Feds look for cause of New Mexico refinery explosion

The Associated Press

Federal investigators have started the process of collecting evidence they hope will provide clues about the cause of a fiery explosion at a gasoline refinery east of Gallup, N.M.

Members of an investigative team with the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigations Board were contacting area hospitals April 10 as well as emergency workers who may have responded to the explosion. They also planned to interview refinery workers April 12.

“A lot of people have been working very hard the past two days,” said Rixio Medina, an investigator and member of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Medina said the team has asked Giant Industries, which owns the refinery, for information about chemicals used at the plant and diagrams of the refinery’s pipes and valves.

Authorities said an initial explosion occurred around 9 a.m. April 8 in a unit of the refinery that produces high-octane fuel, causing a second blast in the same area.

Four employees suffered severe burns and were airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.