Sugar factory resumes operations |
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Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:55
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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The Western Sugar Cooperative factory in Scottsbluff resumed operation Tuesday, a day after an explosion at the plant forced an evacuation.No one was injured in Monday's explosion in the packing warehouse or the small fire that followed. Firefighters said a dust collector above the packing floor appeared to be the source of the explosion.'We were open for business and working on filling orders,' said Kent Wimmer, a spokesman for the Denver-based growers cooperative.Firefighters said Monday that a bearing or belt likely malfunctioned in the dust collector, which sucks sugar dust off the packaging floor. But an official cause had not been identified.The packaging operation at the Scottsbluff plant will remain shut down while the blast is investigated and repairs are made, Wimmer said. But Western Sugar can use its five other plants in the region to package sugar and complete orders as needed.Also, Wimmer said the plant's peak season doesn't begin until September, when the sugar beets are harvested and sugar production resumes, so the plant wasn't running at full capacity this week.The plant's sprinkler system helped control the fire, and Wimmer said the damage was confined to the dust collector and surrounding equipment. No processed sugar in the plant was ruined.But the company did not have a damage estimate on Tuesday.Wimmer said Western was just happy no one was hurt in Monday's explosion.A previous explosion at the factory in July 1996 toppled three storage silos at the plant, killing one worker.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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