[seadog] Inquiry Into Staten Island Explosion
- From: "Tom Blanchard" <tomblanchard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "SEADOG" <seadog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 21:33:30 -0500
From NY TIMES
Coast Guard Opens Inquiry Into Staten Island Explosion
The Coast Guard began hearing public testimony yesterday in its formal
investigation into the huge barge explosion at a Staten Island fuel depot on
Feb. 21 that killed two crew members and severely injured a worker.
Investigators have been focusing on a pump that may have malfunctioned,
though an employee testified yesterday that the pump had been tested before
the blast.
The investigation, led by Cmdr. Patrick E. Little of the Coast Guard's
marine safety office in Providence, R.I., is intended to determine the cause
of the explosion as well as to gather information to help prevent or better
respond to similar problems in the future, he said in his opening statement.
Officials plan to question 17 witnesses by day's end tomorrow, and to
reconvene a little later with a second group of witnesses. Lt. Comdr. Joseph
Fischetti, a Coast Guard spokesman, said that Commander Little would
probably not submit his final report for about six months.
Although the investigation is being coordinated by the Coast Guard, which is
responsible for licensing ships and crews, the National Transportation
Safety Board is also participating because it is responsible for determining
the cause of major accidents, Commander Little said.
Yesterday's session focused on establishing what was happening at the
terminal just before the deadly blast at Port Mobil on Arthur Kill. The
explosion occurred after the unloading of about 50,000 barrels of unleaded
gasoline from a 200-foot barge, killing the vessel's captain, John Kyne, and
mate, Ford Ebanks. Mr. Ebank's family has filed a $10 million lawsuit
against Bouchard Transportation, a Hicksville, N.Y., company that owns the
barge and employed both men.
Lawyers for both families were at the hearing, along with representatives of
Bouchard; ExxonMobil, which uses the depot to store motor fuels and heating
oil from vessels and from a pipeline running northeast from oil refineries
in the Gulf Coast; and SeaRiver Maritime Inc., an ExxonMobil marine
transportation affiliate.
Theofanis Tskas, a Bouchard employee who had serviced the suspect pump hours
before the blast, said that it had tested successfully, Lieutenant Commander
Fischetti said, emphasizing that the pump was only one system under
investigation.
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