1930 — Feb 18, Standard Oil Co. refinery gas leak explosive flare-up, ~Elizabeth NJ — 13
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-14-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–13 New York Times. “No Negligence Found In Standard Oil Blast…” 3-2-1930, p. 22.
–12 New York Times. “12th Victim of Blast Dies as Six Are Buried.” 2-23-1930, p. 15.
–11 New York Times. “Blast Report Cites A Defective Repair.” 2-21-1930, p. 20.
–11 New York Times. “Blast Toll Now 11….Elizabeth Explosion…” 2-20-1930, p. 1.
–10 Warren. “The worst disaster in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties.” NJ.com, 2-25-2019.
Narrative Information
Warren. “The worst disaster in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties.” NJ.com, 2-25-2019:
“Elizabeth oil refinery explosion – An explosion at the Standard Oil refinery in Elizabeth on February 19 [18], 1930, killed ten people and injured dozens more.”
Newspapers
Feb 18: “ELIZABETH, N. J., Feb. 18.-A rapid series of three terrific explosions in the alcohol plant near here of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey shortly before 4 o’clock this afternoon killed seven workmen and injured sixty-one others. The blasts demolished the two-story concrete plant and spread terror for miles around the countryside. Hospital officials reported tonight that eight of the victims were on the danger list. Others will recover but they may be blind for the rest of their lives. Four of the dead men were so mutilated that the authorities at first were unable to identify them. Later, however, three of them were identified. They were William Duffy of 63 Garrison Avenue, Bayonne; William Casey of 528 Grier Avenue, Elizabeth, and Dominick Bononmi of 463 Fourth Avenue, Elizabeth. Tonight John Lubas of 24 Atlantic Street, Elizabeth; Arthur Cross of 21 Warren Avenue. Union, and Howard A. Holliday of 139 West Thirtieth Street, Bayonne, died of their injuries. The cause of the explosions, which rocked Elizabeth and Linden, a suburb, was given tonight by James R. Carringer, general manager of the plant, as “the breaking of a gas line.” He said no estimate of the damage was available. It was learned that the gas line extends from the high-pressure stills to the alcohol plant, in which there is a redistilling laboratory. One report was that the fumes leaking from the break in the gas line had been ignited by fire from a forge used by the builders in the erection of a new structure near by.
Four Investigations On.
“Investigations into the cause were under way tonight by Prosecutor Abe J. David of Union County, by Frank J. Hickey, chief of the Linden police; by the New Jersey State Department of Labor and by Mr. Carringer. Officials of the company posted guards at the gates of the reservation, of which the alcohol plant was a small part, with orders to exclude all outsiders. Prosecutor David, who hurried to the plant shortly after the explosion with Roy Martin, chief county detective, issued this statement afterwards: “I have been to the scene and have made a preliminary examination. It is impossible at this early moment to assign the exact cause of the fire. Mr. Martin has already instituted a detailed investigation. If his report shows any indication of negligence the proper action will be taken.” Dr. George W. Hoore, Acting County Physician, announced he would confer tomorrow with the prosecutor and the county detectives to determine what official action is to be taken to fix the blame for the accident. Dr. Hoore is expected to visit the plant in the morning to obtain information at first hand as to the cause of the explosions. The three blasts were only seconds apart. They trapped some men inside the building, in which alcohol drums were stored. Small fires started almost at once in the building and in another plant about 500 feet away but these fires were put out within a few minutes. The actual work of destruction was over almost as soon as it had begun.
1,200 in Reservation
“It was estimated that there were about 1,200 employes scattered through the entire reservation, which measures six square miles and which is the largest owned by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. On this tract the company has various plants, housed in separate buildings, for the manufacture and storage of gasoline, fuel oil, medicine and petroleum products. The reservation lies partly in Elizabeth and partly in Linden, being bounded on three sides by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the Peach Orchard Brook and Morse’s Creek.
