Worker dies in accident at Sunoco’s Delaware County refinery

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

March 31, 2015 | 6:19 PM

Emma Lee / WHYY

The Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook, Delaware County.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating an accident at the Sunoco Logistics plant in Marcus Hook, which left one man dead. An OSHA spokesperson says the man worked for the engineering firm AECOM, a contractor at the site.

Sources told StateImpact the worker died from multiple blunt force injuries after a 1200 foot pylon fell on him.

A massive construction project at Sunoco Logistic’s Marcus Hook facility is converting the former oil refinery to a natural gas storage and processing plant. In addition to Sunoco employees, the project includes about 400 contract workers on site.

The worker, who has not been identified but sources say was in his 50’s, lived in New Jersey.

Sunoco Logistics spokesman Joseph McGinn confirmed that an accident killed a contract worker at the facility Monday afternoon.

“No words can express the sorrow and pain that come when such a tragic event happens,” McGinn wrote in an email. “Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the individual who died. They have suffered a devastating loss.”

Ed Mayer, a spokesman for AECOM, expressed sympathy for the family.

“We are tremendously saddened by the loss of one or our people,” wrote Mayer in an email. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, who have asked that their privacy be respected at this time.”

Mayer said the company is cooperating with the OSHA investigation and cannot provide details of the accident.

Clarification: This post has been updated with a statement from AECOM.