A worker killed in an offshore explosion off the Louisiana coast on Thursday was cleaning a piece of equipment during routine maintenance at its oil-and-gas platform in the Gulf, the company that runs the platform says.
The Associated Press reports Houston-based Fieldwood Energy LLC says another worker suffered “visible injury” and two others reported ringing in their ears after the explosion, which was reported just before 3 p.m. Thursday. The company says the three injured workers have been released from the hospital.
Fieldwood says the worker who was killed Thursday was cleaning a piece of equipment that separates oil from water liquids when an “isolated pressure event” occurred. The company says the victim and the other worker with visible injuries were employed by Turnkey Cleaning Services, a Louisiana company specializing in cleaning offshore facilities.
The Lafayette-based company declined to provide details about the incident and its workers. Fieldwood did not disclose the names of the workers. The explosion happened on the Echo Platform, about 12 miles offshore near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Federal regulators were on the platform today to investigate, says Chauntra Rideaux, a spokeswoman with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Read the full story.