“The night shift of about 1,100 men reported for duty at 3 P. M. Besides the night shift there were about 100 clerks in the company’s business offices. The 1,100 workers on the night shift, employed in the various buildings scattered through the huge reservation, had been at work for about three-quarters of an hour when they were almost knocked off their feet by a deafening blast that shook the earth. This was the first explosion in the alcohol plant, which is located near the Brunswick Avenue gate. Hardly had the noise of the detonation subsided when two other blasts, of lesser intensity, came. From the shattered windows of the alcohol plant belched long tongues of flame. Its doors of corrugated steel were blown off their hinges. Part of the roof crashed in and great holes gaped in the walls.
“Heedless of the possibility of further explosions, workers in other sub-plants ran toward the alcohol building, out of which were staggering the injured, their faces and hands blackened, their clothes torn and many of them screaming in pain. About 200 feet away, where a building was under construction, the explosions also had taken their toll. Twenty carpenters, bricklayers and laborers had been employed on scaffolds, on the roof and inside this building. The explosions blew some of the workmen off the roof, tore away scaffolds and hurled the men about pell-mell.
“While rescuers started the work of helping the injured the company’s private fire department, which is said to be as complete as that of the city of Newark, went to work to combat the fire that followed the explosion in the alcohol plant and another one that started in a medicine plant about 300 feet away. Both of these fires were quickly put out. Meanwhile the company’s entire medical staff, assisted by employes, were working at top speed to aid the victims. All available motor trucks and private cars on the reservation were commandeered to speed the injured the six miles to the St. Elizabeth Hospital, the Elizabeth General Hospital and the Alexian Brothers Hospital, all in Elizabeth. The hospitals, particularly the St. Elizabeth and the General, presented pitiful spectacles. Families, relatives and friends of the injured stormed the hospitals for information, many of them weeping. In the hospital corridors, the groans and moans of the injured could be heard. Police lines had to be established in the vicinity of the hospitals to preserve order and quiet. The explosions confronted the hospitals with the most serious problem they have ever encountered. Every doctor and priest and many Protestant clergymen were at the institutions to give whatever aid they could.
“At one of the hospitals, a foreman, who said he could not permit the use of his name because of company orders, said he had been talking to William Sisko, one of the builders on the plant under construction near the alcohol plant, a few seconds before the blast. He had turned from Sisko and walked away. ‘I had gone scarcely 100 feet when the first blast occurred,’ he said. ‘It was terrific. My hat was blown off. I didn’t know what happened. I turned around. Everybody I saw seemed to be on fire. Two other explosions followed almost immediately.’ One of the men in the building when the explosion occurred was William Slaven, a mechanic, of Elizabeth. ‘It seemed as if flames were shooting out in long tongues all around me,’ he said. ‘Many of the tongues of flame acted freakishly, shooting out here or there in different directions as they followed the path of the alcohol fumes. The flames were on all sides of me but not one of them touched me. One sheet of flame was only ten feet from me. It left me untouched, but I saw it strike some other man.’
“James Caperinicchio of 221 Amity Street, Elizabeth, who is in the Alexian Hospital, another victim, said he was wheeling a barrow full of mortar about 150 feet away from the doomed building at the time of the blast. Caperinicchio, a mason’s helper, said: ‘I haven’t any idea what happened. All of a sudden I was thrown violently to the ground. I found myself on fire. I leaped up and everybody around me looked as if they were dead. They were all on the ground. Then they began getting up. Most of them were on fire. They started running. There is a heavy wire fence around the buildings just there. Most of the men seemed to me to be unable to see. They couldn’t find the gate to get out of the grounds, and they became panicky, beating at the gate fence and screaming like mad. They thought they were trapped in the fence corner with the building behind them. Lots of them were badly mangled. I saw one man who, I think, had his legs blown off.’
