Exxon Works to Halt Hydrogen Sulfide Leak at its Chalmette Refinery in Louisiana

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Exxon Works to Halt Hydrogen Sulfide Leak at Refinery

<CITE class=byline>By Leela Landress and Aaron Clark -<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>document.write(dateFormat(new Date(1286487376000),"mmm d, yyyy h:MM TT Z"));</SCRIPT> Oct 7, 2010 4:36 PM CT </CITE>

Exxon Mobil Corp. is working to halt a leak of compressed gas containing hydrogen sulfide at its Chalmette refinery in Louisiana that began Oct. 4, according to the company and state police.

?Chalmette refining is in the process of containing a leak of compressed flammable gas which contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide,? Kevin Allexon, a spokesman for Exxon, said today in an e-mail. ?We are actively mitigating the odors associated with this release, which are not considered harmful at the levels being monitored.?

A contractor died at the refinery late yesterday, Allexon said in the e-mail, and the company is investigating. He didn?t say whether the death was related to the leak.

The contractor was an employee of Team Industrial Services Inc., said Butch Bouchard, a spokesman for the company. He said Team Industrial ?cannot confirm the cause of death.?

The leak was reported about 11:20 p.m. local time Oct. 4, Louisiana State Police Sergeant Markus Smith said in a telephone interview. The leak is from a clamp that had been used to halt a prior leak, he said. The clamp is at a process unit that was not identified, according to a police report.

Yesterday, workers used a ?large water curtain to keep the vapors from going offsite,? according to the police report, Smith said. Monitors outside the refinery haven?t detected hydrogen sulfide, he said. A special flange needed to isolate the damaged area was expected to arrive from Houston yesterday, Smith said.

OSHA Investigating

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into the accident, Juan Rodriguez, a spokesman, said today in a telephone interview.

Hydrogen sulfide is ?extremely hazardous,? according to a fact sheet from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. At low concentrations the gas can ?irritate the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory system.?

Exxon identified the leak late Oct. 4 and notified the appropriate authorities, according to Allexon. ?Odor issues prompted some inquiries from residents, so we placed a message on the community hot line? early yesterday, he said. Monitoring ?indicates no offsite impacts, save for some odor issues.?

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-...rogen-sulfide-leak-at-chalmette-refinery.html

 

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Re: Exxon Works to Halt Hydrogen Sulfide Leak at its Chalmette Refinery in Louisiana

Chalmette Refining worker dies on the job; chemical leak contained

<TABLE><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Reported by: WIRE and STAFF reports
Last Update: 11:09 am

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></B>

Excerpt:

Earlier this week, Chalmette Refining received complaints of a bad odor. Company spokesman, Will Hinson said air tests did not detect anything that would be considered harmful to people. Then late Wednesday, a worker, 33-year-old Gregory Starkey, died inside the refinery. The sheriff's office said it happened while he was working with a group to repair a pipe that was leaking hydrogen sulfide.

According to OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the gas is "extremely hazardous" and has a rotten egg smell. In high concentrations, the gas can cause serious breathing problems.

Environmental health activists say safety gear may have malfunctioned.

"We did get a call to our office and someone said that what happened. There was a crack in the worker's respirator, but we don't know if that's confirmed," said Anne Rolfes with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

"We're waiting for the results of an autopsy to see if the death was due to exposure or for medical reasons," Matey said. "The DEQ has inspected his safety equipment and found no problems with it."

Hinson said the company is investigating, and could not say if the man died from something on the job. The company also could not confirm reports that Starkey suffered a heart attack.

Hinson did confirm that the pipe started leaking hydrogen sulfide Monday, and he said sometime after the company reported the leak to the local emergency planning committee, state police and DEQ.

"What we understand there was a leak on a pipe, and instead of fixing it, what the refinery had done was put a clamp on it, which is kind of like a temporary seal, and what we've learned is that that clamp leaked.. and who knows how long that clamp has been on," said Rolfes.

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http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/...-the-job/DDN8q4PV_U6avJCyUzFvaQ.cspx?rss=2085

 

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Re: Exxon Works to Halt Hydrogen Sulfide Leak at its Chalmette Refinery in Louisiana

Coroner: Refinery Death Due To Enlarged Heart
Toxicology Test Results Pending

POSTED: 5:27 pm CDT October 8, 2010

CHALMETTE, La. -- The coroner in St. Bernard Parish ruled Friday that the death of a man working an incident at a local refinery was likely due to an enlarged heart.
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Results for toxicology reports are expected later this month. There was no initial indication as to the cause of the enlargement of Starkey's heart...

http://www.wdsu.com/news/25332460/detail.html