2008 Georgia Imperial Sugar refinery explosion

Imperial Sugar's refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, was a four-story structure on the bank of the Savannah River. Imperial, based in Sugar Land, Texas, had bought the refinery and its brand name in 1997 from a previous local owner. Known since construction as the Dixie Crystal refinery, it was the main employer in Port Wentworth, a town of 3,500, prior to the disaster. The Port Wentworth refinery was constructed in 1916 by 400 people who were moved from Louisiana specifically for this purpose, and opened the following year. Imperial bought the refinery together with Savannah Foods to form part of a national supply and distribution network to meet demand from businesses such as Piggly Wiggly, General Mills and Wal-Mart. The refinery sat on a site and was spread across . Workers described the factory as antiquated, with much of the machinery dating back more than twenty-eight years. The site had continued operating because it had good access to rail and shipping links for transport. Meanwhile, in 2004 the CSB conducted a study into the risks presented by dust explosions after three fatal accidents in the year before. The West Pharmaceutical Services explosion in North Carolina killed six persons, the CTA Acoustics explosion in Kentucky killed seven, and the Hayes Lemmerz explosion in Indiana killed one, prompting the report. The CSB found that between 1980 and 2005, there had been 281 explosions involving combustible dust, resulting in 119 deaths and 718 injuries. The agency made a number of recommendations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which had been partly implemented by 2008. The CSB continued to be concerned about the potential for further fatal accidents up until the explosion at the Imperial refinery in Port Wentworth. == Explosion and emergency response ==

The explosion occurred at 7 p.m. local time in what was initially believed to be a room where sugar was bagged by workers. Witnesses from across the Savannah River in South Carolina reported seeing flames shoot up several stories high. There were 112 employees on-site at the time. The explosion occurred in the center of the refinery, where bagging and storage facilities were fed sugar by a network of elevators and conveyor belts. Many of the buildings at this location were six to eight stories high with narrow gaps in between. Off-duty employees were brought in to assist with search and rescue operations, as emergency services personnel were unfamiliar with the plant's layout. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMHSA) alerted local hospitals to prepare for up to 100 casualties. A doctor at nearby Memorial Health Hospital described patients arriving at an emergency triage as varying in condition from suffering minor burns to their hands to having received 80-90 percent burns, with many in critical condition, and one with 95 percent burns. The victims' ages ranged from 18 to 50. Many victims were placed in artificial comas because they were on life support systems. So many people came that police requested that each family send only one representative. At the close of the day of the explosion, six people were missing, with no confirmed deaths. The explosion seriously weakened the structure of the refinery, leaving it highly unstable. There was also extensive smoke damage. The final death toll was thirteen. == Investigation ==

The location of the explosion was quickly established as a building used to store refined sugar before packaging it and two of three tall, thick reinforced concrete storage silos adjacent to it, as pictured. Heavy equipment had to be used to shore up the partially collapsed structure before firefighters could enter it to search for victims. In a press conference held on February 17, 2008, one of the six members of the CSB team said that the explosion showed the ongoing risk from dust explosions despite their report highlighting the matter in 2004. == Aftermath ==

Initial response Imperial's refinery in Louisiana was shut down by the company six weeks after the Port Wentworth disaster, over fears a similar explosion would occur there. It was kept from operating for more than a week. OSHA fined Imperial $36,000 over safety legislation violations at that plant. Demolition of the sugar silos was conducted on June 24, 2008, with a wrecking ball. A replacement packaging building and new sugar silos were intended to be completed by summer 2009. During demolition, of fire-hardened sugar were recovered from one silo, and another from the second silo. The company hoped to recycle the product for ethanol production. The bill passed the United States House of Representatives but never passed the United States Senate. In 2009 OSHA began developing a federal standard for combustible dust. The CSB released its report in September 2009, saying the explosion had been "entirely preventable". It noted that the sugar industry had been aware of the risk of dust explosions since 1926. Specifically, internal company memorandums by managers in 1967 expressed their concern about the potential of explosions from sugar dust. Imperial Sugar had made construction changes before the explosion, that enabled the accumulation of sugar dust. It had never practiced evacuation procedures, and the lack of emergency lighting meant that people were confined to dark hallways and tunnels at the time of the explosions. In March 2008, Raquel Islas, a female worker whose arms were burnt, sued Savannah-based company Stokes Contracting, which was a contracted construction company. In April 2008, the widow of Shelathia Harvey also sued Stokes, as well as Savannah Foods, which operated the refinery along with Imperial. In August 2008, Malcolm Frazier, who suffered burns over 85% of his body, succumbed to his injuries at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, where he had remained since the explosion. The United States Department of Labor requested that Ed Tarver, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, pursue criminal prosecution against Imperial and its executives. OSHA cited Imperial with 124 safety violations, finding that the company acted with "plain indifference to, or intentional disregard for, employee safety and health". Tarver said there was not enough evidence of intentional disregard or plain indifference to bring criminal charges against Imperial. He also cited a lack of federal criminal laws specifically related to safety in the sugar industry as a reason for his decision. == Monument ==

On February 7, 2009, a monument honoring the people lost in the explosion was dedicated at Legacy Park, on the grounds of the Port Wentworth plant. ==See also==