Federal officials investigating fatal TECO incident

An accident during routine maintenance caused the deaths of two people and life-threatening injuries to four others at the Tampa Electric (TECO) power plant Thursday, and federal officials are now involved in the investigation.

According to Bradenton Herald news partner Bay News 9, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Friday morning it opened an investigation at the Big Bend Power Plant in Apollo Beach.

The tragedy took place outside a slag tank, which is a container underneath a power plant stack that holds the byproduct from coal power production, before 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, according to Bay News 9.

Two people were pronounced dead at the scene. The four who were injured were transported to Tampa General Hospital; two of them were airlifted.

Routine maintenance was being conducted on the slag tank when the incident occurred, TECO spokeswoman Cherie Jacobs said. Jacobs said the incident occurred in a coal-fired generating unit near a slag tank, where coal byproduct falls after it is burned.

Hot slag is a molten byproduct created when coal is burned for electricity. Chunks of it fall into cooling tanks, and the remnants, which are black and glasslike, are recycled and used in sand blasting and roofing.

On Friday, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s spokesman Larry McKinnon said the accident’s cause wasn’t immediately known Thursday, but authorities quickly ruled out terrorism.

Names of the victims were released Friday the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Killed in Thursday’s accident were Christopher Irvin, 40, of Tampa, and Michael McCort, 60, of Riverview.

The four people with life-threatening injuries are: Gary Marine Jr., 32, of Tampa; Antonio Navarrete, 21, of Wimauma; Frank Lee Jones, 55, of Tampa; and Armando J. Perez, 56, of Wimauma.

The last time a fatal incident happened at the Apollo Beach plant was in 2014, when a contractor slipped and fell from a catwalk. Twenty years ago almost to the day, four TECO workers were seriously injured during routine maintenance of a slag tank at a plant in Port Sutton.

Smoke from its towering stacks can be seen from around Tampa Bay. The plant primarily burns coal. However, it has in recent years added natural gas- and oil-fired capabilities.

The plant also is a popular tourism destination for its manatee viewing center.

Gordon Gillette, president and CEO of Tampa Electric, spoke at a news conference on Friday.

“Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the families of everyone who was touched by this incident,” Gillette said. “Safety is the No. 1 priority at Tampa Electric, and we are working hard to determine exactly what happened and why. We will be conducting a complex investigation to determine the root cause.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2017 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Federal officials investigating fatal TECO incident."