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Shell chemical plant in Norco produces flare after heater unit fails

The failure of a heater unit at the Shell chemical plant in Norco on Tuesday caused a partial shutdown of the plant and a towering flare that could be spotted 25 miles away… …company officials said the plant released benzene, butadiene, carbon monoxide, ethylene, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxide, propylene, sulfur dioxide, xylene and other volatile organic carbons…

Published: Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 10:30 PM

By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune

The failure of a heater unit at the Shell chemical plant in Norco on Tuesday caused a partial shutdown of the plant and a towering flare that could be spotted 25 miles away, the state Department of Environmental Quality confirmed Wednesday. Shell Chemical shares a campus with the Motiva Enterprises oil refinery, which is a joint venture of Shell Oil Co. and Saudi Arabia Refining Inc.

The accident occurred in a “CO heater,” which is part of the chemical plant. In an accident report filed Tuesday at 7:09 p.m. with the National Response Center, Shell officials said a storm caused the heater to shut down, “which caused a shake to the steam load shed,” and resulted in the release of chemicals to the flare.

Company officials told the DEQ that they were trying to return the CO heater to service, which would require the shutdown of another part of the process and flaring into Wednesday. The plant, in St. Charles Parish, manufactures ethylene, propylene, butadiene, aromatic feedstock, secondary butyl alcohol and olefin cracker feedstocks, all used in the manufacturing of other chemicals or products, according to its website.

“Flares are safety devices that are designed to minimize the release of emissions into the environment during unit upsets or when preparing equipment for maintenance,” said Shell Norco spokeswoman Emily Oberton. “There was no danger to the community.”

The flaring began Tuesday at 5:40 p.m., and DEQ officials were notified at 7:24 p.m., according to the NRC report. DEQ spokeswoman Jean Kelly said the state was notified of the flaring at 7:09 p.m.

“We’re monitoring the situation and obviously, they’ll have to send us a letter saying what was released,” Kelly said.

At least one resident who lives about a mile away from the chemical plant said she reported the flaring to DEQ officials Tuesday night after driving by the plant.

“It was making me nauseated,” said Iris Carter. “I was on Airline Highway, going to LaPlace, and this big, black smoke was coming out. It was coming into my car, and I didn’t even have my air conditioning on. I was coughing and wheezing, and it was disgusting.”

Fence line monitoring at ground level by Shell officials Tuesday night and fence line monitoring by DEQ Wednesday morning indicated no elevated levels of chemicals in the air, Kelly said.

In the NRC report, company officials said the plant released benzene, butadiene, carbon monoxide, ethylene, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxide, propylene, sulfur dioxide, xylene and other volatile organic carbons to the flare. The flare is designed to burn up such toxic chemicals.

The flaring also was reported to the federal Environmental Protection Agency by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, which has been monitoring similar accidents at the adjacent Motiva refinery for several years.

Between 2005 and 2010, Motiva reported 174 accidents to the state, or more than two per month, according to the environmental group.

“Motiva has an accident problem,” said Anne Rolfes, founding director of the environmental group. “There needs to be immediate consequences for this flaring and the environmental and health harms that resulted from it.”

Mark Schleifstein can be reached at [email protected] or 504.826.3327.

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