LA PORTE, Texas -- Investigators with the U.S. Chemical Safety Board began investigating the cause of the DuPont chemical leak that claimed the lives of four workers over the weekend.
"Nothin
g could be as bad as that Saturday, that call," said Gilbert Tisnado. "Our whole life just took a big change."
Tisnado works in the DuPont plant too. He lost two of his sons, Gibby and Bobby in Saturday's deadly leak.
"These guys were hard working family men," said Tisnado.
The Tisnado brothers were two of four victims overcome by a lethal cloud of methyl mercaptan, a chemical commonly used to make insecticide. DuPont identified the two other victims as Wade Baker and Crystle Wise. A fifth worker who survived has been discharged from the hospital.
According to the Tisnado family, Gibby and Bobby died together. Their brotherly bond tight until the end.
"Gibby went in there, found his brother and tried to put his mask on him, they found him trying to do that," said Tisnado. "When you're brother is down you're going to go down with him."
Gibby's son Christopher followed in his dad's footsteps. He works in the plant industry too. He says his dad love dhis job, but lived for his family.
"He was the toughest guy I ever knew," said Christopher. "He had a big heart. He was my hero."
While the families wait for answers, KHOU has learned more about DuPont's safety record. Texas environmental regulators fined the company more than $117,000 in penalties in the last five years. It also received more than a dozen citations for things like failing to perform safety inspections and for the unsafe handling of hazardous chemicals.
Tisnado says he doesn't blame Dupont. He says he and his sons knew the risk.
"It will happen," said Tisnado. "It will happen again."
It'll be up to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board to make sure it doesn't. A spokeswoman for the team in Houston says they interviewed several witnesses Monday, but have not been able to access the site where the workers died.
The investigation and its findings could take up to a year to wrap up and release.
Meanwhile, Jasmine Wise, the daughter of victim Crystle Wise, has filed a request for a restraining order against DuPont asking them to preserve the evidence in the area where her mother and three others died. She's also suing DuPont.
DuPont has not responded to request for comment on Monday's legal action.