“Dr. Edward J. Rayne, of 116 Cherry Street, Elizabeth, one of the physicians who helped relieve the injured, declared tonight that he feared ‘most of these poor fellows will die. The condition of most of the men at the Elizabeth General Hospital is critical.’ he said. ‘The severity of their burns is almost unbelievable. Blindness, I fear, awaits most of those who do survive.’ Drug stores and hospital supply houses throughout Elizabeth were stripped of their equipment to meet the demand in the hospitals. Nurses, internes and messengers hurried through the streets with blankets, medical appliances and equipment for the treatment of the injured. The exact amount of alcohol stored in the alcohol plant was not known experiments have been under way there for a new cracking process in the refining of crude oil, it was said. Three months ago the same building was the scene of a minor fire which was put out without much loss. About a mile from the alcohol plant on the reservation is the company’s field of oil tanks. Each tank is protected by entrenchments.” (New York Times. “7 Killed, 61 Hurt in Blasts in Jersey Alcohol Plant…” 2-19-1930, p. 1.
Feb 19: “ELIZABETH, N. J., Feb. 19.-
“Four of the persons injured Tuesday afternoon in the explosions at the Bayway Refinery of the Standard Oil Company died today, bringing the list of those killed in the disaster to eleven. Of the fifty-seven victims in the various hospitals six were reported as still in a critical condition.
“While the authorities were checking the names of the dead and injured, announcement was made that four separate investigations had been started to determine the cause and place responsibility for the three explosions. The results of the investigations, according to Prosecutor Abe J. David of Union County, will be placed before the regular May term of the grand jury.
“The list of dead follows:
CORNELIUS, GEORGE, of 747 Jefferson Avenue, Elizabeth.
SULLIVAN, JOHN L., of 543 Marshall Street, Elizabeth.
LUKASICWICZ, JOSEPH, of 451 Bond Street, Elizabeth.
CROFT, CLARENCE, of 97 West Thirty-fifth Street, Bayonne.
ROBERTSON, GEORGE, of 119 Union Road, Roselle Park.
HALLIDAY, HOWARD A., of 169 West Fiftieth Street, Bayonne.
CROSS, ARTHUR, of 21 Union Avenue, Union.
BONNAN, DOMINIC, of 604 Fourth Avenue, Elizabeth.
LUBAS, JOHN, of 24 Atlantic Street, Elizabeth.
DUFFY. WILLIAM, of 63 Garrison Avenue, Bayonne.
CASEY, WILLIAM, of 528 Grier Avenue, Elizabeth.
New Fire on Property.
“A spectacular but apparently trifling blaze started in another part of the Standard Oil property at 8:15 o’clock tonight when a column of flame 100 feet high suddenly flared up in the cracking plant at Brunswick Avenue, Linden. Two shrill blasts of the plant siren called the 1,100 night employes to fight the fire. The flames maintained their maximum height no more than five minutes, but during that period hundreds of motorists in the vicinity stopped in the roads to watch. In half an hour the excitement was over. For a time, however, townsfolk feared that the near-by tanks of crude oils might be ignited. The tanks were said to contain 3,000,000 gallons of unrefined oils. At the offices of the company employes reported that no one had been injured in the fire and that the damage was not great. The cracking yard is about a half-mile from the scene of yesterday’s explosion.
“The investigations into the explosions which destroyed several buildings are under the direction of Prosecutor David, Colonel Charles R. Blunt, head of the State Board of Labor; J. R. Carringer, manager of the plant where the explosions occurred, and Frank Hickey, Chief of Police at Linden, the township adjoining Elizabeth, where the plant was located.
“Mr. David said yesterday he had received reports that one of the pipes through which the gas refined from the gasoline was pumped had been found defective Tuesday noon and so reported to the plant officials. The chemicals that were refined from the cruder gases, according to the authorities, were isopropyl, secondary butyl and amyl alcohol. Mr. David said his investigation at the scene had disclosed to him that an elbow in a brine pipe had broken just before the explosion. He announced he will wait until he receives the report of Dr. Albert Edel. county consulting chemist, before deciding whether there was criminal negligence or attempting to fix responsibility. In any event, he said, the May grand jury will consider all facts obtained in the investigation.
