A Texas contractor working at a Marathon Petroleum facility in Eddy County, New Mexico died tragically Tuesday morning in what authorities are calling an “industrial accident.”
Worker Found Unconscious in Railway Tank Car
Eddy County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the Marathon Petroleum sand site, located at Potash Mines Road and U.S. Highway 285 near Loving, New Mexico, just after 9:00 a.m. on May 12th.
The 49-year-old Marshall, Texas man had been inspecting railway tank cars just before he was found unconscious and not breathing inside one of the cars.
Sadly, the contractor was pronounced dead shortly after sheriff’s deputies arrived on scene.
NMED Investigating Marathon Petroleum Accident
So far, the cause of the worker’s death remains a mystery. His body has since been transferred to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque for an autopsy.
The Occupational Health and Safety Bureau of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is investigating the fatal accident.
“We don’t have many details at this point and an inspector is onsite gathering additional information,” a NMED spokesperson told the Carlsbad Current Argus.
About Marathon Petroleum
Headquartered in Finlay, Ohio, Marathon Petroleum runs the nation’s largest refining system with more than 3 million barrels per day of crude oil capacity across 16 refineries. The company has been operating in the Permian Basin since 2017, mostly in Eddy and Lea counties, New Mexico.
Unfortunately, Tuesday was not the first time a worker has been tragically killed at a Marathon Petroleum facility. Most recently, in December 2018, an explosion and fire severely burned four contractors at Marathon’s MarkWest Energy plant outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of the workers would later die of his injuries.
The U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) eventually fined MW Logistics, which operated the plant for Marathon Petroleum, $47,000 in connection with the fatal explosion. The contractors’ employer, Energy Transfer Partners, was also assessed more $51,000 in OSHA penalties.
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