A team from the National Chemical Safety Board is set to begin investigating a deadly chemical leak at the DuPont plant in La Porte
At the time, Kenneth Sandel, 49, of Friendswood, ran the Insecticide Business Unit (IBU) at that location, according to the federal charges, and was responsible for ensuring IBU employees followed safety regulations. The IBU has since been demolished, but at the time, reportedly produced pesticides called Lannate and Vydate, among other products. The indictment alleges Lannate and Vydate generated annual net income for DuPont of approximately $123 million during 2014.
The indictment alleges DuPont and Sandel knowingly failed to implement certain DuPont procedures federal regulations required. Specifically, Sandel and DuPont engineers allegedly devised a plan to divert a large volume of methyl mercaptan gas into a waste gas pipe system during the day before and night of the fatal incident. However, Sandel failed to implement necessary procedures to eval