Imperial Resumes Sugar Refining In Georgia

For the first time in 16 months since a deadly explosion at its plant, Imperial Sugar has resumed refining crystal sugar in Georgia. Top executives with the Texas-based company are scheduled to mark the new startup of the nation's second-largest sugar refinery today in Port Wentworth near Savannah. The explosion at the plant on Feb. 7 of last year killed 14 people.

Imperial warned of dust hazards years before explosion

Fourteen people died as the result of an explosion at the Imperial sugar refinery near Savannah last February. Six months later, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined dust was the culprit. OSHA says Imperial Sugar managers knew of the problem for years and refused to fix it. OSHA slapped the company with an 8.7 million dollar fine. Victims filed their own lawsuits.

Now, today the Savannah Morning News publicized reports showing consultants warned the company of the hazards years before the blast.

From a 2005 report: “One major problem is still the strength of dust extraction. This is so weak that the powder sugar is not transported away from the machine.”

A subsequent 2006 report reads, “The system is plugged up… the units you have were state of the art… in the early 60’s.”

And another report obtained by the Savannah Morning News says that in 2008, one of six collection systems had major difficulties collecting explosive sugar dust.

Brent Savage represents 12 of the victims. "The fact that they were advised to get new dust collectors and didn’t do it," says Savage. "They were not doing the right thing… they were indifferent to these problems." Savage says his clients are angry.

Imperial Sugar says it didn’t receive the 2008 findings until after the explosion, and as for other reports… speaking on behalf of Imperial Sugar, Steve Behm issued this statement via email: Imperial did take action in terms of repairs and maintenance to its dust collection systems prior to the February 7, 2008 explosion, along with many other efforts towards improving safety at the facility.

Imperial Sugar has appealed OSHA’s fine. Savage says that case will likely be tied up in courts until 2010, but he expects the victims' lawsuits to move forward by the end of the year.

Meth Lab Explosion Kills Two

An explosion of a methamphetamine lab and fire at a south Georgia home killed two woman early Saturday morning.

The blast happened in Lanier county. Officials say it peeled back the roof of the double-wide manufactured home.

The victims, 65-year old Annie Ruth Powers and 37-year old Constance Bennett, were found in the home and pronounced dead shortly after the explosion.

Georgia Power Plans Safety Improvements

Georgia Power says the utility will have a plan by the end of this month for making safety improvements to the downtown Savannah electrical grid after two recent fires sparked underground explosions. Explosions last week and in August blew off manhole covers and rattled office buildings in downtown Savannah. No one was injured. A top executive says possible options include temperature gauges to monitor underground cables and restraints to keep manhole covers anchored in place. Georgia Power began two years ago to replace the city's aging network of underground cables, but that work won't be finished until 2012.

(Associated Press)

Crews rush to replace aging electric cables

An update now on the underground explosion in downtown Savannah last month. Georgia Power says it's expediting replacing 50- to 80-year old electrical cables beneath Savannah's streets. The December 29th blast was linked to aging cables. It was the second blast of its kind – the first in August. No one was hurt in either blast. The company says it will send extra crews to replace the cables by 2012 – four years ahead of schedule.

(Associated Press)

Savannah officials want answers after Monday explosion

Monday’s underground electrical explosion in Savannah’s historic district has city officials "very concerned". It’s the second such blast in four months.

Earlier this year, the area surrounding Savannah’s City Hall and historic district was shut down when an underground electrical fire cut-off power to much of downtown and sent smoke up through the street.

Yesterday’s explosion was in the same general area, blowing-off manhole covers, sparking a handful of small fires and again knocking-out power to the area.

Savannah officials want answers as soon as possible--if for no other reason than to give tourists peace-of-mind.

City spokesman Brett Bell says face-to-face meetings have already begun.

"We spent much of last night with them, we’re meeting with them today, we plan a full sit-down with them next week so they can explain to us what exactly happened and what they’re doing to prevent this from happening again."

Bell says the response by Georgia Power this time was much better than that of the incident in August.

He says that was a result of meetings they had with company officials four months ago.

