W. W. Sprague, III becomes CEO and president. Olympic Pipeline explosion. Solomon claimed in later court papers that at this time, Biryukova began exhibiting psychological problems, causing him to begin eating outside and sleeping on the floor to comply with her obsession with keeping the condominium clean. Federal OSHA issues third largest fine in history following sugar Also, unrelated to the local refinery, Imperial considers a joint venture with Louisiana Sugar Refinery LLC to build and operate a plant on its Gramercy site. Spokesman Steve Behm said while the reports were received two days before the disaster, they were not "reviewed" until afterwards. On Friday night, as they've done every year sense, those affected by the tragedy came together at Our Lady of Lourdes Church to remember those who were lost and those who survived the explosion. While the previous year the department said it had exhausted all the leads that had been reported to it, at that time Mylett claimed Solomon had shared some unspecified new information with them that might prove useful. Broken equipment inside a steel conveyor belt sparked the first explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth on a mild winter night 10 years ago. The explosion backed up traffic for miles on Interstate 5 and closed Highway 16 between I-5 and Union Street, forcing drivers to find back roads to get to Gig Harbor and other communities. Mar. Aug. 7: The Savannah Tech training is completed. And even as the event goes on, the 10th and 11th deaths are recorded at the burn center. Oct. 17, 2008: The refinery accepts delivery of an 88,000-pound granulator that dries and cools sugar. John Oxendine, the state's . March 1969: The Sugar Refinery and the Jim Dandy Co. open their new liquid feed facility at the Port Wentworth plant. Last year it built a steel cylinder that helped anchor a floating rig off the coast of South Africa, and the company also has clients in China. This past November, the agency was informed that the White House would propose eliminating it. Savannah, Georgia, September 24, 2009 - In a final draft report released today, CSB investigators said the February 7, 2008, explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, resulted from ongoing releases of sugar from inadequately designed and maintained dust collection equipment, conveyors, and sugar handling equipment. 1961: Thomas Oxnard becomes Chairman of the Board. Imperial Sugar, OSHA settle explosion case - EHS Safety News America Hospital officials said one suffered facial burns and was in stable condition. 11. The event raises almost $22,000. A group of ministers and businessmen is determined that the memories of the deadly inferno at Imperial Sugar's Port Wentworth plant do not fade away. The initial blast rocked the building, jolting more dust into the air. January 14: Imperial Sugar's deadline for paying $12.2 million in interest on a $250 million loan. The first was Liam Wood, 18, who was fly fishing in the creek. According to its Web site, it occupies 18 acres with more than 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space. New protections seemed imminent after the Imperial Sugar explosion. December: Savannah Foods withdraws sponsorship of the Sugar City Holiday Classic basketball tournament. Savannah Sugar Refinery Explosion Historical Marker Julia Biryukova is a Ukrainian born in Soviet Russia; she later claimed to have been subjected to shock therapy in mental hospitals during her childhood as punishment, in addition to regular disciplinary beatings by her parents, with serious negative effects on her . At about 7.15 pm on 07 February 2008, a sugar dust explosion occurred in the enclosed steel conveyor belt under the granulated sugar silos. "I don't think he's alive," she said in 2013. Senator Saxby Chambliss can be required to give evidence in lawsuits filed against Imperial Sugar. The explosion at Atlas Castings & Technology sent four people to the hospital, closed a major highway and backed up traffic on nearby roads. Steve Lawson, a salesman at the nearby Titus-Will car dealership, said he went outside after he heard the explosion to see flames shooting up in the air and stretching as wide as 300 to 400 feet. It is renamed Raceland Sugar. Feb. 8, 2008. Three people died in the incident. 1980: Makes first appearance at number 472 on Fortune Magazine 500 largest American companies. Tricia Duryee: 206-464-3283 or tduryee@seattletimes.com. But several international unions criticized the board for not repeating in the report its earlier recommendation to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration of strong standards on combustible dust in factories. On September 14th, 2021, an explosion occurred at a baked goods factory in Savannah, Georgia. It was really scary," he said. Final CSB Report on Imperial Sugar Disaster Concludes Inadequate Despite efforts to improve safety and reduce the potential for recurrence, the 2008 sugar refinery explosion represents a tragic failure to learn from the past. The strike ends later in the month. 18 settle claims from 2008 Imperial Sugar explosion - Savannah Morning News Southbound traffic on Interstate 5 comes to a halt Saturday afternoon as a fire burns at the Atlas Castings & Technology foundry near the intersection with Highway 16 in Tacoma. May 1987: Sells Atlantic Towing, founded in 1920, to employees of ATCO. Both were estimated to be about half-full. The testimony is delayed until after the November elections. Now Playing. William Wallace Sprague, Jr. becomes sixth president. The refinery compensates by boosting its use of Florida raw sugar. The U.S. House passed a bill requiring OSHA to set standards on combustible dust, and the Senate held hearings. In 1994, five years before the accident, an IMCO Construction crew, working on behalf of the City of Bellingham, damaged the pipeline while constructing the city's water treatment plant and failed to notify officials about the damage. by Tim Sendelbach and Anton Riecher Imperials management, as well as the managers at the Port Wentworth refinery, did not take effective actions over many years to control dust explosion hazards even as smaller fires and explosions continued to occur at their plants and other sugar facilities, said CSB investigator John Vorderbrueggen. