The Tragedy at Houston Chemical Complex

On the day of October 23, 1989 there was a big fire and an explosion caused by it at Houston Chemical Complex (Pasadua, Texas), part of Philips Petroleum Company.

In the accident 23 workers lost their lives and 35 have been hospitalized. It was the worse accident in the history of the company and of the petrochemical industry from 1940.

There was an immediate necessity to respond to media and, through it, also inform the local community and the employees. The staff of public relations of Philips Petroleum Company was facing a crisis situation totally unexpected and serious. It was necessary to react rapidly in order to avoid a communication gap. It was important to establish a clear, coordinate and constant communication.

The members of the Public Relations Department gathered in a meeting to debate and decide the strategy they would follow. They informed the staff that a meeting to discuss the event would take place the next day at 11:00 am. Then they decided to send a press release in which the following things would be communicated:

"For immediate release, October 23, 1989

For more information contact Eric Green, Chief Department of Public Relations of Philips Petroleum Company (tel: 217 932 244; fax: 217 932 981, e-mail:eric.green@ppc.com)

Huge accident at Houston Chemical Complex

Yesterday at 12:21 pm there was a fire followed by an explosion in one of the plants of our company. There was an accumulation of flammable gases which caused the lamentably accident during the maintenance operations.

23 workers were killed in the explosion and another 35 are now in hospital with severe injuries.

Our fire department reacted immediately trying to stop the fire. The ambulance, the police and the local fire brigade came to help.

There will be an investigation which will determine the exact causes and circumstances that lead to the unleash of the accident: whether the employees were respecting all safety rules, whether they did something wrong during maintenance operations, whether the fire department acted on time and in the correct way, whether all methods of prevention were followed.

After the investigation, depending on the results, the company will take full responsibility of its possible mistakes and will respond adequately towards those who were affected.

A press conference will take place in the Conference room of the company on the 31st of October at 12:00 pm ###".

At the meeting the company staff was informed about the press release that had been sent and already appeared that morning in the main newspapers. As a large part of the company was affected by the explosion it was necessary to stop all the activities in the damaged sectors until the reconstruction of the affected areas. The reconstruction would start immediately after the end of the investigation. They would all continue to receive their payment.

The following day the company's Public Relations specialists met again to elaborate and establish all the details of the press conference.

The Chief Executive Officer and the technical experts of the company would manage the conference.

Invitations were sent to representatives of all media means.

All the necessary equipment in the Conference Room was checked (tables, chairs, microphones, lights).

The CEO began the conference with a statement:

"As you all know, on the 23rd of October, our company was affected by a terrible accident. 40% of the construction and 55% of the equipment were damaged. The cost of the materials loss raises to approximately one billion dollars. The reconstruction of the damaged sectors will take about six months. All the costs of the funerals of those who lost their lives in the explosion will be supported by the company and their families will be financially helped. The costs of medical care of those who were injured will be supported by the company.

We are sorry that this accident occurred and we look forward to know the results of the investigation in order to know what the faults were so that from now on we can avoid them and prevent a future accident."

A list with possible questions and answers was issued:

"1.Q: What will happen with the activities which were performed in the affected sectors?

A: The access in that area is restricted until the investigators will gather all the information they need from the scene of the accident. Then the reconstruction will start. In the meanwhile the activity in that zone will obviously be suspended.

2.Q: What will happen with the employees that were working there?

A: Half of them will be distributed to the non-affected sectors in order to increase the production and obtain a bigger income. After the first three months the other half will start working and the first one will receive a three months paid leave as the others already had.

3.Q: Was the ventilation working properly?

A: We really don't know but the investigation will clear this out.

4.Q: Were the other employees affected by the gas spread?

A: All the employees have already been medically examined and three of them had breath difficulties, but they recovered quickly.

5.Q: What about the environment?

A: The geologists detected a small infiltration of gas in the soil, but since there are no cultures in the area that can't affect anyone and they estimated that it will vanish in less than 3 months and it will not reach the water table."

On the 31st of October the conference unfold according to the expectations. The CEO made his statement, the press made its questions and the technical experts offered them satisfying answers. After the conference, there was a photo-shooting and it all ended with a reception.

The public received well the information and the press comments upon the company's reaction.

After a week the total number of deaths reached 26.