Georgia Power officials say it’s too early to tell how similar this blast is to the August incident.

Company spokesman Jeff Wilson has this to say over tourist concerns walking the streets of Savannah’s historic downtown.

"Safety is obviously the #1 priority for the public and our employees. Whatever the cause of this second explosion was, we will determine what that cause is and make any and every necessary correction so it doesn’t happen again."

Wilson says it may be a few weeks before a cause to Monday’s explosion can be pinpointed.

Power restored in explosion-affected Savannah

Georgia Power says it may be a few weeks until they know the exact cause of an underground electrical explosion in Savannah’s downtown tourist district Monday morning. By 8pm last night, power had been restored to most if not all of remaining areas that had been without electricity since the blast--two of the city’s biggest hotels and the City Market complex were among the remaining areas to get electricity back.

The underground explosion around 8:45am Monday morning happened near Savannah’s City Hall and the tourist district of River Street. The blast blew-out a few manhole covers and sparked a handful of small fires, along with the knockout of electricity. Jeff Wilson of Georgia Power says this is the second underground explosion to hit the same area of Savannah’s downtown in four months. Georgia Power is a few months into a multi-year, 50-million dollar project to upgrade Savannah’s underground power grid.

Savannah blast shuts down City Hall

Savannah blast. (Franklin Headley/Savannah Morning News)

An underground explosion in downtown Savannah Monday morning shut down City Hall, and resulted in the evacuation of nearby businesses.

There were no injuries; police say the blast broke a window at a nearby restaurant.

Electricity went out in some areas, including the city's historic district, according to Savannah Police spokeswoman Judy Powell:

"It looks like that most of the power is going to be on in most of the areas before 4 pm, and the only areas they are expecting to be closed are the areas closest to the where the original incident occurred around Drayton and Bay street."

Powell said that City Hall would remain closed until tomorrow.

Police say the explosion occurred around 8:45am near Abercorn and Bay streets, and blew off three manhole covers, igniting three separate fires. Firefighters doused flames from the blast by 10am.

Georgia Power spokesman Jeff Wilson said the explosion may have been caused by a cable fire, but couldn't confirm the report:

"We still do not know the cause of the outage and explosion; we'll be investigating that throughout the day, and once the equipment cools, that will enable us to go in there and determine the exact cause."

Wilson said about 60 Georgia Power customers lost service.

A similar explosion occurred in August, but Wilson said it was unclear if the causes were related.

Dalton's residents bewildered over bombing

Firefighters in Dalton facing smoke and flames from building destroyed in Friday's bombing. (Courtesy)

Barbara Russell's voice almost drops to a whisper as she tries to describe the deadly blast that interrupted her breakfast the other day.

"It was the loudest noise I've ever heard," she says, shaking her head. "You really can't believe it. It really hasn't sunk in "We're all trying to figure this out," says Steve Williams, a senior partner at the firm that was bombed. "It will be a long time before folks come to grips with this. We're just a little town in the Deep South."

The same sentiment kept coming up Sunday at the first town gathering since 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell died when he bombed a law office that represented his son in a bitter family land dispute. The Friday morning blast killed Cantrell and injured four others at the law firm — and left residents struggling to reconcile how it could happen in their blue-collar town of 30,000.

Cantrell, easily recognized around town clad in bib overalls with a small Chihuahua in his arms, had been embroiled in a dispute with his son, Bruce, since 2006.

Bruce Cantrell had grown fearful of the father and hired a lawyer at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham, to file a lawsuit to keep his dad off the property. The 2006 complaint claimed the elder man stole tools, kicked in a door and threatened to kill himself. Cantrell had given the property to his son.

The Associated Press has been unable to reach Bruce Cantrell for comment.

On Friday, police were called to a disturbance at the firm, housed in a two-story, colonial-style home. An officer saw a man get out of a sport utility vehicle and run behind the building. Seconds later, an explosion tore into the office.

Four were injured, including attorney Jim Phillips, who was described as a longtime friend of Cantrell. Phillips is hospitalized with burns to one-third of his body. He was in critical condition Saturday, and officials didn't immediately return a call Sunday seeking comment on his condition.

