Sixth Body Found by Searchers at Georgia Sugar Plant
Searchers on Sunday found the body of a sixth worker killed in the exposion and fire at an Imperial Sugar Co. refinery near Savannah, Ga., last week. The mill, known as the Dixie Crystals plant, was extensively damaged inside and some of the areas considered unstable, which hampered the search.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has a six-member investigative team on scene that is headed by John B. Vorderbrueggen, P.E., and including CSB Board Member William Wark and CSB investigations manager Stephen Selk, P.E. Imperial's President/CEO John Sheptor has said a sugar dust explosion in a storage silo where refined sugar is stored is the likely cause.
Imperial's corporate Web site includes a page (www.imperialsugar.com/fw/main/Dixie_Crystals-928.html) that tells the history of the Dixie Crystals plant, which was founded in 1916 and now exceeds 100 acres. The company was named Savannah Foods & Industries Inc. when Imperial bought it in 1997.