Damage from Hurricane Harvey caused a roof to sink in at the Shell oil refinery in Deer Park, Texas, and caused similar damage to other oil companies, releasing hazardous pollutants into the air.
Shell said in a statement this week that 100 pounds of benzene and 100 pounds of toluene were released due to destruction from the severe storm, which include cancerous chemical carcinogen and the less toxic solvent, the EPA reports.
Spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency, David Gray, said Exxon Mobil Corp.’s refinery in Baytown, Texas also had 15 pounds of chemical compound benzene released from the oil and gas facility this week.
Damage from Hurricane Harvey caused a roof to sink in at the Shell oil refinery in Deer Park, Texas
Hazardous pollutants were released from the damage
Shell said in a statement this week that 100 pounds of benzene and 100 pounds of toluene were released
Other plants have reported releases due to the catastrophic storm
Exxon spokeswoman Charlotte Huffaker said the Irving based company is taking the appropriate measures to assure emissions are monitored and the Exxon does their best to follow environmental guidelines.
‘This is an unprecedented storm, and we have taken every effort to minimize emissions and safely shut down equipment,’ Huffaker said.
Other plants have reported issues due to the catastrophic storm. Flooding was prominent in the refinery areas of the Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Louisiana.
Gasoline prices skyrocketed this week after the record-breaking hurricane forced 15 percent of the nation’s oil companies to close down.
Gasoline futures shot up 6 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $1.78 a gallon in trading Tuesday. Retail prices slowly increased by 4 cents in the last week to $2.38 a gallon, according to auto club AAA.
Exxon Mobil Corp.’s refinery in Baytown, Texas also had 15 pounds of chemical compound benzene released from the oil and gas facility
Spokesperson for the nation’s largest oil company Motiva Enterprises, in Port Arthur, Texas said the state-owned oil company of Saudi Arabia was dealing with restrictions in the flow of crude oil coming in and gasoline being relased through pipelines and ports.
The spokesperson said there was some flooding in the plant and local roads were covered in water.
The Colonial Pipeline operator carrying fuel to the East Coast announced it was running at a reduced rate too, compounding pressure on the nation’s energy system.
The reduction was due to limited supply from refiners around Houston and storm damage to its facilities in several southeast Texas locations.
Workers were since dispatched to the region.