NATION IN BRIEF : LOUISIANA : Investigators Seek Refinery Blast Cause

Investigators slogged through firefighting foam and charred remains of storage tanks damaged in a deadly explosion and fire at the nation’s second largest petrochemical refinery near Baton Rouge, La. The intense blaze at the Exxon refinery burned for 15 hours before it was extinguished, company spokesman Dave Gardner said. One contract worker died Sunday when his pickup caught fire in the explosion. Crews searched for an Exxon employee missing since the blast, Gardner said. Two investigative teams have been assembled, one to determine the cause of the accident and another to assess the damage and decide what’s necessary to get the plant back in operation, he said. The explosion was believed to have been ignited by a gas release, but what caused the release is under investigation, officials said. Production was halted at the refinery, which has a capacity of more than 19 million gallons of crude oil a day.