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Koppers Investigating Incident at Follansbee Plant
Four employees of on-site contractor doing well at Weirton Medical Center after feeling ill
July 10, 2003, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Early
this morning, four employees of on-site contractors at the Follansbee,
WV plant of Koppers Inc., were admitted to Weirton Medical Center
because they felt ill. By afternoon, all were reported doing well.
The
four, all employees of Norsemen Environmental and C&K Industrial,
were assisting a team cleaning coal chemical solids from out-of-service
railroad tank cars. The job is part of a routine Koppers program
to properly clean and dispose of unused equipment.
Randall D. Collins,
Koppers vice president for safety, health and environmental affairs,
stressed that the incident involved no fire,
spill or improper release of any substance to the environment.
“The job site is secure and the Koppers
operations continue to run safely,” he said. “We have
independent safety and health experts at the plant now, evaluating
the situation to determine
if there was a chemical overexposure to the workers or any issue
with work procedures. We’re sharing what we know with the
community because we know it’s important for our neighbors
to know what’s happening and we will share more with the
community when we can.”
About Koppers
Koppers Inc., with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, is a global
integrated producer of carbon compounds and treated wood products
for use by the utility, construction, railroad, aluminum, chemical
and steel industries. Koppers operates 39 facilities in the United
States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and South Africa.
The company has an indirect ownership interest in KSA Limited Partnership,
a concrete crosstie manufacturer in Portsmouth, Ohio. The company’s
stock is shared by a large number of employee investors and by
majority equity owner Saratoga Partners of New York, N.Y. |
