A few weeks ago we wrote a post titled “Fire Still Burning, Worker Still Missing” where the circumstances were still fuzzy and the site had reported at least one missing worker. Sadly that worker is now presumed to be dead. We hope that Chevron, who owned the well where the explosion took place, will take care of his family and make sure proper compensation is received for their loss.

The company is also going to compensate the shaken community by smoothing over any hard feelings-with free pizza and soda.

No need to check your calendars, it’s not April Fools Day quite yet.

Scenario- a gas well exploded a few hundred yards away from your house, killing one worker, injuring another and causing you much stress and anxiety as the fire continued to burn for four days. Meanwhile the company STILL has crews there trying to contain and stabilize the site. But here’s a pizza. Sort of seems like it gives whole new meaning to the term “stress eating”.

Many residents were understandably upset with the gesture, one family said this was the first time they had even heard from the company after the incident.

“I do not feel that they’ve addressed anything. I haven’t even called their hotline yet because I’m too upset. A pizza coupon?” said one resident who wished to remain anonymous because of Chevron’s strong economic presence in their area.

The cause of the explosion has not been identified and the site continues to spew gas. One neighbor said they were terrified and thought a jet engine had been going over their house.

The letter accompanying the coupons stated that the company was continually working to keep the facility safe and back to good order. 

“Chevron recognizes the effect this has had on the community,” the letter reads. “We value being a responsible member of this community and will continue to strive to achieve incident-free operations. We are committed to taking action to safeguard our neighbors, our employees, our contractors and the environment.”

This is a tragic event and unfortunately, accidents at work can have ripple effects on the community, especially in areas where the economy is very dependent on that line of work. This is a town who relies on the natural gas industry and it is heartbreaking when it costs a member of the community their life. I’m hopeful that the company goes further in their efforts to make sure something like this never happens again. I suppose pizza is a nice gesture, but fully investigating the incident to find out how they can try and prevent this from happening again would “hit the spot” even more.