US chem safety board to probe BP refinery death

17 January 2008 23:47  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said on Thursday it was sending investigators to probe a fatality at the BP Texas refinery at Texas City.

BP officials told the CSB on Thursday that a chemical explosion may have been involved in the Monday accident at a refinery ultracracker, the board said in a statement.

Joseph Garcia, a supervisor at the refinery, was killed when a lid blew off a water filtration unit. Earlier reports had suggested that water pressure was responsible for the accident, the CSB said.

CSB Supervisory Investigator Don Holmstrom, who led the CSB's two-year investigation of the 2005 fatal explosion at the Texas City refinery, will head the team, which was expected to arrive on the site on Friday, the board said.

By: Brian Ford
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