2008 Georgia Sugar Refinery Explosion - Aftermath

Aftermath

Imperial's refinery in Louisiana was shut down by the company six weeks after the Port Wentworth disaster over fears a similar explosion would occur there, and was not returned to operation for a week. OSHA fined Imperial $36,000 over safety legislation violations at that plant.

The plant's 371 workers continued to receive payment from Imperial, and 275 were rehired to assist with cleanup and demolition of unsavable parts of the refinery, with work commencing on April 18, 2008 after Imperial's board confirmed their intention to rebuild. The plan is for the plant to return to sugar refining by the end of 2008. Demolition of the sugar silos was conducted on June 24, 2008 with a wrecking ball. Demolition is set to continue from that date for a week of the area at the center of the explosion. A replacement packaging building and new sugar silos are intended to be completed by Summer 2009. During demolition 2,800,000 pounds (1,300,000 kg) of fire-hardened sugar was recovered from one silo by a crane with a bucket, and another 500,000 pounds (230,000 kg) from a second. The company hopes it can be recycled for ethanol production.

In the first quarter of 2008 Imperial posted a $15.5 million loss, which they said was primarily due to the explosion. Port Wentworth saw an economic depression after the accident, with local businesses losing much custom that would normally be supplied by the plant's workers.

Within a month of the accident OSHA, fearing that relevant employers may be unaware their facilities presented a risk of dust explosions, sent a letter to 30,000 employees to alert them to the danger of a similar explosion occurring. OSHA also proposed the Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008, a new bill aimed at introducing regulations to reduce the risk of dust explosions. In March 2008 Raquel Islas, a female worker whose arms were burnt, sued Savannah company Stokes Contracting, who had a contract to clean the factory. In April 2008 the widow of Shelathia Harvey also sued Stokes, as well as Savannah Foods, who remained a wholly owned subsidiary after Imperial bought them out and in whose name the factory was still owned.