Phillips Faces Blast Fine of $5.7 Million : Occupational Safety: Natural gas company and engineering firm charged with willful violations in Texas explosion fatal to 23.

The government proposed a $5.7-million fine today against Phillips 66 Natural Gas Co. for alleged safety violations in connection with last year’s explosion at a Texas chemical plant that killed 23 people.

Phillips was cited for 575 willful and serious safety violations at its Houston Chemical Complex, where an Oct. 23 blast killed 23 workers and injured 130 others.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in announcing the second-largest proposed penalty against a company for a single inspection, also proposed a $730,000 fine against a contractor, Fish Engineering & Construction Inc., for 193 alleged willful and serious violations.

Phillips and Fish have 15 days to contest the fines.

“At no time has Phillips ever compromised the safety of its employees,” the company said in a statement. “Based on preliminary information, we do plan to contest a number of the citations and we do take issue with OSHA characterizing any of the violations as willful acts.”

In its investigation of the blast, OSHA uncovered internal Phillips documents that called for corrective action but “were largely ignored,” Labor Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole said.

“This tragedy is magnified by the clear evidence that this explosion was avoidable had recognized safety procedures been followed,” Dole said.

Assistant Labor Secretary Gerard Scannell, who heads OSHA, said an investigation showed that four highly flammable gases escaped from an open valve, forming a huge vapor cloud that traveled through the plant within seconds because of high pressure. A series of explosions occurred after the cloud came in contact with an ignition source.

Contrary to Phillips’ own procedures as well as standard industry practice, there was no backup protection such as a double valve to protect against valve failure or an untimely valve opening, Scannell said.

The alleged “willful” violations included failures to prevent the uncontrolled release of flammable vapors and provide adequate fire protection. Employees were not familiar with the plant alarm system or respiratory protection, OSHA said in citing Phillips and Fish for “serious” violations.

The government defines willful violations as those committed with an intentional disregard of federal safety laws. A serious violation is one in which there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.

The largest fine ever sought by OSHA was proposed last November, when the government said it was seeking a $7.3-million fine from USX Corp. for 2,000 alleged safety violations at two steel plants, one near Pittsburgh, Pa., and the other on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River.