BP Report on Refinery Explosion Claims Errors by Employees

BP released its interim report on the March 23, 2005 blast at the Texas City plant, where 15 workers died and more than 170 workers were injured. The explosion occurred in a unit that boosts the octane level of petroleum. The unit was being brought back into full production after a two-week shutdown for routine maintenance.

"The mistake made during the start-up of this unit were surprising and deeply disturbing," Ross Pillari, President of BP Products North America. "It was an unforeseen tragedy."

The BP investigation determined that the fluid level in the tower was 20 times higher than it should have been, and the excess water or nitrogen may have caused a sudden increase in pressure that forced hydrocarbon liquid or vapors into the stack.

Moreover, the six supervisors in the area had a six-minute window in which to evacuate the surroundings, but the alarm was never sounded. A decision, Pillari said, that denied the workers an opportunity to get out of harms way. Investigators found that the supervisors were absent during the start-up and workers didn't know who was in charge.

The BP refinery processes 433,000 barrels of crude oil a day and provides the nation 3 percent of its gasoline. The blast was the third incident in a year, a September, 2004, accident killed two workers when they were burned by superheated water.