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Gerald Herbert / AP
An aerial photograph shows a supply vessel near an oil rig damaged by an explosion and fire on Nov. 16 in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La.
NEW ORLEANS -- One of the men burned when an offshore oil platform exploded in flames in Louisiana died Friday, the Philippines ambassador said.
The ambassador, Jose L. Cuisia Jr., said in a news release that 49-year-old Avelino Tajonera died shortly after his wife and three children arrived from Manila.
Three other men remain hospitalized. The ambassador said their families are in Baton Rouge.
The explosion and fire on Nov. 16 also killed 42-year-old Ellroy Corporal, whose body was found in the waters nearby. The search for another man, 28-year-old Jerome Malagapo, was called off.
The explosion and fire occurred on a platform run by Black Elk Energy in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La.
A federal agency told Black Elk on Wednesday that it needs to improve safety at its offshore operations.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Black Elk has been cited numerous times for incidents in which it failed to comply with regulations.
The bureau noted the fire and an October 2011 incident where use of an acid-based chemical resulted in the hospitalization of six workers. Another 2010 violation resulted in a $307,000 fine.
"Black Elk has repeatedly failed to operate in a manner that is consistent with federal regulations," BSEE Director James A. Watson said in a news release. "BSEE has taken a number of enforcement actions, including issuing numerous Incidents of Non Compliance (INC's), levying civil penalties and calling in the company's senior leadership to review their performance and the ramifications of failing to improve."
The bureau's letter to Black Elk CEO John Hoffman said failure to improve overall performance could lead to steps including revocation of the company's authorization to operate its offshore facilities. Black Elk's website says it has an interest in 155 offshore platforms.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
"We appreciate the perspective of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement," Black Elk spokeswoman Leslie Hoffman said in an emailed response to a request for comment. "Safety is a high priority for Black Elk Energy and we will continue to work cooperatively with local and national federal agencies to understand exactly what happened with the incident at our platform in the Gulf of Mexico."
BSEE said it ordered Black Elk to submit a performance improvement plan by Dec. 15. And the bureau outlined several steps that must be taken to improve safety. Those include an end to "hot work" on facilities until the company can demonstrate "that steps have been taken, and a safety manager is in place whose responsibility it will be to improve hazard identification, training, and oversight for such operations."
Hot work is work that can produce flames, sparks or a source of ignition — such as welding or grinding. The Coast Guard said Friday that a torch was in use at the time of the accident. Grand Isle Shipyard Inc., a subcontractor that was doing maintenance on the platform, has said a welding torch was not in use at the time of the accident.
Other steps outlined by BSEE include keeping the site of Friday's fire shut down, along with other Black Elk facilities where operations have been stopped, or "shut in." BSEE estimated that 41 Black Elk sites are shut in for various reasons.
Friday's accident was on a production platform in shallow water off Louisiana's coast, but it was not producing oil at the time and did not result in a continuous leak of oil, unlike the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
NBC News staff contributed to this report from The Associated Press.
Eleven people were injured in the production platform blast and oil spillage was minimal, according to the Coast Guard. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
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Leave a Comment:
Sad to hear. Would have also been sad if the worker was from Louisiana.
Very sad. You would think in the wake of one of the largest corporations in the world paying one of the largest fines in history for one of the most egregious safety failures in the history of petroleum extraction, prominently on display in the media, with the world, the press, the public looking on, that the industry would do anything, absolutely anything, to avoid even a relatively minor repeat of that disaster. And yet here we have another accident and loss of multiple lives because somebody didn't do their job right. Very tragic, very sad. The drilling industry has a permanent black eye.
And yet the Houston Chronicle just named Black Elk Energy one of the "Best Companies to Work For in Houston".
I'd hate to see the worst.
This is what happens when states turn a blind eye to cash cows.
Kind of like paying for profit with blood.
RealAmericansFirst, get real! The oil industry is inherently a VERY dangerous environment. To condemn a company because of one accident, by someone who wasn't even a Black Energy employee, is just plain dumb!
Apparently Mike you didn't comprehend the article. It said the company has a history of violations. Ignorance is what is dumb.
what about the company Grand Isle shipyard that has had numerious deaths and hired cheap labor The goverment should investigate them!!
foreign workers?, it does not smell very good. we killed people 100 years ago digging coal. google colorado coal wars and see how we used foreigners to do our dangerous work, and forced their labor with guns.
Unfortunately igloo, this is the norm for corporations. Cheap labor und cutting corners increases profit. Gotta pay for those multi million dollar homes on the backs of labor instead of pulling out their own wallets. There is a large list of companies in texas, as well as the rest of the country, that does this and short of criminal and civil charges, will continue.