Prosecutor in Statement.
“Mr. David further said:
“It is pretty well established in my mind that a leak which caused the explosion occurred in a three-inch pipe about one foot from the brine cooler and that it was gas and naphtha which escaped about twenty feet from the lead still building which exploded. In my opinion there was no alcohol leak whatever.
“I don’t contemplate any criminal procedure as yet, until my full report is made to the May grand jury, which convenes May 15th. I am waiting for several technical reports. It will be at least two days before I receive these reports.
“Dr. Mearl Meacham, assistant superintendent of oil refining at the Standard Oil Company, is making an independent report for the company. He will also try to find out just how the explosions occurred.”
“Mr. David was asked what the procedure would be if criminal negligence were found. He said, “If criminal negligence is shown, it will mean an indictment charging manslaughter against the company, against officials of the company and possibly against individual workmen responsible.”
Company Pledges Aid to Victims.
“Mr. Carringer also announced that he was making a thorough inquiry into the explosions and said the Standard Oil Company is doing everything in its power to assist the victims.
“The regrettable accident at the Bayway Refinery is the worst in its toll of human life and injured in the history of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.
“The sympathy of the management is extended to the families of all those who have been affected by the accident. The company is doing everything in its power to assist those involved.
“The ready response of the hospitals in Elizabeth and elsewhere and their remarkable accomplishment in taking care of such a large number of patients on short notice is a splendid testimonial to the efficiency of these institutions.
“It was also gratifying to learn that while we were endeavoring to identify all those in the hospitals the Nurses’ Association of Elizabeth had volunteered its services immediately and the members of the Elizabeth Fire Department and members of the Elizabeth Y. M. C. A. as well as other Bayway employes and friends of the injured had gone to the General Hospital for the purpose of assisting in blood transfusions. We are most appreciative of the splendid assistance given by the physicians of the city.”
“The flag at the Bayway Refinery was put at half staff today. The refinery offices and the hospitals where the injured are being treated received offers from members of the Fire Department to give blood for transfusions.
“Twenty-one young men from the Elizabeth Y. M. C. A. who also offered blood received tests. Two of the victims of the explosions, Fritz Schoolman and Ignatz Krivoshik, whose condition was pronounced critical, received transfusions in the evening.
“Physicians said that the final death toll will depend on the constitutions of those burned in the explosions. The rugged health of some of the victims is expected to carry them through, although their burns are very serious.
….
“Today they questioned several refinery employes. Among those questioned are W. J. McCallum, assistant superintendent of the mechanical department; Matthew D. Mann, also an assistant superintendent, and F. L. Newcomb, supervising engineer. Their statements, it was reported, indicated that the explosion did not occur in the alcohol plant. Mr. McCallum was quoted as saying that before anyone knew anything about it ‘the fumes had spread over an acre of ground and then came the explosion.’
“According to information given the investigators the last State inspection of the plant was made Oct. 28. At that time the plant was found to be in good condition. Plans for twenty new buildings on the property were approved last month.
….
“The break in the pipe located at the bottom of the brine cooler was near a building about 100 feet high on which most of the victims were working at the time of the explosions. The majority of those killed or injured were carpenters, bricklayers or pipefitters.” (New York Times. “Blast Toll Now 11; Grand Jury To Act…Elizabeth Explosion…” 2-20-1930, p. 1.)
Feb 20: “TRENTON, N. J., Feb. 20.—Improperly made repairs to a leaking gas line were cited today as a possible cause of the explosion in which eleven men lost their lives and more than two score others were severely injured last Tuesday afternoon at the Bayway refinery of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey near Elizabeth in the report of Colonel Charles R. Blunt, State Commissioner of Labor.
“Colonel Blunt’s report was based upon an investigation by members of his staff that has been under way continuously since the tragedy. ‘Possibly the cause of this unfortunate accident was due to the repairs to the defective pipe line not being properly made,’ the report read. ‘The Department of Labor could have done nothing further than it has already done for the protection of the workers at this plant.’ The report declared there was no evidence of culpable negligence on the part of the company.
