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To: Taikun who wrote (40649)	3/23/2005 3:39:15 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 206272

Explosion at BP plant shakes up Texas City By RUTH RENDON and STEVE MCVICKER Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle SEE IT NOW • Watch Ch. 11's live coverage khou.com • Slideshow: BP refinery explosion chron.com • BP-Amoco: Texas City plant Web site hhttp://www.bp.com/subsection.do?categoryId=2013146&contentId=2019675 Slideshow and live coverage courtesy KHOU An explosion rocked the BP's petrochemical plant this afternoon, shaking nearby buildings and sending huge plumes of black smoke into the air that could be seen from Galveston to Clear Lake. Firefighters were on the scene and appeared to be gaining control of the fire, allowing rescue workers to pull survivors from the rubble. Life Flight has been called to the plant east of Texas 146, and UTMB Galveston reported its emergency room was expecting at least 10 victims from the blast, which was reported at 1:20 p.m. A hospital spokeswoman said she had no information on their condition. Emergency management officials lifted an order for Texas City residents to stay inside at 2:10 p.m. but roads have been closed at the plant entrances on Texas 146 and FM 1765. The Houston Ship Channel has also been closed. A 47-year resident of Texas City says he was asleep when he heard the blast this afternoon - but that it was loud enough to wake him up. "It was just a real loud explosion,' said Mike Martin. "It sounded like a sonic boom, and it shook the pictures bad enough to where it knocked them off the wall. And it frightened me, so I jumped out of bed.' Martin says he could see the smoke from his home on Pelican Harbor, located on Galveston Bay and about four miles from the plant. "I was up in about 15 seconds and you could already see the flames,' said Martin, who works the midnight shift for CenterPoint Energy. ``It's pretty bad.' Charles Mantell, 63, an electrical engineer, and Judith Mantell, 62, a social worker, were standing in the front yard of their second home on Tiki Island, which faces the chemical plant about five miles across Galveston Bay. They were waiting for a repairman to continue the renovations on their house. Then, Judith Mantell said, there was a sharp and short boom that shook her home, rattled her windows and skipped her truck a couple of inches across the ground. Startled, she looked into the sky to look for a plane but instead saw the tallest flames she has ever seen in her life, she said. "It was unbelievable, the flames shot more than 70 feet into the air. I've never seen flames that high from anything, they were bright orange, with yellow on the side,' she said. The flames were followed by the thick, black thick plumes of smoke. Inhaling the air, she did not smell smoke or any other type of fumes from the plant; a relief Judith Mantell said. "It's nothing but chemical plants over there, but this is the first time weve ever seen something like this,' she said. ``But we often smell fumes from across the Bay.' She added: "There have been times when the fumes have made me sick - when the fumes have burned my eyes and nose." BP's Texas City plant is a sprawling industrial complex that stretches across 1,200 acres with 30 refinery units. The plant processes 460 million barrels of crude oil every day, producing 3 percent of the U.S. gasoline supply. It employs about 2,000 people. The refinery also ranks as the eighth largest polluter in the state of Texas. It released 5.1 million pounds of pollutants in 2002, according to the latest data, including some chemicals that are known carcinogens and cause other serious health effects. A population of 31, 413 people resides within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Chronicle staffers Kevin Moran and Lynn Cook contributed to this report.