After another 2 weeks the investigation came to an end. The workers who were injured were all submitted to interrogatories and in the end the succession of events that caused the accident was discovered. The worker who was supervising the device which measured the amount of gas in one of the sectors detected a concentration of gas that he considered dangerous. He went to see what his superior thought he should do about that. The superior checked the information on the main panel but the level was considered normal by the computer. He told the worker that there wasn't any problem.

As the device in the sector was kind of old they supposed it wasn't working properly. While they were checking it a wire was pulled out by mistake. Some sparkles came out and the fire started. The workers tried to put out the fire, but it spread to fast and caused the explosion.

The level of gas release reached that point because of the failure of the ventilation system.

The Public Relations Department established a new meeting with the staff. During the meeting they apologize for what had happened and they assured the employees that in the future the devices would be more carefully and more frequently verified so their safety would be reinforced.

Due to the arousal of this information, a new press conference was organized. The press was sent a communique through which the media was announced that a new conference was to take place on the 25th of November in the same place as the first one.

A new statement was elaborated:

"After our first meeting, a series of events came across and we wish to inform the public about the way the situation evolved. Three more workers lost their lives while they were in hospital.

The investigation that started 3 weeks ago came to an end and it all appears clearly now. The fire which led to the explosion was caused by an unfortunate incident. On the 23rd of October a worker tried to repair a device which measured the amount of gas release thinking it was damaged. A wire was pulled out by mistake and, because of the gas accumulation, a fire was provoked. Although the fire department reacted rapidly, the fire spread to fast and the flames reached other sectors . The final report on the facts will be sent to all media means tomorrow morning so that everyone will know exactly what happened.

Our company will learn from the mistakes there were made in this case.

Next week the reconstruction of the destroyed sectors will begin."

Another list of questions with their answers was also elaborated:

"1. Q: Why wasn't the device being repaired by an expert?

A: Because the worker was alarmed by the level of gas accumulation shown by the device. He wanted to make sure that it wasn't damaged because otherwise he knew they were in danger. He didn't want to waste time waiting for the expert as he was familiar with the way the device worked.

2. Q: why did your employee think that the device wasn't working well?

A: Because the main panel showed that everything was normal. He evaluated the reliability of the two machines and he considered that the main panel was right and the other device was wrong because it was old and could have failed.

3. Q: How was it possible that the concentration of gas was that high?

A: The investigators discovered that the ventilation system had a shortcoming.

4. Q: How often do you check your machines? Were they working properly at the last revision?

A: Our machines are checked monthly and yes they were all working correctly last time we checked them. But from now on we will start checking them every two weeks to avoid this kind of accident."

During the conference, one of the journalists asked who was to blame for the accident. One of the technical experts said that there was no one to accuse because nobody actually committed any mistake.

The press appreciated the honesty of the company as they didn't try to hide anything. At the reception the press was invited to attend to the inauguration of the rebuilt area.

The public opinion was divided: some believed that the company didn't take all the necessary caution measures and others thought that it had all been a misfortune.

It all ended with a final press release:

"For immediate release, November 26, 1989

For more information contact Eric Green, Chief Department of Public Relations of Philips Petroleum Company (tel: 217 932 244; fax: 217 932 981, e-mail:eric.green@ppc.com)

Final conclusion of the accident from Houston Chemical Complex

After a month of investigation it has all become clear. We are really sorry that this tragedy happened. We are implementing procedures that will prevent the recurrence of this kind of accidents. We will verify more often our machines and we will remind our workers that it is dangerous to exceed their attributions. We will also improve our safety equipment.

After the reconstruction is over a team of specialists will be invited to verify all the machines and all the safety equipment. Once we receive their approval the reconstructed part of the company will start functioning again and the workers will be able to continue their activity.

The workers who were hurt in the accident have recovered and they will come back to work along with the others.###”

The small paradise

Spring is comming to its end and as the summer starts approaching Mirandela becomes a fairytale city. I can´t get enough of the smell of the roses and the fresh cut grass. As I walk by, on my way to school I admire the flowers and I enjoy the sweet memories comming to my mind. Mangalia, the city where I grew up, is verry much alike Mirandela. They are both small and quiet. The difference is that my city is in the seaside and usually the strongest scent that you can sense is not the one of the roses but the one of the linden trees. Especially on the cliff. In Bucharest things are even more different. You can only spend a moment alone with your thoughts and admire flowers in parks. As you can see I´m a big fan of the nature and when I have such a great view as Mirandela I kind of forget about buildings. You probably already guessed by now that my favorite part of this city is the green zone near the bridge. I also like the sight I have when I walk on the bridge.
In the center of the city there is the Statue of the imigrant family. Then, as you walk from the center to the other side of the city, crossing the bridge on the left side you can see a very beautiful fountain. All the houses have gardens with flowers and they are painted in very cheerful colors. I also like the narrow paved streets and the fact that many blocks of flats look like houses because of the roof.
To me, Mirandela is like a peaceful beautiful garden.