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. [11], The theory that Sky's disappearance might have been arranged by Biryukova drew more credence when police learned of strong coincidences between her story and a recently aired episode of the popular NBC crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The Imperial sugar plant explosion claimed 14 lives, and injured dozens more. 1975: Transales Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Savannah Foods, begins operations. Since then, explosions and fires tied to combustible dust have continued to claim worker lives. Animation of April 26, 2018, Explosion and Fire at the Husky Energy Refinery in Superior, Wisconsin. Also, lawyers for the victims file to set aside a confidentiality order and allow previous depositions to be made public. Crotty said fire officials evacuated people from around the foundry, an area that stretched from South M Street to Pine Street, and from South Tacoma Way to Center Street. Another subsidiary, Savannah Foodservice, expands. [8] Instead of buying gas or asking someone to bring it to her car, she called a friend, who came and picked her up and gave her a ride back to her car. [5] Daughter Maile, their first child, was born in 2007. [2], Olympic Pipe Line Company ran a network of fuel pipes beginning at refineries in Whatcom County and Anacortes and running south to Seattle and Portland. The nearly three dozen Atlas employees working Saturday were accounted for, fire officials said. The privately held Florida agribusiness U.S. Sugar will purchase Imperial Sugar, the Sugar Land, Texas-based company that owns and operates the Port Wentworth sugar refinery that's served. [6], On Biryukova's 29th birthday, in early 2010, she was briefly committed to a mental hospital for the first of three times, after telling Solomon she had dreamed of killing the children. The fire continued at the foundry late into the evening as the remaining propane burned off from the tank. [1], The situation was reported to police, who soon came to doubt Biryukova's account since her car was found to have enough gas in its tank and was in working order. Each year, the community pauses to remember the 14 lives lost and the more than 40 people injured in the incident on Feb. 7, 2008. It is later learned that they buried the boy believing they accidentally killed him and made up the abduction as a cover story. The fire affected two substations, said utility spokesman Randy Stearnes. PORT WENTWORTH, GA (WTOC) - Thursday, Feb. 7 marks 11 years since the explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Port Wentworth. OSHA's investigation found that the company failed to control highly combustible grain dust. [8] However, Maile told the police that Sky had indeed been in the car that morning. 1970: Company name is changed to Savannah Foods & Industries, Inc. July 1, 1972: Lawton Calhoun retires. Searchers combed a 20-block radius of the car but found nothing. [14], Investigators stated publicly that they did not believe Biryukova's story and suspected criminal activity had occurred. A fire at the foundry was still burning late Saturday night, and firefighters were working to cool additional propane tanks on site so they would not blow up. Mar. [7] Shortly after she got out, Solomon filed for divorce. [7], These disputes continued for over a year. Aug. 14: A memorial sculpture is unveiled at Legacy Park. The company plans to appeal. August: Imperial's insurer goes to court to have them removed from pending lawsuits. ABC News obtained an email address that her relatives said was hers and used it to contact her. Nevertheless, in 2003, she married him in a brief ceremony in his mother's kitchen. Mar. It shows a loss of over $60 million after the fire and explosion of the Savannah plant. May 1: Agribusiness Louis Dreyfus Commodities announces they will acquire Imperial Sugar. The foundry, at 3021 S. Wilkeson St., is in the Nalley Valley, an industrial area, with homes on the surrounding hills, near the intersection of I-5 and Highway 16. Biryukova took up a job at a restaurant his family owned in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle. Family and friends of survivors and those lost will come together to support one another at Our Lady of Lourdes on Friday night. Biryukova later claimed that she did not tell her own family the real reason the two had wed until 2010. December 3: Imperial Sugar Co. announces it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Hormel for the sale of Diamond Crystal Brand. The explosion backed up traffic for miles on Interstate 5 and closed Highway 16 between I-5 and Union Street, forcing drivers to find back roads to get to Gig Harbor and other communities. February 2: Savannah Foods lays off 35 people. Recommendations We respect your data and privacy. Senator, he does not have to comply with the subpoena. Location. After they agreed to take a parenting class, charges were dropped several years later. February: First quarter reports that the company is overcoming the loss sustained in the last quarter of 1995. She sought "financial stability", as well as $3,0005,000 in cash per month. Biryukova offered to forego alimony and child support if he let her move to Arizona with the children, but he refused. This one is against Savannah Foods & Industries as well as Stokes Contracting. [1] Later, Solomon's lawyer told the Seattle Weekly another reason for the inaction: if police did arrest Biryukova, she and her attorney would be able to review all the evidence the police had accumulated up to that point, which neither they nor Solomon wanted her to be able to do. "I'm a realist," the Port Wentworth fire chief says, assessing the actions he took on a chilly Thursday night one year ago this week, when a deadly explosion ripped through the Imperial Sugar. [2], Authorities all noted that the destruction and death toll were much lower than would be expected from such a large explosion. 