Meanwhile, many residents shared a common realization: they simply haven't registered what happened yet.

"Nobody here in this room, nobody in this city was at fault," said Dalton City Police Chief Jason Parker. "I think we accept that. It's time for us as a city, as a community to band together."

The law firm, which has helped produce a generation of local judges and community leaders, was one of the town's "oldest and most important law firms," says Dalton Mayor David Pennington. The city has offered the firm temporary space at city hall, and the firm's lawyers say they're confident they will soon rebuild.

"I will not be run off," says Williams, the firm's partner. "I'm here for the duration." Williams and other residents quietly gathered at Dalton City Hall, talking in hushed tones about what happened — and what could have happened.

"Everybody is just sort of shocked," said Beth Campbell, a local bookkeeper dressed in her Sunday best who showed up at the meeting for some clarity after her pastor announced it at church. "In about two hours time we heard so many stories. You heard so many different things and I still haven't heard what happened."

Kermit McManus, Dalton's district attorney, predicts it could take years for the town to realize the enormity of the attack. He's clearly shaken by the blast, which he called "an attack on the judicial system."

"He was going to blow the whole building up as a result of this legal dispute," he says, shaking his head.

McManus works in a sparkling new county courthouse that fronts a large window. But if he had to build it again, he says, he'd feel safer if his office was built behind thick walls instead of glass.

"It's more devastating than we know," he says."I think it will change the way people think and it's going to change the way people do business."

His voice trails off.

"We don't think in those terms," he says. "Now we will."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Dalton bombing.

Dalton bombing: officials meet with residents

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb technician works on a a bomb robot near the scene of a bomb blast in Dalton, Ga., Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. Four people were injured when a bomb went off in a law office. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

The Dalton police chief and district attorney are meeting with the public to discuss the Friday bombing of a law firm in the small north Georgia town.

The Sunday meeting is taking place at Dalton High School.

Officials and members of the state's crisis response team are on hand. Organizers are encouraging law enforcement, emergency personnel, counselors and teachers to attend.

An F.B.I. agent searches property belonging to the suspect in the explosion at a small-town law firm in northern Georgia in Dalton, Ga., Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. The suspect died in the blast that also injured four people at the office, authorities said. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

A bitter family dispute over property erupted Friday when 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell threw an explosive into a law firm that represented his son, causing a blast that killed the father and injured four people in the office. One victim, attorney Jim Phillips, is in critical condition at an Augusta burn center.


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(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

Explosion Update 2

According to officials, Lloyd Sylvester Cantrell tried to ram his SUV into the building. He loaded up the truck with natural gas, gasoline and propane. Vernon Keenan, director of the GBI, says the body is being transferred to the GBI facility in Decatur.

Cantrell was launching a suicide attack, according to a spokesman, after some dispute with a worker at the law firm.

Officials are looking at Cantrell’s property in North Whitfield County. An ATF spokesman says they are proceeding with caution. Law Enforcement officials are concerned the property might have hidden explosive devices, although they say there is no evidence yet to affirm that concern.

Explosion Update 2

GPB has confirmed the man who died at the explosion set off the blast, and lived near the North Whitfield area currently being searched by investigators.

Supect dead, 4 wounded in Dalton bombing

Police say a bomb blew up at the Dalton, Ga., law office of McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham today, killing one and injuring four others. (Courtesy WGCL)

Georgia investigators say a 71-year-old man suspected of setting off an explosion at a small-town law office has died.

Four other people were injured in the explosion that blew out the windows at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham around 10 a.m. Friday.

Police say there was some kind of disturbance at the office before the blast. An officer saw someone get out of a sport utility vehicle and run behind the building. Then something exploded.

Firefighters are still battling a small blaze that flared up after in initial blast.

The suspect's body is still in the building in Dalton, about 25 miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tenn.

Two of the injured were treated at a hospital and released, one was admitted and a fourth was taken to a burn center.

