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Two Workers Killed in Molten Slag Spill at Tampa, Florida Power Plant
The World Socialist Web Site reports [wsws.org]
On [July 29], two workers at an electrical plant near Tampa, Florida were killed horrifically when a tank spilled molten slag onto them. Four others were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. The plant is operated by Tampa Electric Company (TECO), the Tampa Bay area's largest electrical utility service. The company was purchased exactly one year ago to the day by Canadian energy company Emera Inc.
Christopher Irvin, 40, and Michael McCory, 60, were both killed, while Gary Marine Jr., 32, Antonio Navarrete, 21, Frank Lee Jones, 55, and Armando J. Perez, 56, all sustained life-threatening injuries. Only one of the men was a TECO employee while the other five were employees of Gaffin Industrial Services who were contracted to work at the plant.
According to reports and accounts that have emerged over the last few days, a 911 call was placed just before 4:30 p.m. to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue about a possible explosion at the Big Bed power plant located in Apollo Beach, Florida.
While no identifying information was initially reported, media showed that two victims of the accident were taken to a hospital by helicopter while two others were taken by ambulance. Two others were reported dead within the facility.
A TECO spokesperson reported that at the time of the incident workers were performing routine maintenance on a slag tank--a container which houses coal waste after it has been burned. Slag is a glass-like substance that forms when hot coal mixes with water; the slag tank catches leftover by-product that drips down from a coal-fired furnace into water.
The crystallized slag is still molten hot when it forms, and it was slag spillover that killed and injured the workers in question. An expert compared the gushing slag to "what comes out of a volcano".
Workers were reportedly trying to unplug a hole in the slag tank when the material spilled out. A spokesperson from TECO stated that slag filled a large part of the floor in the plant, "6 inches deep and 40 feet in diameter".
[...]An OSHA spokesperson stated in response to the incident, "It's the employer's responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace." Apparently, OSHA was already investigating a chemical exposure that happened at the same plant on May 24. This incident involved the release of anhydrous ammonia that caused four employees to be hospitalized.
TECO has a long history of similar incidents.
[...][A statement from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 108] notes that the incident was entirely avoidable. "It's time to listen to the employees", it reads. "It's time to stop using contractors to do 'routine maintenance' when the safety of this maintenance has been questioned by employees. It's time to stop putting profit before safety. It's time to truly put safety first."
