CSB Releases Video On Tesoro Accident

“The Human Cost of Gasoline,” a personal, heart-wrenching video on the Anacortes, Wash., Tesoro refinery accident, was released recently by the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). The four-minute video tells the story of the April 2, 2010, accident through the eyes of Amy Gumbel, sister of Matt Gumbel—one of the seven workers who died in the refinery explosion and fire. The video explores the loss of a loved one in a tragic chemical accident and how it affects a family. Matt Gumbel, 34, was working as an operator that night, performing maintenance on the refinery’s naphtha hydro­treater unit. Unknown to him and other workers, a heat exchanger in the unit had been severely weakened over several years, and it exploded without warning, causing a massive fire that engulfed him and six others. Matt Gumbel succumbed after 22 days in intensive care. The video concludes with Amy Gumbel’s appeal for tougher state and federal safety laws.