Officials said in a statement that:

“Dalton police received a 911 call regarding a disturbance at the law firm. The first police officer, to arrive on the scene spotted a person in a small SUV. When this person saw the officer, he jumped out of the SUV and ran behind the law firm, at which time the explosion occurred. The police officer was not injured. One fatality has been reported and is still at the scene.

Police Lt. Bruce Frazier said the blast was caused by some type of explosive device. Investigators were looking into a person of interest in the case, but no one had been arrested, he said. He declined to provide more details.

Bomb squads were checking for sweeping the premises for other explosives, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.

Four people hurt in the explosion were in stable condition at Hamilton Medical Center, spokeswoman Emily Michael said. One of the four was being taken to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, spokeswoman Beth Frits said.

The eight-lawyer firm, founded in 1932, works out of a two-story, colonial-style house. Police cordoned off the block and shut down a post office near the law firm, which specializes in personal injury and wrongful death cases, according to its Web site. An elementary school across the street was locked down, though it wasn't damaged.

State and federal investigators were assisting local authorities.

(The Associated Press)

Refinery explosion victim leaves hospital in Augusta

Another victim of the sugar refinery explosion at Port Wentworth in February has been discharged from the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta.

The patient, as well as four others, are receiving rehab at the hospital. Six remain hospitalized there. Three are in critical condition, while one is in serious condition and two more are in fair condition.

Thirteen people have died as a result of the explosion.

12th sugar plant blast victim dies

Imperial Sugar plant the morning after the blast and blaze. (/AP Photo)

A twelfth person has died as a result of an explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery earlier this month. Another patient died Tuesday evening at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta. According to spokeswoman Beth Frits, eleven patients from the plant in Port Wentworth remained in critical condition at the Augusta hospital, and another was in serious condition. Investigators say the explosion at the refinery near Savannah February 7th was fueled by airborne sugar dust. They have not yet determined what ignited it.

Click here for more GPB News reports about the disaster.

Sugar refinery fires extinguished

The fires are out at the site of the exploded sugar refinery in Port Wentworth near Savannah. Firefighters yesterday put-out the final stubborn flames, this setting the stage for further investigation to move ahead into how the explosion happened eight days ago. Eight people are confirmed dead, including one of the burn victims who died in an Augusta hospital yesterday morning. One worker remains missing at the refinery site. 16 remain in the Augusta hospital being treated for their injuries.

Lawmakers seek answers in refinery blast

Georgia Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss are calling for a federal investigation into last week’s deadly explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth. The blast killed eight people and injured dozens. The senators hope a “complete and thorough investigation” will shed light on causes of the tragedy and ways to improve factory safety.

Survivors struggling after refinery conflagration

Seventeen workers injured in the explosion on Thursday at the Imperial Sugar refinery near Savannah remained hospitalized Sunday in critical condition with severe burns. Three others were released Sunday, said Beth Frits of the Joseph M. Burn Center in Augusta.

One of the critically injured, 49-year-old Gene Daniel Bryan Jr., moved his head Sunday in response to relatives, even though he was in a medically induced coma, said his sister, Penny Daley.

Bryan, a supervisor, led several of his employees to an exit but they had to flee down a staircase that was engulfed in flames, Daley said in a telephone interview.

"It's hard to say it makes it all worth it, but I'm just glad to say he was able to help somebody," Daley said.

Sugar that was still burning three days after the refinery explosion that killed at least five people hampered the search for three other workers, missing since the blast leveled portions of the plant.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the chronology of events at the plant since Thursday.

(The Associated Press)

Burning sugar slows search for survivors

Ambulances and emergency workers from 12 counties were called in to assist in the evacuation of the workers injured at the plant. (AP Photo)

Sugar that was still burning three days after a refinery explosion killed at least five people hampered the search Sunday for three other workers missing since the blast leveled portions of the plant.

Crews used construction cranes to shore up three badly damaged, 80-foot storage silos that rescue workers want to search for the missing men. One of the silos blew up late Thursday, possibly after combustible dust ignited.

Mounds of sugary sludge pouring out of the silos Sunday was solidifying, though, creating another obstacle to the recovery efforts.

