Officials are still investigating what caused the fatal blast at a chemical plant in Donaldsonville on June 14, leaving one person dead and seven others injured.
The incident happened in an area of the complex that was shut down for maintenance. Investigation revealed that a small vessel ruptured as nitrogen was being offloaded from a truck, causing the explosion and killing a 34-year-old employee. Seven others, including four CF Industries employees and three contractors, were sent to local hospitals for treatment. Thirteen years earlier, a hydrogen explosion at the same Donaldsonville plant killed three workers and injured nine others.
The incident marked the second deadly accident in an Ascension Parish facility in as many days, the first happening at a Geismar petrochemical plant on June 13. Propylene, one of two highly flammable chemicals produced by the plant, had caught fire at the facility, killing two and injuring 77 employees.
The explosion is still under investigation by several public safety agencies.
CF Industries’ complex in Donaldsonville is considered the largest nitrogen fertilizer production facility in North America.
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