Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 7, 1990 TAG: 9007070140
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHANNELVIEW, TEXAS LENGTH: Medium
"It looks like a bomb went off in there," said Richard Bailey, chief investigator for the Harris County Sheriff's Department Arson Division.
A tank exploded at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday at the plant about 15 miles east of Houston. The resulting fire was out by dawn.
Company firefighters sprayed the area as other workers pulled bodies from tons of twisted pipe and debris.
"In my 32 years with Arco Chemical Company, I can't remember any single accident of this dimension where we've had multiple loss of life to the extent we had here," said Jack Johnson, president of Arco Chemical of North America. "It certainly is a time that all of the employees and myself grieve the loss of fellow employees. One loss of life is not acceptable."
Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor Gerard Scannell arrived at the plant Friday afternoon to lead a federal investigation of the accident. Scannell said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would conduct a comprehensive inspection.
People as far as 20 miles away reported hearing the blast at the plant, which has more than 350 employees.
"I seen a big flash cross in front of my eyes. I looked over to my left and I saw a big ball of fire. . . . It looked to me like a tank run off, you know, like a rocket just took off," said Mike Zugel, a truck driver.
"I was in a trailer and I was sitting down about to get up, and it sounded like a car ran into the side of the trailer," said Tommy McBridge, who was working at a janitorial service not far from the plant. "When we went out of there, it was like a nuclear explosion - just orange flames."
"It sounded like somebody was breaking the house in," said Deborah Baumbach, who lives six miles from the blast site.
Plant Manager Earl McCaleb said two tanks that collected waste water and chemicals exploded for an unknown reason. The larger tank held 900,000 gallons, he said. The company had no capacity figure for the smaller tank.
A truck of the sort used to remove wastes was in the area of the tanks but it was not immediately known if it had anything to do with the explosion, McCaleb said. One body was discovered in the cab of the truck, officials said.
Kathryn Cox, a member of the plant-cleaning crew, said she and several fellow workers had just finished their jobs when they heard the explosion.
"We didn't look back," she said. "We just started running and we just kept running."
The body found in the truck was that of an employee of a contractor. Of the other bodies found by midday Friday, five were Arco Chemical employees, and 11 were employed by a contractor, Austin Industrial Inc. of Houston.
All five of the injured were treated at hospitals and released, Johnson said.
Henry Kelly, president of Austin Industrial, said his company had 150 workers at the plant for maintenance and construction. He said it has had an excellent safety record during 5 1/2 years working there.
The plant had one safety citation, received in 1988 for a death at an off-site fire training building, McCaleb said.
Initially, authorities described Thursday night's blast as relatively minor and said no injuries were reported and no evacuations necessary. McCaleb said there was no attempt to withhold information.
by CNB