By GUY CHAZAN
January 18, 2008; Page A8
BP PLC said it still needs to make progress on safety issues, after a worker died in an accident Monday at the company’s Texas City refinery, scene of a blast nearly three years ago that claimed 15 lives.
“We’re not yet where we want to be,” said BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell in Houston. He said BP’s goal was still to be an industry leader in process-safety management, but “this is not a journey any company can make overnight.” William Gracia, an operations supervisor who had worked at the refinery for 30 years, died from head injuries suffered when the metal lid of a pressurized water-filtration vessel he was preparing for restart blew open.
The incident has refocused attention on BP’s safety record three months after the company agreed to pay $373 million in fines to settle charges stemming from the Texas City explosion, an oil spill in Alaska and allegations it manipulated the propane market.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is on the refinery’s site and investigating Monday’s incident. BP said it is cooperating with the probe.
The company is investing $1 billion to upgrade Texas City, the third-largest refinery in the U.S., and says it is working hard to enhance safety at all its operating facilities.
Critics of BP said Mr. Gracia’s death showed the company’s safety standards are still inadequate.
Write to Guy Chazan at [email protected]
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
