Almost 40 years ago this week, an explosion caused by a gas leak killed six people at an Amoco chemical plant south of New Castle.
The explosion on Oct. 21, 1980, injured almost 30 people, blew pollutants into the surrounding marsh, broke windows for miles and ended the 20-year run for the Amoco plant.
The tragedy marred happier news of the day, sharing space on the front page with the story about the Phillies beating the Royals to win the World Series. The official cause of the blast was later determined to be a propylene gas leak from an improperly serviced valve. Five employees died that day, and another died in the hospital in December. Twenty-seven others were hurt.
The explosion gutted an area of about 100 square yards in the plant and caused a raging fire that took firefighters — called in from all over the county — about 11 hours to bring under control. Their job was made more difficult by the fact that the explosion had knocked out the electricity that powered the hydrants on the site.