia, a shift foreman who had worked at the refinery for 32 years, was killed on Jan. 10 when a metal lid flew off of a water-protection vessel that was attached to the ultracracker, according to initial reports.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
