Texas Refinery Toll Rises To 15

More Than 100 Injured In Blast At BP Facility; Cause Unknown

(CBS/AP) 

About 433,000 barrels of crude oil are processed a day at the plant, producing 3 percent of the U.S. supply. Other than the unit affected by the blast, the rest of the refinery was running normally, said Hugh Depland, spokesman for BP, formerly British Petroleum.

He declined to answer questions about the capacity the refinery was running at Thursday or how production would be affected.

Gasoline prices could rise slightly because the plant is such a large gas producer. In afternoon trading Thursday in Europe, the price of unleaded gasoline for April delivery was up 2.8 cents.

"It's clear that we have a lot of work to do in the coming days to make sure we understand exactly what happened, and we're going to do that," BP America president Ross Pillari said. "We are going to put all of our resources into it." Federal investigators also planned to review the accident.

Wenceslado de la Cerda, a 50-year-old retired firefighter, said the blast shook the ground, rattled windows and knocked ceiling panels to the floor.

"Basically, it was one big boom," he said. "It's a shame that people have to get killed and hurt trying to make a dollar in these plants, but that's part of reality."

Valerie Perez was among those standing vigil outside the refinery fence late Wednesday, concerned about the fate of her 18-year-old husband, a BP worker.

"I'm nervous," she said, holding back tears.

The plant and town, population 40,000, have dealt with two other refinery accidents within the last year.

Texas City is built around the refinery, reports Briggs. In fact, the refinery is nearly half of the city itself.

"Most of the folks that live here work at the refinery. They know the risks," he said. "These folks know that this is just what they do and the risks they face very day."

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the refinery nearly $110,000 after two employees were burned to death by superheated water in September.

Another explosion forced the evacuation of the plant for several hours last March. Afterward, OSHA fined the refinery $63,000 for 14 safety violations, including problems with its emergency shutdown system and employee training.

Texas City is the site of the worst industrial accident in U.S. history. In 1947, a fire aboard a ship at the Texas City docks triggered a huge explosion that killed 576 people and left fires burning in the city for days.