Demolition planned for part of Newburyport plant where deadly explosion happened
NEWBURYPORT — The city of Newburyport is preparing for the demolition of part of a chemical facility that exploded last week.
The Seqens Facility exploded early Thursday morning, killing one worker — Jack O'Keefe, 62, from Meuthen — and injuring four others.
After days of investigation, Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon and Fire Chief Stephen Bradury III, said they planned to finish cleanup and emergency operations at the plant on Monday with demolition possibly starting as early as Tuesday afternoon.
But later Monday, crews halted work for the day after high winds caused the metal building's walls to shift. What's left of the building is being supported by a crane. Firefighters said there is no danger of imminent collapse, but pausing the work was done out of "an abundance of caution."
Cleanup work is expected to continue on Tuesday. A contractor also has been brought in to shore up steel supports in order to replace a crane that has been providing support for the building since Friday.
Several insurance adjustors from Europe are expected to evaluate the plant as well.
Seqens has been given a deadline of 8 a.m. on Wednesday by the city to start demolition of the part of the building where the explosion occurred.
Teams of hazardous materials technicians and crews remained on the scene throughout the day on Monday, working to remove the eight remaining drums of chemicals and draining around 2,000 gallons of chemicals from chemical reactors.
The removal process is being treated as a Tier 1 Hazmat Incident.
Members of the state's congressional delegation are demanding answers from the company about its practices, violations, and what it calls the latest avoidable disaster.
