Pasadena refinery releases tons of toxins

A seven-hour power outage caused the release of thousands of pounds of toxins Thursday at the Pasadena Refinery System plant, the same plant where a March explosion injured one worker.

“We worry about this refinery more than we worry about the others,” said Adrian Shelley, executive director of Air Alliance Houston. “This plant has a very poor record of emissions.”

A report filed online with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality showed more than 6,000 pounds of almost a dozen containments were released between 4 a.m. and 11 a.m. Thursday.

The release was “significant” but not tremendous, said Neil Carman, a chemist with the Sierra Club and former power plant inspector for the TCEQ.

“I’d be very concerned,” Carman said of Thursday’s release. “We don’t know what this toxic soup of all these chemicals is going to do to people.”

Of greatest concern, Carman said, were about 1,400 pounds of the acidic gas sulfur dioxide and about two tons of fineparticle soot, which “easily penetrates into the deep lung tissues.”

The company, which is operated by Brazilian state oil and gas firm Petrobras, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Thursday’s release was the refinery’s eighth contaminant discharge selfreported to the TCEQ in 2016, and its 65th since 2005.

“It has these large particulate matter (soot) release events that you really don’t see at other Houston refineries,” Shelley said.

In October, it spewed 750 pounds of particulate matter due to “an isolate pressure buildup” in one event, and 217 pounds in another event days before. In July, it released more than 1000 pounds (plus 572 pounds of the acidic gas sulfur dioxide). In January, it released about 5,600 pounds of particulate matter in two events.

Carman said studies have shown increases in emergency room visits and heart attacks in various cities in the 24 hours following increased levels of airborne particulate matter.

The Pasadena Refinery System plant also paid a $14,000 federal fine for an explosion in December 2011. Shelley said it also lacks a key federal operating permit, which lapsed in 2015, though he said the state technically rectified that situation with a $7,000 fine in 2016.

Readings from TCEQ monitors show minimal wind gusts in the area on Thursday morning, meaning the fumes aren’t likely to have been widely dispersed.

The online report did not detail why the power outage occurred, but Shelley said power outages at refineries are known to happen.