1 dead after accident at Louisiana fertilizer plant

DONALDSONVILLE, La. (AP) — An employee at a fertilizer plant in Louisiana died after getting injured in an accident at the facility, officials said Friday.

CF Industries said the incident happened at about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday at its nitrogen fertilizer complex in Donaldsonville. The injured worker, who received initial treatment at the facility, was transported to a hospital where the worker later died, the company said.

The worker’s name and details surrounding how the accident happened have not been released.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with their family at this difficult time,” the company said in a statement. “We are committed to supporting the family as well as providing assistance to the Donaldsonville team.”

Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre told The Advocate that a forklift hit the man. Officials with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration have opened an investigation out of its Baton Rouge office, a spokesman said.

The company described the accident as an “isolated incident with no related operational issues or offsite impacts.”

The facility, located on the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish, is the largest fertilizer complex in North America that produces anhydrous ammonia, urea, urea ammonium nitrate and nitric acid — all key fertilizer ingredients.