Thursday, May 3, 2012

it rained yesterday

Afternoon squall and power glitch causes flaring at both refineries in St. Bernard Parish.

ExxonMobil's Chalmette Refinery reported a release of  hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide and reported the Incident Cause as a NATURAL PHENOMENON.  It is unclear what triggered the flaring event.  The nearby Louisiana DEQ Ch_Vista site  air monitor one hour readings, listed below, recorded Hydrogen Sulfide levels in the adjacent neighborhood at 6 ppb H2S and 3 ppb H2S at 2pm and 3pm (adjust time for daylight savings time).

Valero's Meraux refinery reported startup mode with no material impact on production .  The offsite effects were recorded at the nearby Ventura Drive monitor with one-hour readings for Sulfur Dioxide at 48 ppb and 120 ppb SO2  at 2pm and 3pm.  This level of sulfur dioxide exceeded the EPA one-hour health standard of 75 ppb.  Alarms continued to sound at the plant through the early evening, however, there were no community advisories.

5/2/2012 .....2pm Ch_Vista 6 ppb H2S
Ventura 48 ppb SO2 3 ppb H2S
3pm Ch_Vista 3 ppb H2S
Ventura 120 ppb SO2  2 ppb H2S
5pm Ch_Vista 35.7 ppb SO2


 

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