15th Body Found in Plant Rubble

The BP oil refinery unit that exploded Wednesday, killing 15 people, had been shut down for maintenance and was being revved back up, the most vulnerable time for a refinery, the company said Thursday.

Chief Executive John Browne said the unit, which produced materials to raise the octane levels of gasoline, was being brought back into service when it erupted in a fireball that leveled part of the plant. BP said the refinery’s 30 units underwent such a “turnaround” once or twice a year. The operations are intended to keep equipment clean and ensure that the units are running efficiently.

Although Browne described the procedure as routine maintenance, others said there was no such thing in the petrochemical industry.

BP spokesman Hugh Depland said shutdowns were perilous and complicated tasks. He compared them to the flight cycle of an airplane.

“Going straight and level is not its most dangerous time,” Depland said. “The most dangerous time is when it is taking off or landing. The transition requires more focus and attention.”

BP officials said the body of a 15th victim was discovered in the rubble Thursday at the nation’s third-largest refinery. At least 105 people were injured in the explosion, but most had been released from hospitals. Seven remained in critical condition.

The Galveston County medical examiner’s office identified six of the dead refinery workers: Larry Linsenbardt, 58; Ryan Rodriguez, 28; Morris King, 57; Susan Taylor, 33; Larry Thomas, 61; and Eugene White, 53. All lived in Texas City or in nearby cities, said Ginger Leslie, an employee at the medical examiner’s office.

Eleven of the 15 dead worked for JE Merit Constructors Inc., a subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. of Pasadena, Calif. Many of the Merit contractors apparently were meeting in a trailer near the blast site.

Fluor Corp. of Aliso Viejo, Calif., said Thursday that three of its employees were also killed.

Browne arrived at the plant from London on Thursday to find the BP and U.S. flags flying at half-staff.

He toured the site, where workers combed through the rubble, and spoke with employees and rescuers.

“I heard many harrowing stories,” he said. “Yesterday was a dark day in BP’s history.”

He declined to speculate about the cause of the explosion.

“This takes patience,” he said. “Patience, I know, is in short supply.”

BP’s plant in Texas City, 40 miles southeast of Houston, has reported four accidents in the last year, including one in which hot water from a ruptured furnace burned three employees, killing two of them.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the plant $172,500 for violating federal safety rules.

Browne defended the company’s record. Asked whether a large accident was merely a matter of time, he said, “I don’t believe it was.” He added: “It is a very safe plant. These events were unrelated.”

Environmental officials said Thursday that the explosion did not appear to have released dangerous levels of pollutants.

Amid fears that a toxic cloud would settle over Texas City, residents were ordered after the blast to remain in their homes, and children were kept inside schools.

But Terry Clawson, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said Thursday that air monitors found no detectable levels of the materials they were searching for, such as benzene and hydrogen sulfide.

Speculation that the explosion could crimp gasoline supplies drove up prices on the futures markets Thursday.

The price of U.S. benchmark light, sweet crude for May delivery rose $1.03 to close at $54.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, reversing three days of losses. And gasoline for April delivery jumped to a record $1.608 a gallon before closing at $1.5992 a gallon, up 2.43 cents.

BP officials said gasoline production at the plant would most likely fall by about 5% during recovery.

Though cleaner-burning fuel required in California is not produced at the refinery, the state’s spot prices hit an all-time high of $1.80 on Thursday, according to the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks prices.

The bump was a reaction to a crude oil pipeline break in northern Los Angeles County, as well as to what Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for Oil Price Information Service, called “general nervousness” within the energy trading industry.

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Special correspondent Dana Calvo in Houston and Times staff writer Rong-Gong Lin II in Los Angeles contributed to this report.