TWO KILLED AT CORPUS PLANT

March 25, 1991

Two workers were killed and four injured when a leaky pump in the alkylation unit at Southwestern Refining Co. Inc.'s Corpus Christi, Tex., refinery released a cloud of hydrofluoric acid (HF) vapor. Following the high pressure discharge, local fire fighting units arrived to control the HF vapor by hosing down the area, and refinery workers laid sand bags around the release site to contain runoff of tainted water.

Two workers were killed and four injured when a leaky pump in the alkylation unit at Southwestern Refining Co. Inc.'s Corpus Christi, Tex., refinery released a cloud of hydrofluoric acid (HF) vapor.

Following the high pressure discharge, local fire fighting units arrived to control the HF vapor by hosing down the area, and refinery workers laid sand bags around the release site to contain runoff of tainted water.

Southwestern employees in protective clothing were preparing to repair the leak when they were overcome by HF fumes, said officials of Southwestern's parent company, Kerr-McGee Corp.

Before the accident, which occurred Mar. 6, Southwestern's Corpus Christi refinery hadn't had a lost time accident in 7 years.

The plant's voluntary safety program had qualified it as an Occupational Safety and Health Administration STAR facility. However, it had recently lost that status when OSHA increased STAR standards.