Air Monitoring In Place After Newburyport Chemical Explosion

NEWBURYPORT, MA — An explosion at an industrial facility in Newburyport early Thursday morning left four workers injured, while a fifth worker was unaccounted for, the town's fire department reported.

The explosion happened just before 1 a.m. at a facility along Opportunity Way. When firefighters arrived, they found an industrial-sized vat in the parking lot that had been thrown by the explosion.

Of the five workers inside the building, four were taken to a nearby hospital, but were released. The fifth worker was still missing as of 3 p.m. Thursday.

Firefighters were searching the building early Thursday for the work, but had to move slowly due to how badly the structure was damaged. Officials from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were also on scene to investigate.

The address of the explosion is a facility operated by PCI Synthesis, which advertises "contract chemical manufacturing" services for the pharmaceutical industry, according to the company's website.

By Thursday afternoon, air monitoring stations had been set up near the building, and environmental officials were on hand to see if nearby waterways had been contaminated.

"There is no danger to area residents, but the Newburyport Police Department asks workers in the industrial park to avoid Opportunity Way while operations continue," the town said in a news release.

The PCI Synthesis facility was previously shut down in 2021 after a fire, according to the Newburyport Daily News. No one was injured during that incident, but the fire ripped a hole in the roof of the building.