For the second time, a Kansas beef packing plant has suffered major incident. This time, it was an explosion Thursday morning, Oct. 17, in an Excel beef packing plant in Dodge City, Kan. Excel, which is owned by Cargill, has beef plants throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The first incident was an August 9 fire at Tyson’s Holcomb, Kan., packing plant.
According to an Associated Press report, Cargill spokesman Daniel Sullivan said the explosion occurred in a stand-alone building away from the main plant in Dodge City. The two employees were the only people in the building and are being treated for burns.
Sullivan said the cause of the explosion is under investigation.
The plant stopped production for the day Thursday while the explosion was investigated. Sullivan said Cargill expected the plant to resume operations soon and said it will meet its commitments to customers. Sullivan said the Dodge City protein facility employs 2,700 people.
