Destroyed Plant Allegedly Tipped to Safety Checks
Workers at a plant destroyed in a series of blasts May 4 have told Gov. Richard Bryan that state officials routinely broke the law by giving the company advance notice of safety inspections.
Bryan, who met with 75 workers at the United Steelworkers Union hall in Henderson, said the accusations by the employees of Pacific Engineering & Production Co. “were very persuasive.”
“There is a good deal of credibility because it’s coming from so many sources,” Bryan said after a 90-minute meeting.
Bryan conceded Monday that the public may never know whether the state conducted a follow-up inspection at PEPCON after investigators discovered potentially explosive levels of hydrogen gas at the plant in 1983.
Company officials blame leaking natural gas for the series of blasts May 4, but workers have speculated that high levels of hydrogen gas might be to blame.
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