Mississippi plant blasts, no injuries

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Two explosions rocked a natural gas plant in southern Mississippi, but emergency management officials say the two employees on duty at the time were not injured.

Earl Etheridge, Jackson County emergency manager, tells The Associated Press the workers were inside a safe room at the time of the explosions about 11:30 p.m. Monday. Etheridge says the second explosion was larger than the first and could be felt up to 10 miles away.

He said the fire continues to burn Tuesday morning, but has diminished in the last several hours.

He says the main damage is in the processing area.

The plant recently sold to a minority owner.

Rick Rainey, a spokesman for Enterprise Products Partners, L.P., says his company had owned 40 percent of the facility with BP owning 60 percent. Rainey says Houston-based Enterprise Products closed on the purchase earlier this month.

He says the cause of the explosion and fire is underway.