Geismar LA Plant, Site Of Fatal June 13th Explosion, Still Too Hazardous For Inspectors To Enter
WASHINGTON -- The federal investigation into the deadly chemical accident at the Williams Olefins plant in Geismar is stalled temporarily because the facility remains too dangerous for investigators to enter, a Senate committee was told Thursday.
The probe of the June 13 accident, which killed two workers and injured 114 others, centers on the failure of a heat exchanger and associated piping attached to the distillation tower, according to Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
The update on the investigation came at a contentious Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee hearing Thursday.
Committee Chair Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., blasted Deputy EPA Administrator Barry Breen for what she described as a lack of urgency in the agency's response to long past due recommendations for safety improvements from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and others. She described Breen's written testimony as "the most vague testimony I've ever heard."
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http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/damaged_geismar_chemical_plant.html#incart_river