“The report recited the seemingly trivial routine events that led up to the fatal burst of flame. That things were amiss became apparent soon after noon of the day of the disaster, it said, although, of course, the workmen engaged on the defective machinery did not realize that life and death lurked in what appeared merely as the irksome task of tightening a joint in a pipe line.
Repair of Pipe Ordered.
“ ‘Early in the afternoon,’ the report said, ‘the three operators on the 7-to-3 o’clock shift discovered trouble in the pipe line.’ Ordinarily only three workers would have been within range of an explosion there, but, as it happened, there was fifty near enough to [be] injured if not killed. A leak had developed in a four-inch pipe running to a cooling drum. Repairs were decided upon.
“ ‘A Mr. Johnson inspected the leakage and found it had been repaired. Jack Veradetti, who placed the clamp around this pipe connection, had for eight years done similar work throughout the plant. At approximately 3:50 P.M. the operators of the 3 to 11 o’clock shift discovered that the pipe line was allowing a large quantity of gas to escape from the part that had been repaired, and one of the operators went to telephone the pump operator to cut off the pressure which was forcing this gas through the pipe. Before the telephone could be reached and the pumphouse notified there was a tremendous flare, the escaping gas becoming ignited, which caused a terrific fire to occur, completely destroying the one-story shed and severely damaging the bubble tower and the windows in the building directly alongside the lead still building.
This flare killed ten persons and injured forty-five. All of the dead and all except two of the injured were construction men employed on work near the lead still building. Two of the operators of the still building were injured, one very severely; the other was not harmed.
“The report went on to assert that there was no ‘explosion,’ merely ‘a fire, due to the escaping gas being ignited in some manner which could have been a spark from the gasoline hoisting engine about ten feet from the leaking pipe, an ironworker’s rivet forge located approximately 100 yards from the damaged pipe, or a plumber’s torch found seventy-five feet from the building. ‘This gas could also have been ignited through other causes unknown to us at this time,’ the report declared, adding that when inspected on Oct. 28 the building had been found to comply with regulations.
David Report Differs
“A report issued today at Elizabeth by Abe J. David, prosecutor of Union County, who has announced that the grand jury will hear evidence concerning the blast, differed at several points with that of the Labor Commissioner. Mr. David’s report said:
There is no evidence of criminal negligence thus far, but we are continuing the investigation. Leaks of gas were discovered sometime about noon coming from the threads of the ‘T’ joint of the pipe. A pipe-fitter, Videtti, was put to work on the pipe at that point and an attempt made to fix the leak, and I believe that the pipe-fitter felt that the leak had been, for the time being, at least, taken care of. At the same time new pipe was ordered to be put in place of the leaky one. This was to be done the following day.
I believe that there is a possibility that the pipe at the ‘T’ separated because of added pressure of the gas pumped through there when the valve in the adjoining tank was shut off.
….
“Dr. Merle Meacham, superintendent of the high-pressure stills, announced today that the Standard Oil Company would go beyond the provisions of the State labor laws in caring for the dependents of those injured or killed. All expenses for hospitalization, nursing and medical attention would be borne by the company, he said, and added that the company would pay funeral expenses and provide for the dependents of the disabled and deceased until that had reached the age of 16 years.”
(New York Times. “Blast Report Cites A Defective Repair.” 2-21-1930, p. 20.)
Feb 23: “ELIZABETH, N. J., Feb. 22.—The twelfth victim of Tuesday’s explosion at the Bayway refinery of the Standard Oil Company in Linden, which injured more than fifty, died today in the General Hospital here as six others were buried. The latest victim was Paul Campione. 21 years old, a laborer at the refinery since May, 1929, and who had his mother, two brothers and two sisters dependent upon him for support.
