On the morning of January 26, 2022, Louisiana State Police confirmed an explosion at a Westlake Chemical Corporation facility in Westlake, Louisiana located between I-10 and I-210 on PPG Drive, just about 4 miles west of Lake Charles. Initial reports are that at least six people were injured, including five workers who have been hospitalized….
Read More
On December 23, 2021, an explosion occurred at ExxonMobil Oil Refinery in Baytown, Texas. At least three (3) people were transported by air ambulance as officials responded to the “major industrial accident.” The explosion occurred around 1 a.m., where Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident and asked the residents to avoid the area…
Read More
On December 23rd, the Harris County Sherriff’s Office responded to reports of a fire at the ExxonMobil oil refinery in Baytown. At least four people were injured, all of whom were taken to hospital. The incident occurred at approximately 1 a.m. at the facility which houses a chemical plant, olefins, and a 560,500 barrel-per-day oil…
Read More
On September 27, 2021, an explosion occurred at Westlake Chemical’s Petro Complex 2 Unit in Sulphur, Louisiana. The explosion occurred around 11 p.m. Monday, September 27, 2021, at Westlake’s Petro 2 Plant on La. 108. Residents of the area reported plumes of smoke drifting into the sky after the explosion was visible from miles away….
Read More
The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is the federal government entity that investigates industrial chemical accidents. Like many federal agencies, the CSB suffers from a backlog in its incident investigations. The backlog faced by the CSB affects investigations of significant industrial incidents, including notable Houston-based incidents such as the International Terminals Company (ITC) fire and the…
Read More
On September 27, 2021, an explosion at the Westlake Chemical Plant in Sulphur, Louisiana sent six (6) contractors to the hospital and injured dozens more. The blast occurred around 11:00 p.m. in the Petro Complex 2 Unit as the contract employees were working on a planned maintenance turnaround. Contractors in the immediate vicinity of the…
Read More
Recent investigations into the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) allege that deaths of offshore oil and gas workers frequently go unreported. Specifically, “inconsistent and missing data, as well as loopholes that allow some fatalities to go unreported, make the offshore industry appear safer than it really is.” Investigators allege that at least 30%…
Read More
Puede que explosiones sean menos comunes en cuanto a los daños personales, pero donde sea que sucedan, en el trabajo o en su vida diaria, los efectos de tales accidentes pueden ser devastadores. No sólo pueden causar muerte, los que sobreviven pueden sufrir de problemas médicos serios por años – o hasta por el resto…
Read More