Four workers suffered severe burns last night, when a massive explosion erupted at a MarkWest Energy gas processing plant in Washington County, Pennsylvania.
MarkWest Energy Plant Explosion Heard for Miles
The MarkWest Energy facility is located in Houston, Pennsylvania, roughly 24 miles south of Pittsburgh.
Emergency responders – including nine fire departments, three EMT units, and a hazmat unit — arrived at the plant shortly after 6:00 p.m. on December 13, 2018. By that time, however, flames had already engulfed two above-ground storage tanks.
According to people in the area, the blast shook the ground and was heard from miles away.
“We heard a rumble and saw a flash,” one witness told WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh. “We first thought it was a flare at the plant, when they ae burning off gas, and then we heard a concussion.”
“I was getting ready to go to work and I was lying in the bed and we heard this boom, and it kind of shook the house,” another told KDKA-TV.
4 Workers Transferred to Pittsburgh Burn Units
Helicopters flew four injured workers to burn units in Pittsburgh.
UPMC Mercy received two victims, including one man who was listed in critical condition on Friday morning. West Penn Hospital is treating the other workers.
At this time, authorities have not identified the injured workers or disclosed any other details regarding their condition.
MarkWest Energy Plant Explosion Involved Ethylene Glycol Tank
MarkWest Energy Partners, LP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil’s MPLX LP.
The company is the largest processor and fractionator in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. Its Houston, Pennsylvania processing plant handles natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil.
Apparently, the two temporary storage tanks involved in the explosion were onsite for routine maintenance. At least one stored ethylene glycol plus hydrocarbons used to clean incoming raw natural gas.
Pennsylvania DEP Team Deployed to MarkWest Energy Plant
Fortunately, firefighters extinguished the MarkWest plant fire in just under an hour.
Although the explosion did not impact the processing facility, MarkWest Energy shut the plant as a precaution.
A 4-person emergency response team from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) arrived onsite Friday morning.
“At this time the environmental impacts appear to be limited to the use of firefighting foam used to extinguish the fire,” a DEP spokesperson said. “The foam has been contained and DEP observed no impacts to waterways.”
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