Formosa Plastics Corporation USA has begun an investigation to determine what caused Thursday's flash fire that injured 16 workers at its Point Comfort, Texas, petrochemical complex, a company spokesman said Friday.
There was no time frame for how long the investigation would last, and the company does not have an estimated restart date for the polyethylene No. 1 production unit, which remained down Friday, company spokesman Steve Rice said.
The fire ignited around 1:30 p.m. CDT (1830 GMT) Thursday in an ethylene purification unit that is part of the polyethylene No. 1 production unit where high density polyethylene is made, Rice said. It was extinguished at 1:40 p.m. CDT.
Sixteen workers were hurt, according to Formosa. The Victoria Advocate reported that injuries ranged from smoke inhalation to serious burns. The newspaper reported that two of the injured workers had been life-flighted to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston because of severe burns. Another was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Rice said eight of the injured employees were treated and released.
All other units at the Point Comfort complex were operating as usual Friday, Rice said.
Formosa's Point Comfort complex includes two steam crackers with an estimated combined ethylene capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.
The company also produces an estimated 264,000 mt/year of linear low-density polyethylene, 673,000 mt/year of high-density polyethylene and 575,000 mt/year of polyvinyl chloride.
Rice could not provide specifics on what grade of HDPE was produced with the affected line, but two markets sources said Thursday the line produces high-molecular weight film.
Sources said the fire had not seemed to have an impact on the PE market, and offers from Formosa for blowmolding remained consistent with levels heard earlier this week.
