A new review by an environmental group of OSHA records shows the CHS Refinery in McPherson, Kansas has the second highest number of work-related injuries at U.S. refineries in the past five and one-half years.
The review of OSHA data by Oil and Gas Watch revealed the refinery had 73 injuries and no deaths during the period of August 2017 to March 2023. CHS is a global agribusiness cooperative owned by farmers and cooperatives across the nation. The refinery produces gasoline and diesel for the company’s Cenex gas stations at 1,500 locations in 19 states.
The top ten list of refineries with the most injuries did not include any operations in Oklahoma.
The U.S. refinery with the highest number of injuries was the United Refining Company operation in Warren, Pennsylvania with 119 injuries and no deaths. Its total, according to Oil and Gas Watch, was 10 times the average for a U.S. refinery and 63% more than the CHS refinery in central Kansas.
The publication, an entity of the Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental nonprofit organization that advocates for more effective enforcement of environmental laws. It found that the new data from OSHA did not include the May 23 fire at the CVR refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, a fire that injured two workers,one of whom died later of his burns and injuries. A May 15 fire that killed one worker at a Marathon petroleum refinery south of Houston, Texas was also not part of the OSHA data.
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