[StBernard] ExxonMobil Chalmette Refinery likely cause of odor in city on Wednesday, Coast Guard says

[Westley Annis]

ExxonMobil Chalmette Refinery likely cause of odor in city on Wednesday,
Coast Guard says

Print By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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on April 04, 2013 at 10:25 AM, updated April 04, 2013 at 5:42 PM

A spill of condensate water from the flare system at the ExxonMobil
Chalmette Refinery was the likely cause of the odor that wafted over the
city on Wednesday, prompting hundreds of residents to report smells of
burning tires and oil, according to the Coast Guard.

The refinery quickly reported and stopped the leak, but it remains unclear
exactly what chemicals -- or how much -- may have been released. 

"The leak was contained to a unit at the refinery," Coast Guard officials
said in a statement Thursday. "Air monitoring was initiated immediately upon
discovery, and all monitoring throughout the incident has indicated no
detection of (sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide or volatile organic
compound) emissions immediately beyond the vicinity of the leak source or at
the fence line."

Confusion over the kinds of chemicals involved in the spill resulted from
the refinery's initial report to the Coast Guard's National Response Center
on Wednesday, said Petty Officer Jason Screws, the incident commander for
the accident.

ExxonMobil first reported releasing 100 pounds of hydrogen sulfide and 10
pounds of benzene, a volatile organic carbon compound known to cause cancer,
because those amounts are the minimum required for reporting, Screws said.
But the company has since said it is unsure exactly what chemicals were
involved or how much may have been released, he said. 

The spill occurred as a result of a break in a pipeline connecting a drum
used to store "liquid flare condensate," with a flare on the refinery site,
Screws said. He said the company measured 160 parts per million of hydrogen
sulfide and 2 parts per million of benzene in the air at the site of the
spill, but has not seen similar readings at the plant's fence line or in the
neighboring community.

"The odor threshold for these chemicals is very low," Screws said. "You can
smell it a lot sooner than (when) the concentration is enough to be
harmful." 

Screws said that both ExxonMobil and the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality are continuing to conduct air monitoring at the
plant's edge and in other locations as cleanup continues.

A version of the report filed by the refinery that appeared online Thursday
said that an unknown amount of wastewater leaked onto the ground from the
"Number 1 flare drum" at the refinery at 7:08 a.m. It did not say what
chemicals, if any, were present. Reports to the Coast Guard's National
Response Center are not placed on its web site until the next day, according
to a center spokesman.
An ExxonMobil spokeswoman said the liquid would be better described as
"condensate water from the flare system."

At 4 a.m. Wednesday, an unknown caller reported to the National Response
Center a chemical or tar type smell at numerous locations across the area.
Several 911 dispatchers and fire departments also started getting reports.

The Louisiana Bucket Brigade's IWitness web site also received several dozen
reports of the odors. Brigade director Anne Rolfes renewed the environmental
group's criticism of DEQ for not creating an adequate system of air monitors
to track the sources of such odors.

"It is surprising that we don't know the source over 12 hours after the
first reports were filed," she said Wednesday. "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."

The Bucket Brigade has been sharing information with the Coast Guard
incident command as it has been collected on the IWitness web site, but
Screws said the group is not a participant in the incident command center. 

The National Ocean Service's Incident News web site reported Wednesday that
the Coast Guard contacted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
officials on Wednesday after residents reported "funny chemical smells"
throughout the greater New Orleans area.

"(Coast Guard and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality) personnel
began interviewing citizens early this AM and searched for a source of
chemical release," the report said. "Active air monitoring led personnel to
investigate of a facility in Chalmette (6 miles ESE of French Quarter, New
Orleans, LA). The facility reported a leaking flare drum with hydrogen
sulfide and benzene being released. USCG is request air plume modeling to
determine if the two cases are linked."

In its Thursday news release, the Coast Guard said the refinery has worked
with DEQ and Coast Guard response teams "most of the day to survey and
evaluate all potential sources of odors in the area, including at the
refinery. In addition, a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew conducted
overflights of the affected area Wednesday afternoon."

The release also included a statement from the refinery:

"We apologize to neighbors for any inconvenience this leak incident may have
caused," said Chalmette Refining, LLC, Janet Matsushita, manager. "The
health and safety of neighbors, community, and employees are our top
priority."

Several units at the Chalmette Refinery have been shut down since February
for a "turnaround" construction project that is employing 500 workers, but
the refinery is still operating. A recorded message on the refinery's
telephone said that flaring was likely to occur at the site during the
construction project. A flare was operating on the site on Wednesday. The
company spokeswoman said the spill has not affected production at the
refinery.

In January, neighbors of the Chalmette refinery along St. Bernard Highway
complained that drops of crude oil from the plant had splattered their cars.
DEQ officials confirmed that the refinery had a 360-barrel spill. 

The refinery also is  operating under a federal consent decree that requires
it to comply with the Clean Air Act and reduce emissions, especially flaring
events.

On March 15, the company filed a report of its compliance with the decree
during the last six months of 2012 that noted 10 incidents in which it
violated the pollution limits, including an outage caused by Hurricane
Isaac.

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.
Most of the releases were prompted by the failure of pressure safety valves
or other pieces of equipment. One was caused by a loss of electrical power.
The releases during Isaac were the result of the shutdown of the refinery in
advance of the storm, and then its restart after the hurricane cleared the
area.