ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 24, 1996 TAG: 9612240090
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HOUSTON
SOURCE: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
A powerful explosion at a northwest Harris County metal forging plant killed eight workers and injured two others, authorities said Monday.
The blast, which occurred at 11:45 p.m. Sunday, blew a gaping hole in the metal roof of a building at the plant, scattering debris and body parts 100 yards away, rescue workers said.
Officials with Wyman-Gordon Metal Forging Inc. said the victims were working on high-pressure nitrogen tanks. They believed the tanks had been depressurized before they began removing bolts that held a cap in place, the officials said.
Dianna Petterson, a spokeswoman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the nitrogen in the tanks was pressurized at 5,000 pounds per square inch. Unleashing such pressure, she said, was ``like sticking a pin in a balloon. It releases all that air, and the pieces go everywhere.''
``There was no fire, no chemical reaction,'' Petterson said. ``This was purely a release of stored energy.''
Plant employees and relatives of the victims began to gather at the site about 6 a.m. Monday to gaze in horror at the devastation.
``We've lost a lot of young lives out there,'' said instrument maintenance worker James Myatt. ``It's very tragic, especially since many of their fathers work out there.''
The dead were identified as Donald L. Terry, 60; Jim E. Brooks Jr., 55; Amos C. Lightfoot, 56; Enrique Uribe, 57; Brian Meche, 27; Jody Norred, 25; Steven Nagy, 29; and Michael Anthony Gunn, 26. Nagy and Gunn were the sons of longtime Wyman-Gordon employees.
Gregory Dargin, 31, and Santiago ``Jimmy'' Galindo, 57, were in stable condition in Hermann Hospital in Houston.
At the time of the blast, 61 employees were working at the plant, said Doug Whelan with Wyman-Gordon.
The 10-man maintenance crew was working in an area of the plant where tanks of pressurized nitrogen were used to help power a massive press that squeezes out metal for heavy-wall, seamless pipe used in power plants.
Before the maintenance work began, the press was shut down and, the workers thought, the tanks were depressurized. Whelan said the workers were on catwalks over the pressure tanks when the tanks exploded.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB