Louisiana
smells 'burning tires and oil' as Exxon refinery spills unknown
amount of chemicals
As
ExxonMobil's week from hell continues after a spill of Canadian crude
oil and questions on why the energy giant is exempt from contributing
to a federal cleanup fund, it is now dealing with a fresh chemical
leak at a refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana.
5
April, 2013
According
to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, residents of the New Orleans
suburb began reporting strong odor of “burning tires and oil” to
the local Coast Guard on Wednesday.
The
claims were soon connected to a report issued by the ExxonMobil
refinery the same day.
Confusion
remained, though, over the amounts and types of chemicals dumped as a
result of a break in a pipeline connecting a drum used to store
“liquid flare condensate” with a flare. At oil refineries, flares
are gas combustion devices generally used to burn off flammable gas
released by pressure relief valves. In this case, the spill itself
was of the condensate water.
Once
the refinery’s leak reached the threshold that would require it to
be reported, ExxonMobil announced that it had released 100 pounds of
hydrogen sulfide and 10 pounds of benzene, a volatile compound known
to cause cancer.
According
to the Coast Guard’s National Response Center, however, the oil
company is now unsure of the quantities and of which chemicals may
have contaminated the area. According to readings at the spill site,
the refinery measured 160 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide and 2
parts per million of benzene in the air. Meanwhile, an online version
of the report filed by the company simply stated that an unknown
amount of wastewater had leaked from its Number 1 flare drum.
A
local pollution mapping website run by a group called the Louisiana
Bucket Brigade began receiving notices from local residents, all
complaining of a strong chemical odor:
“My
name is Earl, I live at phillip neighborhood. I felt bad all
yesterday because yesterday I smelled some of that oil. I haven't
seen a doctor yet. Thanks,” posted one user.
According
to Bucket Brigade director Anne Rolfes, the process for both
measuring and reporting such a spill in the area is severely lacking.
“It
is surprising that we don’t know the source over 12 hours after the
first reports were filed," Rolfes told the Times-Picayune. "We
need an overhaul and an upgrade of the state’s skimpy and
inadequate air monitoring network. A decent air monitoring network
would help officials to locate the source of the odor automatically,
rather than having to drive around looking for it."
According
to the paper, the same ExxonMobil refinery suffered a 360-barrel
spill last January. At the time, local residents complained that
drops of crude oil were splattering their vehicles.
A
federal rule requires the refinery to comply with the Clean Air Act,
which regulates emissions, and also led the facility to file a report
in March which noted 10 recent releases that had violated pollution
limits.
“The
incidents included the release of 1.93 tons of sulphur dioxide on
July 2; the release of 1,076 pounds of sulphur dioxide on July 29;
the release of 33.73 tons of sulphur dioxide between Aug. 27 and
Sept. 3 during Hurricane Isaac; 1.85 tons of sulphur dioxide on Sept.
10; 1,063 pounds of hydrogen sulfide on Oct. 26; and 2.22 tons of
hydrogen sulfide on Oct. 30 and 31.”
According
to that report, most of the releases were prompted by a failure of
pressure safety valves and other equipment. Of the 18 oil refineries
currently operating in the state of Louisiana, the facility at
Chalmette is one of the largest.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.