Rep. Scanlon Issues Statement on Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Report

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 -- Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pennsylvania, issued the following statement:

Today, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released an initial report of the investigation into the incident at the PES refinery.

"Federal investigations concerning the safety and environmental impact of the June explosion and fire at the PES refinery are ongoing but today's update from the CSB affirms how critical these investigations are for our understanding of the causes of this incident, the health and safety implications, and the prevention of such incidents in the future.

"The CSB's report confirms that this explosion could have been catastrophic to our region if not for the heroism of the PES workforce.

"I will continue to work alongside my colleagues in Congress to fight for the rights of this workforce and ensure that our community, and communities across the United States, are not subjected to disasters like this. Our office will continue working with clean air organizations, CSB, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as these organizations continue their investigations.

"Once these investigations are complete, parties found responsible must be held accountable and appropriate actions must be taken to address this situation and the impact it has had on the workers and our region.

"PES executives have repeatedly put profits before people by lining their pockets with millions of dollars in bonuses while laying off hundreds of workers without health insurance or severance pay. PES cannot simply get up and walk away from these workers and this community."

* * *

A copy of the CSB's report can be found here (https://scanlon.house.gov/sites/scanlon.house.gov/files/PES%20Factual%20Update.pdf).