Abstract
giant explosion and fire at Phillips 66's Pasadena, Tex., chemicals complex, last week, crippled one of the world's largest polyethylene facilities. blast—the most deadly U.S.chemical plant mishap in recent years—follows an August boiler explosion there that killed one worker and injured four others. At press time, Phillips confirmed that the Oct. 23 explosion claimed the lives of five people, with 17 more still unaccounted for and believed to be dead. If an employee was in the heavily damaged portion of the plant when the accident took place, then that person would probably not have survived, says Glenn A. Cox, president and chief operating officer of Phillips 66's parent company, Phillips Petroleum. A total of 124 people were taken to area hospitals. The explosion occurred when a massive, highly flammable cloud of ethylene and isobutane gas—feedstocks in polyethylene production—leaked from a pipeline and drifted to an unknown source of ignition, says John Mihm, ...
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