• Font Size    

Most Popular Videos Featured On KDKA.com

Pittsburgh Festivities Kickoff Holidays
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Worker Injured In Washington Co. Plant Accident

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Nov 30, 2008 11:13 pm US/Eastern

Worker Injured In Washington Co. Plant Accident

HOUSTON, Pa. (KDKA) ― A natural gas processing plant was closed today in Washington County after an accident with a faulty valve caused one worker to be injured.

A spokesperson for the company says the community was never at risk, but some people who live in the area say what happened today is cause for concern.

Operations at Markwest Energy were shutdown for most of Sunday afternoon when a worker at the Houston, Washington County facility was hurt in a mid-day accident.

"Indications are that it was a defective valve of some sort," said company spokesperson, Cory Bromley. "This is something kind of unusual, but we don't really know the full cause of it, but that's where the first burst came from is a defective valve."

Officials say the plant is a gas processing facility where natural gas is collected and brought to the plant and the liquid is then removed. The gas is then sent on to retailers and the interstate market.

There were about 30 workers on site at the time of the accident, officials say. People who live in the area say they heard a loud noise coming from the facility, but were never informed of what happened.

"They never told us about what happens in an incident likes this when there's an explosion. Are we in danger? What should we do?" said area resident, Bonnie Downing.

The company says the community was never in danger.

Also, officials say the injured worker, who has not been identified, is being treated at a local hospital for some cuts including one to the head. But he is reportedly doing fine.

The company spokesperson say he anticipates that operations will resume tomorrow at the facility, but there is no official word.

Officials say early indications are that the valve had a fracture of some sort and will need to be replaced before operations can continue.

The investigation into what happened continues.



(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Featured Slideshows On KDKA.com

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Washington County

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.