Dec. 11--The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans to fine a subsidiary of Tulsa-based Williams Partners LP and cited it for workplace violations in a June 13 explosion that killed two workers at the company's Geismar, La. petrochemical plant, according to reports Wednesday.
Several media outlets in Louisiana reported that OSHA levied six safety violations and proposed $99,000 in fines in the blast which also injured nearly 80 people. Williams officials previously said the cause of the explosion might have originated in a fractionation area at the plant, where olefins are refined into polymer-grade propylene used in plastic consumer products.
A release by subsidiary Williams Olefins LLC confirmed it received the OSHA report but did not elaborate on the findings. Scott Thrower, 47, of St. Amant, La., and Zachary Green, 29, of Hammond, La., were killed in the accident.
"Williams cooperated in a full and transparent manner to support OSHA's investigation, and we are in the process of reviewing the analysis," said John Dearborn, senior vice president, NGL and Petchem Services.
"In addition to conducting our own internal incident investigation, we are committed to learning from OSHA's report to further enhance safety at the Geismar plant and across our organization."
The explosion caused a massive fireball, and the blaze took nearly six hours to extinguish. Williams is rebuilding and expanding the Geismar plant with a completion date expected around April 2014.
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