The Wyatt Law Firm recaps the facts about yesterday’s explosion at the Southcross Energy plant just outside Woodsboro, Texas.
WHAT HAPPENED
- A pipeline at Southcross Energy’s Woodsboro plant exploded.
- The three workers involved in the explosion were digging a hole at the time. Two of them were in the hole making repairs to the gas pipeline, and one was outside of it.
- While performing repairs, a piece of the pipeline loosened, causing 800 pounds of pressure from the pipeline to propel the workers out of the hole.
WHO WAS INVOLVED
- Two people were killed and one person was injured. The two deceased are a 54-year-old Woodsboro man and a 30-year-old San Diego man. Both were working on the pipeline when it exploded. A third man who sustained injuries was transported to Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital.
- The 30-year-old died at the scene, while the 54-year-old was transported to a nearby hospital by ambulance and died soon after. According to initial reports, the injured workers were transported by ambulance, rather than by helicopter, due to bad weather.
- Only one of the workers involved was an employee of Southcross. He was killed in the blast. The other worker who was killed was a contractor, and the worker who sustained injuries is also a contractor.
WHEN DID IT HAPPEN
- The explosion occurred yesterday (Tuesday, April 12, 2016) around noon.
WHERE IS THE PLANT
- Southcross Energy Woodsboro Plant in Bonnie View, just outside of Woodsboro in Refugio County. The town is about 150 miles southeast of San Antonio.
WHY DID THE EXPLOSION OCCUR
- Many reports are citing equipment failure as the cause of the blast – a piece of the pipeline came loose while the workers were making repairs.
- The explosion is still under investigation.
OTHER DETAILS
- An incident at this plant also happened last year. This 2015 incident involved a fire that injured two workers.
- There was another explosion at a Southcross Energy plant in Frio County on February 16, 2016. Two people were injured.
- In July 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA) issued Southcross Energy seven citations after a major fire at its Gregory plant. You can view those citations here.