West Texas Oil Refinery Explodes, Injures 5 People
Monday, February 18, 2008
Associated Press
BIG SPRING, Texas — An explosion rocked an oil refinery Monday in a violent blast that shook buildings miles away and injured at least five people, officials said.
All workers were accounted for about an hour after the explosion, said Blake Lewis, spokesman for refinery owner Alon USA.
Lewis said one worker was injured, but Big Spring Mayor Russ McEwen, speaking at a news conference later, said four were hurt. McEwen said one of the workers was sent to a burn unit.
The blast sent black smoke billowing into the sky, closed schools, shut down an interstate and left residents rattled.
The fire sparked by the blast was under control Monday morning, Lewis said. The Dallas-based company does not know what caused the explosion, he said.
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More details and photos at the above link; CNN and others also have write-ups.
Cosden Refinery, now known as the Alon-USA Refinery, is Israeli-owned. And Big Spring is a fine, close-knit community. There's a lot of support in the region for the refinery and the jobs it provides.
I'm going to be curious to see what comes out in the investigation - whether this was an accident, or deliberately caused, especially considering the threat made by Hezbollah just about a week ago against "Israeli holdings in foreign lands."
I'm very glad that so few people were seriously injured, and so far that there seem to be no fatalities.
Now I'm going to be impatiently drumming my fingers on the desk, waiting for further details.
Associated Press
BIG SPRING, Texas — An explosion rocked an oil refinery Monday in a violent blast that shook buildings miles away and injured at least five people, officials said.
All workers were accounted for about an hour after the explosion, said Blake Lewis, spokesman for refinery owner Alon USA.
Lewis said one worker was injured, but Big Spring Mayor Russ McEwen, speaking at a news conference later, said four were hurt. McEwen said one of the workers was sent to a burn unit.
The blast sent black smoke billowing into the sky, closed schools, shut down an interstate and left residents rattled.
The fire sparked by the blast was under control Monday morning, Lewis said. The Dallas-based company does not know what caused the explosion, he said.
~~~~
More details and photos at the above link; CNN and others also have write-ups.
Cosden Refinery, now known as the Alon-USA Refinery, is Israeli-owned. And Big Spring is a fine, close-knit community. There's a lot of support in the region for the refinery and the jobs it provides.
I'm going to be curious to see what comes out in the investigation - whether this was an accident, or deliberately caused, especially considering the threat made by Hezbollah just about a week ago against "Israeli holdings in foreign lands."
I'm very glad that so few people were seriously injured, and so far that there seem to be no fatalities.
Now I'm going to be impatiently drumming my fingers on the desk, waiting for further details.
posted by quidni | 5:16 PM
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