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Jerome Matthews died in an accident at the Alliance Refinery. (Source: Matthews family) |
- Technician at HydroChem PSC
- rigger at Edison Chouest Offshore
- Studied Business at Grambling State University
- Went to Alfred Lawless Sr Hg, N.O.,LA
- Lives in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Divorced
Family seeks answers after worker dies in refinery accident
Sunday, July 8th 2018, 1:38 pm EDT
Written by: Katherine Mozzone
NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) -
One family is desperate to lay their loved one to rest after he died in an accident at the Alliance Refinery in Belle Chasse. It happened Independence Day but, up until Saturday, the family had no idea when they'd get his body back.
"It was tragic. It was like a nightmare," said Floyd Young.
Young is just getting over the shock of losing his friend and colleague, Jerome Matthews.
"He did his job. He listened to us. He came to work on time. He did what he was supposed to do. He was a real, real good guy," Young said. "He was working the night shift. There were three of us. It was very slippery and nasty on top of the tower where we were working and he was grabbing the hose and he slipped and fell into the coolant tower."
Young says he and Matthews are employees of Hydrochem PSC, doing contract work for Phillips 66.
He says all three men on duty that night were safety-conscious and followed all the proper procedures.
"If he knew he was in a situation that could cost him his life, he wouldn't of stayed in that type of environment," said Matthews' widow Racquel.
She says he'd only been with the company several months but had years of experience working off-shore.
Even though he spent weeks at a time away from his son and young daughter, Racquel says Jerome always put family first.
"He was a good man, a great provider. His main thing was trying to work hard so we can provide for his family," Racquel explained.
Now, she and the rest of the Matthews family want closure.
"How or why? And that information still hasn't been told to us," Racquel said.
Days after the tragedy, she says she's still without answers and her husband's body.
"For a big company like this to handle it this way, it's mind-boggling," Racquel exclaimed. "We just want his remains so we can put him to rest."
Representatives with Philips 66 say after multiple recovery attempts were unsuccessful, a shutdown of the entire refinery began in order to allow emergency responders safe access to the basin.
Saturday, they completed the shutdown and emergency responders searched the basin.
Reps say they recovered Matthews' remains and turned them over to the Plaquemines Parish Coroner's Office. Yet, search and recovery efforts continue.
They go on to say personnel at the Alliance Refinery are deeply saddened by this accident, and their thoughts and prayers are with the worker's loved ones.
An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway.
Parish representatives say OSHA is also on hand.
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Contract worker dies at Belle Chasse refinery
Updated Jul 7, 11:57 PM; Posted Jul 7, 5:31 PM
A contract worker died at the Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery near Belle Chasse. The company said emergency personnel are expected to retrieve the worker's body Saturday, July 7, 2018. (Google Earth image)
By Greg LaRose
glarose@nola.com,
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
A contractor working at the Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery near Belle Chasse died this week, and emergency personnel retrieved the body Saturday evening (July 7) following a shutdown of the facility, according to the company.
Phillips 66 spokesman Dennis Nuss said said the incident happened around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and involved an employee of HydroChemPSC who was working in a basin of the refinery's primary cooling tower. The worker, who was not identified, was seen falling into the water basin, which is about 15 feet deep. Attempts to recover the worker were unsuccessful, and a deliberate shutdown of the refinery began in order to allow emergency responders safe access to the basin.
Nuss explained the shutdown process takes at least 48 hours in order to assure safe access to the cooling tower basin. The shutdown was completed Saturday night, and the worker's remains were recovered and turned over to the Plaquemines Parish coroner, according to Phillips 66.
The company said it is investigating to determine what caused the accident.
The HydroChemPSC website describes its offerings as industrial cleaning and environmental services. Its locations include sites in Norco, Fourchon, Gibson, Reserve and Lafayette. The company could not be reached immediately for comment.
HydroChemPSC is the premier industrial cleaning and environmental services company in North America bringing together the best of PSC and HydroChem to support the upstream, downstream and utility sectors. HydroChemPSC offers an exceptional three-pronged safety system, innovative career development platform, committed customer service, deep industry expertise, and advanced technology and automation. We are committed to safety, people, growth, service and performance. We provide the safest, most efficient operational experience for our customers and the most comprehensive training and career development for our employees. Our new company has a deep operational bench, and when combined with industry-leading automation technology, creates exceptional value for our customers with challenging maintenance needs.
PSC is a leading provider of specialty maintenance services and technology solutions to the critical energy infrastructure in the United States. PSC has built a strong business platform by partnering with clients who value safety, the most modern and productive equipment in the industry, a deep bench of engineering talent and the highest standards for environmental compliance. The heart of our organization comes from our dedicated employees and we are so proud to have the most experienced, best-trained professionals in the industry. Our service culture puts our clients and us on the same side of the table, working as partners to transparently identify ways to reduce wastes, costs and liabilities.
HydroChem LLC is a leading provider of industrial cleaning solutions to the petrochemical production, oil refining, and other energy end-markets. HydroChem serves a diverse base of blue-chip customers and has industry-leading safety results, highly innovative automation technologies and specialty services, and best-in-class project supervision personnel and field equipment. The company’s core services, which include hydroblasting, industrial vacuuming, chemical cleaning, tank cleaning, and paint booth management services, are essential to improving or maintaining the efficiency and operability of customer facilities as well as extending the useful lives of process equipment and facilities.
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Worker dies at Belle Chasse refinery prompting operational shutdown
The worker's identity has not been released at this time.
Author: WWLTV
Updated: 10:12 PM CDT July 7, 2018
Operations at Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery in Belle Chasse shut down after a worker fell into a water basin and died, according to a spokesperson from Phillips 66.
The company says a contract worker with HydroChemPSC was seen falling into the water basin of the primary cooling tower at the refinery during contract services around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 4. According to the company, the water basin is about 15 feet deep.
After several recovery attempts were not successful, a shutdown of the refinery began to allow emergency responders to access the basin.
Emergency crews conducted a search of the basin Saturday and recovered remains of the worker. The remains were turned over to the Plaquemines Parish Coroner’s Office, the company says. The worker’s identity has not been released at this time.
As of Saturday, July 7, the company says the refinery shutdown has been completed.
“All personnel at the Alliance Refinery are deeply saddened by this accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with the worker’s loved ones. An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway,” Phillips 66 said in a statement.