"You've got three silos down there that are still burning, you've got sugar still burning," said Sgt. Mike Wilson of Savannah-Chatham County police. "As you've got sugar that's crystalizing and running down the chutes, it's like concrete."

Strong wind coming off the Savannah River made conditions even more hazardous for crews trying to prevent the silos and plant buildings from collapsing, Savannah Fire Capt. Mike Stanley said.

"It is a very delicate environment that they are working in. We have a very windy day and a very weak structure and we are trying our damnedest to find the rest of the workers," Stanley said.

Although officials previously said the fire that had raged in the refinery since the explosion was all but extinguished, authorities said Sunday that fires still burned in the silos. Helicopters were to be brought in Sunday to pour retardant to put out the flames, Wilson said.

Rescue workers and company managers were trying to determine where the missing men might be. Officials were focusing on at least three areas of the plant, including the silos.

The search was halted at sunset because the debris-strewn refinery remained too hazardous for nighttime searches. It resumed Sunday morning.

Imperial Sugar was one of the largest and oldest employers in this city of 5,000. The vast refinery was a network of warehouses, silos and buildings eight stories tall connected by corridors of sheet metal.

Twenty workers were hospitalized with severe burns, 17 of them in medically induced comas.
Investigators with the Georgia Fire Marshal's office, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board began arriving Saturday.

Imperial President and CEO John Sheptor has said sugar dust in a silo used to store refined sugar before packaging likely ignited like gunpowder. Sugar dust can be combustible if it's too dry and builds up a static electric charge.

Company officials have refused to speculate on when the plant might reopen, saying structural engineers needed to examine the damage.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Imperial Sugar plant disaster.

5 victims found in Imperial Sugar plant disaster

Smoke billows from behind the main plant of the Imperial Sugar Company during a fire at the plant on the Savannah River Thursday Feb. 7, 2008 in Port Wentworth, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

Crews on Saturday found another body in the remnants of the sugar refinery plant devastated by an explosion and fire, raising the death toll to five and leaving three others still missing, officials said.

The body was found near the silos used to store sugar after crews shored up the plant's wobbly remnants, Fire Chief Greg Long said. Three workers and a supervisor were believed to be missing, but it was not clear whether the body was that of a worker or the supervisor.

"We operate on the policy that everyone is alive until we get to them," he said.

The search was expected to be suspended for the night, and resume again Sunday.

Crews re-entered what's left of the Imperial Sugar Co. refinery after stabilizing the upper floors of a four-story building. They needed access to that building to gain entry to an 80-foot silo that rescuers wanted to search for the men, Long said.

Earlier Saturday, Long said firefighters all but extinguished the fire that had raged in the refinery since the explosion, allowing teams to resume searching for the missing men.

"We have an idea of where they are," Long said. "We didn't want to collapse anything."

The chief said he strongly believed the four men — three workers and a supervisor, all of whom Long said he knew personally — were the only people still unaccounted for from Thursday's blast.

Crews brought in heavy equipment Saturday to remove debris as investigators looked for the cause of the blast that ignited a storage silo. At least four flatbed trucks carrying segments of a giant crane and other machinery rolled through the refinery's front gates.

Imperial Sugar was one of the largest and oldest employers in this tiny city of 5,000 just a few miles west of Savannah. The vast refinery was a network of warehouses, silos and buildings eight stories tall connected by corridors of sheet metal.

Imperial President and CEO John Sheptor said sugar dust in a silo used to store refined sugar before packaging likely ignited like gunpowder. Sugar dust can be combustible if it's too dry and builds up a static electric charge.

The result was as devastating as a bomb. Floors in the plant collapsed, flames spread throughout the refinery, metal girders buckled into twisted heaps and shredded sheet metal littered the wreckage.

More than 30 employees were rushed to hospitals. Several were taken to a burn center in Augusta, 130 miles up the Savannah River. Many were in critical condition, including some who were placed on ventilators, said Dr. William Wessinger, the medical director at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah. A spokeswoman from the Savannah hospital said
Saturday that the last of nine workers treated there had been released.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the blast and aftermath.