WASHINGTON -- Phillips Petroleum Co. has agreed to pay more than $2.1 million in federal penalties for safety and health violations discovered at its Pasadena, Texas complex after a worker was killed in a March 2000 explosion, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a series of health and safety citations to Phillips' chemical complex after the explosion, which also injured about 70 workers. The plant employed 850 workers at the time, making high-quality plastic resins for use in medical and consumer products.
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., which now owns and operates the facility, has agreed to hire safety and health consultants to ensure compliance with OSHA safety standards. Recommendations are to be implemented by July 31.
``This settlement cannot replace the life that was lost nor make up for the pain suffered by those injured,'' said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. ``But it does mean that Phillips and Chevron employees will be working in safer environments.” OSHA determined that a chemical reaction prompted the explosion in a tank containing butadiene, bursting the 12,000-gallon vessel. According to published reports, the tank was out of service for cleaning and had no pressure or temperature gauges that could have alerted workers to the impending hazard. Workers also had not been trained in safety procedures for handling the substance, and they were unaware of the potential for explosion, according to OSHA officials.
The Phillips complex also was the site of a 1989 series of explosions and fires in a polyethylene reactor that killed 23 people and injured about 130. Phillips was fined $4 million to settle 544 violations, according to a Reuters report. In June 1999, two people were killed and four were injured in an explosion at the complex. Phillips paid a $140,000 penalty to settle a safety citation, OSHA officials said.
