Investigation to begin in fatal factory blast

Tuesday, March 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PASADENA, Texas (AP) -- Federal inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration joined officials from Phillips Petroleum Co. today to begin trying to find out what caused an explosion that killed one worker and hospitalized 71 more.

The catalyst for the explosion that ripped through the Phillips plant Monday after on the Houston Ship Channel remains unknown.

"There will be teams entering the area as soon as a thorough review has been made by trained personnel to ensure the safety of everyone entering that area," Phillips spokesman Earl Pete Borths said this morning.

Most of those injured were released from hospitals although four people remained in critical condition early today.

It was the third major explosion to rock the factory in the past 11 years and the second in the plant's K-resin unit, where clear plastic is manufactured.

An explosion in the plastics unit killed two people and injured four last June. After that blast, the Bartlesville, Okla.-based company was fined $204,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 13 alleged safety and health violations.

"The investigation will be very thorough and detailed," Borths said. "It will not be a quick one, as the others were not."

Investigators had not yet determined "who was where when the accident happened," he said.

"That will be part of the process," Borths said, but added that Monday's explosion was in the "same general area" of last year's accident.

More than 10 years ago, 23 Phillips workers died and 130 were injured in a string of explosions and fires in a polyethylenereactor. It was one of the region's worst industrial calamities.

Workers hospitalized after Monday's blast suffered from anxiety, burns, shrapnel wounds and smoke inhalation.

Jim Ross, general manager of the plant, said 32 Phillips employees and 39 contract employees were injured.

The name of the worker who died was not released.

It was unknown when the charred factory would be able to resume production. Companion plants at the site also were idled and placed in a standby condition, Borths said.

"They will not resume production until a thorough review is completed," he said.

Folks in Pasadena, meanwhile, had other worries: An emergency siren meant to alert residents in the industrial suburb failed to sound immediately because it was under repair, Mayor Johnny Isbell said.

But the boom from the explosion could be heard for miles around.

"I was in the main shop area when I heard a loud explosion," said Tim Williams, a plant worker who estimated he was more than 200 yards from the blast site.

"My ears hurt, and I took off running. I looked back and saw flames, and kept going."