“Scores of employes of the oil company fraternal and civic organizations were represented at the funerals this morning of Dominic Bonnani, William Casey, Joseph Lukasicwicz, John Lubas, John L. Sullivan and George Cornelia. Delegations of various trade unions also attended. Funerals of five other victims were held yesterday.
“Campione, who was born in New York City, had lived here eleven years. Before he died he regained consciousness and told relatives that when working on a scaffold laying bricks the explosion hurled him to the ground into searing blue flames.
“Six other victims are in hospitals, disfigured and maimed. They have been separated from the forty-one reported to be recovering.
“Those on the danger list at the St. Elizabeth Hospital are Hugh Roberts of 411 Willow Street, Garwood; Fritz Schulman of 42 South Broad Street, Antonio Laquagia of 320 High Street and Frank Ricter of 119 Murray Street. At the Elizabeth General Hospital are William V. Sisko Sr. of 11 West Tenth Street, Linden, and Frank Grant of 172 Nineteenth Street, Bayonne.
“Abe J. David, Prosecutor, said today that all witnesses listed in his inquiry into the cause of the explosion have not been questioned, and that no report is expected before next week.” (New York Times. “12th Victim of Blast Dies as Six Are Buried.” 2-23-1930, p. 15.)
March 1: “ELIZABETH, N. J., March 1.—The alcohol explosion at the Bayway Refinery of ‘the Standard Oil Company, Linden, Feb. 18, which resulted in the death of thirteen workers and the injury of more than fifty others, was due to no negligence on the part of the company or its employes, according to the reports of two investigations made public today by Prosecutor Abe J. David. The reports cover inquiries made for the prosecutors by Dr. Albert E. Edel, analytical chemist of Newark, and Robert J. M. Welch of Hillside, mechanical engineer. Prosecutor David said: “I am convinced there was no criminal negligence, but the May term grand jury will have all the facts and will take whatever action it may deem necessary.” The reports add that the gaseous liquid that exploded was light naphtha which crept along a ditch to an open riveting forge and was ignited. The steel pipes through which the naphtha was conveyed were badly corroded, but it has been impossible to find the source of the acid causing the corrosion in the pipes, the reports say. During the investigation of the blast, J. Raymond Carringer, plant manager; Robert Lebo, plant chemist; John Videtta, a pipe fitter, and other workers were questioned.
“No change was reported in the condition of the forty-nine victims of the explosion, still in three local hospitals today. Two men are yet on the danger list, both patients at the St. Elizabeth Hospital.” (New York Times. “No Negligence Found In Standard Oil Blast…” 3-2-1930, p. 22.)
Sources
New York Times. “7 Killed, 61 Hurt in Blasts in Jersey Alcohol Plant…” 2-19-1930, p. 1. Accessed 5-14-2025 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/19/archives/7-killed-61-hurt-in-blasts-in-jersey-alcohol-plant-many-victims-may.html
New York Times. “12th Victim of Blast Dies as Six Are Buried.” 2-23-1930, p. 15. Accessed 5-14-2025 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/21/archives/blast-report-cites-a-defective-repair-improper-mending-of-pipe-is.html
New York Times. “Blast Report Cites A Defective Repair.” 2-21-1930, p. 20. Accessed 5-14-2025 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/21/archives/blast-report-cites-a-defective-repair-improper-mending-of-pipe-is.html
New York Times. “Blast Toll Now 11; Grand Jury To Act…Elizabeth Explosion…” 2-20-1930, p. 1. Accessed 5-14-2025 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/20/archives/blast-toll-now-11-grand-jury-to-act-full-reports-of-four-inquiries.html
New York Times. “No Negligence Found In Standard Oil Blast…” 3-2-1930, p. 22. Accessed 5-14-2025 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/21/archives/blast-report-cites-a-defective-repair-improper-mending-of-pipe-is.html
Warren, Michael Sol. “The worst disaster in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties.” NJ.com, 2-25-2019. Accessed 5-12-2025 at:
https://www.nj.com/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/02/6c318b30e95860/the-worst-disaster-in-each-of-new-jerseys-21-counties-.html