Man drowns in pond at Marathon plant

By KEVIN CHIRI

Editor and Publisher

GARYVILLE – There had to be a moment of severe panic on Friday night at the Marathon Refinery when a radio operator got a call from a man over the airwaves saying, &#8220I’ve just driven into the pond.”

The call came from Jackie Batiste Jr. at 10:45 p.m., who had only been working at the Marathon plant since May, and somehow had gotten disoriented as he drove a company pickup truck on the north side of the Garyville refinery, and suddenly found himself going down into the pond.

But by the time rescue workers got to the rainwater collection pond, the truck driven by Batiste could not be found as it had become completely submerged in the seven foot deep pond.

And by the time rescue workers found the body of Batiste at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, he was pronounced dead by the St. John Parish coroner in what has now become only the third death at the Marathon plant in the 31-year history of operations.

&#8220It’s just a tragic, tragic thing to occur, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family for what has happened,” Marathon Human Resources Manager Bob Kasubinski said. &#8220We’re still trying to piece together exactly how he managed to drive into the pond, but that will take some time to completely understand.”

Batiste, 34, had previously worked at Nalco Petroleum Services in Garyville, before taking the job at Marathon only four months ago.

Kasubinski explained that the rainwater collection pond is about 100 feet wide by 300 feet long, but can be as deep as seven feet when the water levels are to the top. The pond is used to hold water to make sure no pollutants are remaining before it is released into the area waterways.

He said that there is a road which goes around the pond, but somehow Batiste drove right off the road and into the pond. The call to the radio dispatcher came at 10:45 p.m., and it had been raining that night, so it all may have had something to do with how he got disoriented enough to go off the road, and into the pond.

&#8220We’re still trying to sort it all out,” Kasubinski said. &#8220We’ve got an internal investigation team here now from Findley, Ohio, and we’re still investigating.”

Kasubinski said that the Marathon radio operator got the call about Batiste driving into the pond, and had rescue workers on the scene &#8220within a matter of minutes.”

But by the time they arrived, the truck was submerged and not seen. Marathon has rescue workers trained on-site and had them into the pond immediately to try and find the truck and Batiste.

He said the truck was located in a matter of minutes but the body of Batiste had apparently escaped from the vehicle and it took almost three hours before it was located. The coroner on the scene immediately pronounced Batiste as dead.

The death was the third in the 31 year history at Marathon. The first fatality occurred in 1979 when a contractor fell off a pipe, and then a contractor died in 2002 when he was working in a reactor and his breathing apparatus was compromised.

Marathon Plant Manager Rich Bedell called for a moment of silence at the plant for the morning and evening shifts on Tuesday, and Marathon has employee assistance workers on hand to deal with grief counseling, or any other needs in association with the death of the employee. They also had a safety shutdown to review safety procedures with workers and their supervisors.

Batiste was married with two children, and Marathon is currently helping with funeral and other expenses.