Worker Killed in Accident at Beaumont Refinery

Details have yet to be released but a work-place death occurred early Wednesday at the ExxonMobil plant in Beaumont, Texas.

The company said it happened around 12:30 a.m..

“We regret that a contractor was fatally injured in an incident at a unit under maintenance at the Beaumont refinery,” explained Exxon in a statement. “We have notified the appropriate authorities and working to investigate the cause of the incident.”

Exactly which agencies were notified was not made clear but it is believed OSHA investigators will participate in the probe. The refinery produces 2.8 billion gallons of gasoline a year.

Beaumont

The accident occurred as ExxonMobil also restarted its oil refinery in Torrance, California more than a year after it was closed because of an explosion. The blast occurred in February 2015 and injured four workers and caused heavy damage to the plant.

The shutdown of the plant led to higher gasoline prices in California.