HOUSTON -- The insecticide unit involved in a deadly chemical leak at the DuPont Industrial Plant in La Porte had been shut down for a few days before the tragedy. That's according to investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (C.S.B.). They also say the unit was in the process of restarting when a valve failed and the dangerous chemical used to make insecticides, methyl mercaptan, started leaking out.
Four workers, Crystal Rae Wise, Wade Baker and brothers Robert and Gilbert Tisnado, were overcome by the hazardous gas and killed.
Gilbert Tisnado's widow filed suit Tuesday against DuPont, joining a similar suit filed by Wise's daughter. They both say the company did not provide a safe work environment.
There is a growing memorial to the four fallen workers outside the plant. Describing the feeling there now, other employees told KHOU11 on Tuesday that they had lost not just coworkers, but family.
The C.S.B. is working to find out what went wrong, but its investigators still have not been able to get inside the impacted unit because of concerns the chemical may still be present there.
For now they're talking to witnesses and trying to piece together a timeline: why it took so long to get to the workers and why responding medical personnel did not have the right gear available to them to get inside the unit?
"We do know that the unit had been shut down for a few days before then and was in the process of being restarted when this release occurred. There's a lot more to learn about what happened during that sequence before we know how to prevent this in the future," said Dr. Daniel Horowitz, Managing Director of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
There's no word yet on why the unit had been shut down.
Investigators say Wise was the first worker exposed to the chemical and the others were overcome trying to help her.
The Tisnado family says Gilbert died trying to give his gas mask to his younger brother Robert.
While the investigation continues, the victims' families have begun to plan public funeral services. The Tisnado brothers' funeral will be on Friday, November 21 at 2:30 p.m. Wade Baker's service is set for the next day, at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday the 22nd, both at the Grand View Funeral Home at 8501 Spencer Highway in Pasadena.