The colourful Mirandela

I am not an expert in describing or analysing monuments, but I will try to do my best. In spite of its size,being a small city, Mirandela is a nice and peaceful city and every inch of it impressed me. I like that Mirandela is situated on a river, the Tua River and here I saw an ancient and beatiful bridge. I learnt that this bridge it is called the Roman Bridge. While walking on this bridge you can see the many gardens. I heard that this parte of town is called "the green zone", but I prefer to call it "the peaceful zone". For me it is a perfect place to meditate or read.My city, Bucharest, it is also situated on a river called Dambovita, but it has modern and commun bridges.
Another monument that I like is the City Hall, which is near the Post Office and the curch. I like its facade because it nice and very traditional and fits with the city. In Bucharest most of the buildings are modern and some of them have comunist aspect.
What I realy like here are the houses. I don't know if it is a style but I like this "agglomeration" of houses on hills. The house and the blocks of flats are painted in very bite and "happy" colours pink, yellow ,light green and light blue. In Bucharest most of the blokcs and buildings are painted in "sad" colours grey and brown. The dominant colour is grey and I think thats way people are sometimes sad.For me Mirandela is a "happy" and "colourfull" city.
I have taken a lot of pictures with buildings but nothing compares with the real scene. I hope that until a leave portugal I will discover more interesting parts of Mirandela, this small and peaceful city.

The city of Mirandela

Mirandela is a small city, located in the North of the Portugal. The city is part of the district of Braganca and it is situated on the Tua River. Walking down the river you can see many beautiful gardens. There is an important church, the mother church, which was built in the 17^th century, and also there is the Sanctuary of Nossa ,Senhora do Amparo, which offers a great view over the city.

An interesting monument in Mirandela is the Roman Bridge, which was rebuilt in the 16^th century. This elegant bridge has 20 asymmetrical arches and nowadays it is for pedestrian use only. In the past it was the only way to get to Mirandela by crossing the river.

Another tourist attraction in Mirandela is the Paço dos Távoras which was built in the 18^th century. This building has a granite Baroque façade and nowadays is the Town Hall.

Armindo Teixeira Lopes Municipal Museum is named after a celebrated local artist. The Museum houses paintings, prints and sculptures made by important artists such as Abel Manta, Artur Bual, etc.

The Municipal Librabry Sarmento Pimintel was inaugurated in 1980 by João Sarmento Pimentel. The Library has become part of the Public Libraries since 1991.

Near Mirandela, at about 13 km, you can find the Curiosities Museum. In this museum are kept the collection of the Meneres family from the beginning of the 20th century onwards. You can find in it T Fords, bicycles, juke-boxes, sewing machines, musical boxes, cameras and other early photographic equipment.

In Mirandela you can find the Monument to the Jet Ski. Some years ago, here, were National Championships, European Championships and the World Cup. Mirandela is known as being the capital of the Jet Ski in Portugal, and because of that there are thousands of visitors who come in this city.

Near the Council of Mirandela is the Statue of Pope John Paul II. Near the Mercado Municipal is another statue, „Tribute to Mothers”. Some other statues in Mirandela are: Statue of St. John Bosco, The Girl of the Dove (which is a simbol of purity, beauty and innocence), Statue of Alvaro Soares (Garden Of Bridges), Statue of Luciano Cordeiro (End of the New Bridge).

In the roundabouts are monuments with historical, social or economic importance, such as the immigrants, the devices of water, agricultural tools, natural products, flowers, the stones, and Foral of D. Afonso III.

Mirandela has new blocks of flats, but also there is an old part of the town which has visable influence of gothic, barroc and classicism.

Bucharest has an eclectic architecture. Its architecture is a mix of historical, interbellum, Communist-era and modern.