7: State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine rolls out rules focusing on vacuuming and ventilation to help prevent other dust related fires/explosions. The Metalwalas claimed they had been inside only for twenty minutes and did not want to wake the child, but the store's security camera video footage disproved them. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The company has worked around the world. Most of the injured managed to escape the burning structure without assistance. The explosion was caused by a dangerous build-up of sugar dust at the refinery. PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. (AP) Broken equipment inside a steel conveyor belt sparked the first explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth on a mild winter night 10 years ago. February: As the anniversary of the explosion is remembered, rules governing combustible dust still lag and Imperial fights with its insurers over the preemptive lawsuit filed. [7] After that release, Solomon and his brother took Biryukova to University of Washington Medical Center where she checked in voluntarily. September: Purchases South Coast Sugars of Raceland, Louisiana. June 30, 2021 Her description of the incident also shared similarities with an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that had been rebroadcast in the Seattle area the night before. 1968: Western Grain Company of Birmingham Alabama, also known as Jim Dandy Co., is acquired. [8], Property damage was estimated at $58,455,927, most of it caused by the explosion. According to its Web site, Atlas Castings & Technology, formerly known as Atlas Foundry & Machine Co., produces cast parts, some as large as 48,000 pounds, in more than 100 different alloys of carbon steel, low-alloy steel, stainless steel and nickel base material. April: Sells Raceland Sugar plant in Louisiana. 30: A 'sugar run' motorcycle event raises more than $12,000 for the victims and their families. Is plant cleanliness considered during your monthly or annual inspections? Firefighters, safety managers, and industrial responders should review this incident and the investigative reports that followed to learn critical lessons. In killing the proposed rule this past July, the Trump Administration cited resource constraints and other OSHA priorities. January: W. W. Sprague, Jr. steps down as president and becomes chairman and CEO. On Friday night, as they've done every year sense, those affected by the tragedy came together at Our Lady of Lourdes Church to remember those who . [1] During the previous months, she had also posted a profile to seekingarrangements.com, a dating website for women seeking "sugar daddies", wealthy men willing to support a younger woman financially as part of a romantic relationship. She said that when she returned after being gone about an hour and a half, Sky was gone. Meanwhile, federal attorneys win the right to questions current and former Imperial Sugar officials under oath. July 25: One year later, OSHA's case against Imperial is no further along. In early 2013, a federal prosecutor said no criminal charges would be filed in the blast, citing insufficient evidence. Upon her third commitment, she was found to have a Global Assessment of Functioning score of 15, suggesting she was a danger to herself and others; it had improved to 40, meaning slight impairment, by the time she was released. August: Remaining lawsuits move forward with a pair of rulings by Judge Hermann Coolidge saying the issues can go before juries. This accident was caused by poor equipment design, poor maintenance and poor housekeeping. Settlement discussions are held between the company and feds. Port Wentworth, GA - Sugar Explosion Memorial - Roadside America July: Donates 27,000 pounds of sugar and salt to Bangladesh through AmeriCares, a New Canaan, Connecticut, relief group. Feb 7, 2018. [2] No gas can was found in the car. February 21: The company will sell its Diamond Crystal Brands division to Hormel Foods Corp. for $65 million as part of a plan to reduce debt that drove the sugar refiner into bankruptcy. The secure and easy all-access connection to your content. [2], Biryukova met her future husband at age 15, three years after emigrating from Russia. On Friday night, as they've done every year sense, those affected by the tragedy came together at Our Lady of Lourdes Church to remember those who were lost and those who survived the explosion. June 4: A noose is found hanging from a riverside dock at the plant. And two families with close and historical links to the plant, the Spragues and Oxnards, donate $250,000 through their Chatham Foundation to the United Way of the Coastal Empire for the victims and their families. Many nearby buildings had broken windows. W. W. Sprague, III becomes seventh president. 1968: Western Grain Company of Birmingham Alabama, also known as Jim Dandy Co., is acquired. In 2002, a fire ripped through the foundry, causing about $850,000 in damage. At the same time, the company is mum on its own investigation into the disaster. It's held at the same church that saw many family members immediately following the disaster, who sought information about their loved ones. What specialized resources would you have called for assistance? 225 employees are back at work. July 25: Savannah Food shareholders file a lawsuit to stop the proposed merger. [5], Biryukova later told a clinical psychologist that by this point she had learned that her boyfriend could be "very controlling" and she had become emotionally dependent on him in turn. Investigators blamed an accumulation of sugar dust inside a building used to store refined sugar prior to packaging for the deadly explosion that happened at the plant just across the street seven years ago. What potential do you have within your area of response for a dust explosion?
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