First I would like to say that this is not the norm, from what I have found, if you could provide me with the facts that this the norm I would appreciate it. Also Igloo we did not kill people 100 years ago we were not even alive, unless you are over 100 years old and if so well shame on you.
Obviously fines and levies aren't doing enough to make oil companies adhere to proper safety and environmental standards. They should have to shut down completely until they can, and continue paying their workers while they are shut down. My sympathies to the families of the workers who died so horrifically.
I agree Dominique. As long as there are the ones that keep screaming too much regulation, people will keep dieng at the hands of greed. I live in a state where fracking has been proven to have polluted drinking water but the govenor swears the tests have been altered. All in the name of tax revenue.
Spent 40+yrs workig in Chemical business. Mostly Metal-oxides, B reader x-rays, can't hear, vision bad, blood messed up, grandkids ask Pappy whats that scar from, that's the cost of doing business.
As an accident investigator for a Federal agency who has seen his share of carnage, I can tell you that fines for Federal violations are merely "the cost of doing business" for major corporations, and are just a line item in their budgets. Companies will readily pay the "token" fines and continue with "business as usual" until stronger measures, such as imprisonment of senior corporate officers, are taken for safety violations which result in deaths, severe injuries or major environmental pollution.
RIP and condolences to the family.
working on those rigs is dangerous enough without a company taking safety shortcuts too.
dee, nobody took shortcuts. Someone made a mistake! Why can't your brain process that? The BP spill was "taking safety shortcuts", this was not!
I agree with Mike.
There was no shortcut taken. Someone somewhere along the line made a huge mistake. They were suppose to use a cold cut because the line was 'dirty.' The platform wasn't flowing but there was probably built up gas left inside. The MMS pays regular visits to offshore production platforms and they're very thorough and strict. My husband works as a production operator. Luckily nothing like this has ever happened to him. I wish the families all my best. I know this has to be tough.
I was a safety engineer in a large petro plant. Our biggest problem was getting the guys to follow existing rules and procedures. I cannot count the times I have heard, "Why do we have to do _______— this way? I've been doing this 25 years with no problems!" Cutting into a pipe is ALWAYS done after "sniffing" the inside for explosiveness; someone dropped the ball.
My deepest condolences to Mr. Tajonero's family. My family knows personally the cost of safety shortcuts that cause violent explosions and life changing injury and loss of life at work sites. Cutting corners in safety regulations and practice means nothing to them. Yes, pay a fine-maybe-and carry on. Sometimes terrible accidents just happen for whatever reason and no shortcuts were taken. Either way, explosions are so devasting. Again, my family's deepest condolences to the Tajonero family..
yall are missing the point grand Isle shipyard had 14 of the 20 workers and they (forgein workers have a suit)
Black elk was taking GIS's word that they have a safety program --think about it If you work for GIS you are at risk --research the company
GIS is at fault!!
Regulations? We don' need no stinkin' regulations!
Until the fines are larger than the profits this will continue. The fines are minor annoyances; like paying off a cop to look the other way.
I don't think that larger fines would change anything.Not allowing a company to stay in business would be an incentive for corporations to clean up their act.
Maybe its time to bring some charges for manslaughter against the management team. It seems they have a great disreguard for worker safety. Maybe if they had to pay like their workers do they would fix things.
That is exactly what China would do.But our namby pamby government is only interested in the money from fines.
It's too bad that high pressure hammer unions where not implemented into the pipe and flow design to reduce unnecessary breaks in a production line. The removal of the union on both ends allows for plugs to be inserted and replacement repairs to take place without the possibilities of a pressurized line bursting or exploding due to the need to cut them. In most cases the lines are bled and a pig is blown through the line flushing any fluids from the line. When feasible carbon dioxide exhaust tubes are hooked up and this non explosive gas removes the explosive combination of the fuel-air mixture from the explosive equation while cutting operations take place. The Oilfields practices Safety first but for some reason there was a flawed piping designed and a cut was needed to do the repairs. As with any loss of life it is tragic and going forward, what improvements or change in production pipe system designs can be incorporated to lessen the need to make hot work less necessary when system pipe upgrades are necessary?
#164 - Sun Nov 18, 2012 10:49 AM CST
Copied and pasted from an earlier thread on this tragic accident.
Black Elk Energy you fail the smell test! Safety should be Your First Priority and not just high on the list.
May this man rest in peace.He is no longer suffering.My condolences to his family.
US energy industry creates american jobs... according to the TV commercials
My condolences to Tajonera's family.