MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion and fire killed at least one person and injured 73 at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, on Thursday, leading authorities to order people within two miles (3 km) to remain indoors, reported Chicago Tribune.
The blast at 8:37 a.m. (1337 GMT) sent a huge fireball and column of smoke into the air at the plant along the Mississippi River just south of Baton Rouge and about 60 miles (100 km) up river from New Orleans.
The fire, fueled by the petrochemical propylene, was still burning more than five hours later, though government monitors had yet to detect dangerous levels of emissions, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told a news conference near the scene.
"There are no early detections of dangerous levels of VOC - that's volatile organic compound - but out of an abundance of caution both the company and the DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) are doing testing not only at the plant site but miles away from the plant site following the direction of the plume," Jindal said.
Some 300 workers from the plant were evacuated and all the employees were accounted for, among them 10 who stayed behind in a safe room inside the plant, Jindal said .
"Emergency shut-down valves have been closed. The unit is isolated," parent group Williams Cos. said in a statement.
The company's own emergency response crews were assisting at the scene, Williams said.
Authorities ordered people within a 2-mile (3-km) radius to remain in their homes, in part because of the toxic smoke, said Lester Kenyon, a spokesman for Ascension Parish.
That "shelter in place" order was later lifted for residents but remained in effect for four other plants in the area that scaled down their operations, Jindal said.
The plant produces approximately 1.3 billion pounds of ethylene and 90 million pounds of polymer grade propylene, according to the Williams website. These are used in the petrochemical process to make plastics.
MRC