At least one person was killed and dozens were injured, some seriously, in an an explosion and fire at the Williams Geismar Olefins plant in Ascension Parish north of New Orleans early Thursday morning.

State police Capt. Doug Cain said a body was found by hazardous materials crews. According to press reports as of Thursday afternoon, there were 73 injured, and at least 37 of those were taken to area hospitals by helicopter or ambulance. Dozens more with less serious injuries also were treated at hospitals.

Terrorism was not suspected, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The fire at the plant was mostly extinguished by Thursday afternoon. The explosion happened at about 8:37 a.m. CDT, Williams said in a statement.

“We are currently focused on the safety and well-being of our employees, contractors and the local community who are responding to the situation. Emergency shut-down valves have been closed. The unit is isolated,” Williams said late Thursday morning.

“Our emergency-response crews are thoroughly trained to respond to these types of incidents and are diligently performing their work with their first priority being the safety and well-being of people in and around the area. First responders are on the scene and local routes to the plant have been closed by the local authorities. We are in the process of accounting for all personnel. Injuries have been reported, the number and extent of those injuries is not known at this point.”

Personnel from local police and fire departments, Homeland Security and the Ascension Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness were on the scene.

Geismar, a mostly industrial area, is about 60 miles northwest of New Orleans and 20 miles southeast of Baton Rouge. Area residents had been under a shelter in place order that was later lifted. As of Thursday afternoon, several area plants were still under a shelter in place order.

Last July it was announced that Williams Partners would acquire Williams’ 83.3% interest in the Geismar facility and would become the operator of the plant (see Daily GPI, July 24, 2012).

The Geismar facility south of Baton Rouge, LA, is a light-end natural gas liquid cracker with current volumes of 37,000 b/d of ethane and 3,000 b/d of propane and annual production of 1.35 billion pounds of ethylene. With the benefit of a $350-400 million expansion under way and scheduled for completion by late 2013, the facility’s annual ethylene production capacity is expected grow by 600 million pounds to 1.95 billion pounds. The Geismar facility also produces propylene, butadiene and debutanized aromatic concentrate.

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