Hundreds Responded to Texas City Refinery Incident; BP Launches Information Web site.HOUSTON -- About 20 Texas City Refinery workers remained in local area hospitals today, eight seriously injured, as BP (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BP) and contractors continued recovery operations Operations conducted to search for, locate, identify, rescue, and return personnel, sensitive equipment, or items critical to national security. in the aftermath of the explosion yesterday which claimed 15 lives. The fatalities are all contractors who were involved in maintenance work when the explosion occurred in the nearby Isomerization isomerization /isom·er·iza·tion/ (i-som?er-i-za´shun) the process whereby any isomer is converted into another isomer, usually requiring special conditions of temperature, pressure, or catalysts. Unit, causing a large fire. The Galveston medical examiner A public official charged with investigating all sudden, suspicious, unexplained, or unnatural deaths within the area of his or her appointed jurisdiction. A medical examiner differs from a Coroner in that a medical examiner is a physician. is continuing the identification process and humanitarian efforts for affected families are ongoing. Chaplains and counselors are also available to support families. Five of the injured were released from hospitals today. Yesterday firefighters with Texas City Mutual Aid (IMAS IMAS International Mine Action Standards IMAS Intelligent Multiservice Access System (Promatory Communications) IMAS International Museum of Art and Science (McAllen, Texas) ) responded to the first alarm at 1:20 p.m. The firefighting force quickly ramped up to about 200, and extinguished the blaze by about 3:20 p.m. Every available fire truck and ambulance in the area was dispatched to the scene, including Life Flight air evacuations. An incident management team of about 50 at the Texas City Operations Center and in Houston continues to support crisis response efforts on a 24-hour basis. The U.S. Occupational Health, Safety Administration, Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and , Texas Commission of Environmental Quality and Chemical Safety Board and other agencies are on site, and a team of BP experts is due to arrive within 24 hours to begin an in-depth investigation. BP Group Chief Executive John Browne and other senior BP executives visited with Texas City Mayor and other community leaders this morning. Browne later met with refinery workers and talked with several of them personally. At a mid-day press conference he emphasized that nothing would be left undone in BP's effort to uncover the cause of this tragic accident. For additional updates and more information, visit this Web site: http://www.bpresponse.org |
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