4 Killed In DuPont Chemical Leak In Texas, Two Brothers Among The Dead
An accident at the DuPont chemical plant just outside of Houston, Texas, left four workers dead and one hospitalized. Residents of the surrounding area are reporting strong “rotten-egg” odors as the chemicals dissipates in the air outside of the plant.
According to CBS News, the DuPont company spokesman, Aaron Woods, says a valve somehow failed on a container of methyl mercaptan, a hazardous chemical used to make insecticides and fungicides, around 4 a.m. DuPont claims that the leak was fixed in approximately two hours. However, by the time the leak was fixed, four DuPont workers had died in the unit and a fifth was taken to the hospital. Reporters were told that among those killed was an employee who had worked with DuPont for over 40 years, another had worked with the company for just eight months.
DuPont left an official response to the accident on Facebook, noting that they are deeply regretful that the incident occurred, and that they will be doing a thorough inspection to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“We want to provide an important update related to an incident that occurred this morning at our site in La Porte, Texas. It is with the deepest regret that we share the news that the county medical examiner has confirmed that an incident at the La Porte site earlier today has resulted in four employee fatalities. A fifth employee has been hospitalized and is being held for observation.
There are no words to fully express the loss we feel, or the concern and sympathy we extend to the families of the employees and their co-workers. Separately, we are cooperating with local, state and federal authorities as they conduct a thorough investigation into the incident. As part of that investigation, we are conducting our own top-to-bottom review of this incident and we will share what we learn with the relevant authorities.
We are still gathering the facts, but we know that at approximately 4 a.m. Central Time today, the facility experienced a release of methyl mercaptan. Methyl mercaptan is a product commonly used to odorize natural gas for safety purposes. The release was contained and the leak at no time posed a danger to the community outside our facility.”
ABC News reports that among those killed in the chemical accident were two brothers, Robert and Gibby Tisnado. KCEN notes that Robert Tisnado leaves behind a wife and three children.
Though residents surrounding the chemical plant are noticing strong “rotten-egg” odors, DuPont reports that there is absolutely no danger to those in the community from the chemical, as it has dissipated into the area. The chemical is only deadly in concentrated form.
