Imperial Sugar workers being re-trained

Workers idled by the deadly sugar refinery explosion in Port Wenworth are going back to school. Company officials say the wait between now and when the Imperial Sugar plant could be fully operational is a year they can use to teach employees new skills. Workers will attend 180 hours of classes at Savannah Technical College, both in core subjects like reading and math, but also in company-specific training for technological upgrades that will be in place when areas of the plant begin to re-open.

Imperial Sugar C.E.O. John Sheptor says, he expects that to begin in the fall. "We're just going to take advantage of the opportunity that we have while the refinery is down and give this education opportunity to our associates that they wouldn't otherwise as this large of a number would have been able to take advantage of it," Sheptor says.

Georgia's HOPE scholarship is paying for the bulk of the retraining. A federal report is expected by August 8th on the cause of the blast that killed 13 workers and injured scores more on February 7th.