By Liz Hampton
(Reuters) – Cleanup was ongoing on Wednesday morning after a chemical leak killed two workers and injured 30 others at a LyondellBasell Industries plant in La Porte, Texas, the company said.
The incident occurred on Tuesday evening at the facility’s acetyls unit, releasing roughly 100,000 pounds of a mixture that included acetic acid. An “all clear” was issued early Wednesday morning and air monitoring did not indicate actionable levels, Lyondell said in a statement on Wednesday.
The company said 24 of the 30 individuals taken to local hospitals had been released. The two individuals who died in the incident were contractors.
An investigation into the cause of the leak was underway, and local and federal agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Chemical Safety Board, and Environmental Protection Agency, had all been notified, Lyondell said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Diane Craft)
