[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 7, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      FOUR-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE IMPERIAL SUGAR PLANT EXPLOSION

  (Mr. BARROW asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, this day marks a sad anniversary for many of 
the folks I represent. Four years ago today, a combustible dust 
explosion destroyed the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, 
Georgia, killing 14 people and injuring more than 40 others.
  The sad truth is that this explosion didn't have to happen. Experts 
have known about the dangers of combustible dust for decades, and 
experts have developed industry standards that can prevent combustible 
dust explosions and fires. Unfortunately, these commonsense practices 
have not become the national standard despite preventable explosions 
and fires in Georgia and throughout America before and since.
  Today, on the fourth anniversary of this tragedy, I ask my colleagues 
to support H.R. 522, the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust 
Explosions and Fires Act of 2011, introduced by Mr. Miller of 
California. This law would require the Secretary of Labor to promulgate 
standards for regulating combustible dust.
  We shouldn't wait until another disaster strikes. We owe it to the 
dead and the wounded to take action today so that disasters like the 
Imperial Sugar Plant explosion will never happen again.

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