The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is deploying a team to investigate a fatal BP refinery fire that killed two people and shut down the site.
In a written statement the independent federal agency’s Interim Executive Authority Steve Owens said the team will carefully investigate the tragic incident.
“The CSB team will be documenting the site, gathering evidence, and initiating information requests as we begin our investigation into this tragic incident,” Owens said.
According to the CSB’s statement, the incident involved the release of both sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.
While the official cause of the fire has not been reported, an article published by Reuters states that “leaking fumes from a crude unit may have caused the ignition in another unit at the facility”. The article further states, “multiple units were on fire”.
In addition, to the investigation, the plant is expected to undergo a prolonged shutdown as BP Plc recently laid off most of its contractors.
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