Hazardous chemical releases

Harvey triggers spike in hazardous chemical releases

By BEN LEFEBVRE

Hobbled oil refineries and damaged fuel facilities along the Gulf Coast of Texas from Tropical storm Harvey have released more than two million pounds of dangerous chemicals into the air this week, adding new health threats to Houston’s already considerable woes.

The big spike in releases, which include carcinogenic benzene and nitrogen oxide, will add an environmental and long-term health risk to the region that's struggling with the massive flooding that Harvey has brought to the country’s energy capital, according to environmental watchdogs.

The jump in emissions has been noticed on the ground in Houston, where residents have taken to Twitter to report a stronger-than-normal chemical smell in some areas.

“It’s adding to the cancer risk to the community and well as respiratory problems,” said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, which has been tracking the emissions recorded by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for years.

That level of chemicals released this week from "unplanned events," which typically exclude normal day-to-day operations, was equal to the average amount measured over a three-month period last year, he said.

The reports of the pollution emissions began in earnest on Aug. 27, about a day and a half after Harvey made landfall, according to a POLITICO review of the filings.

Harvey slammed into the Houston refining belt as a Category 4 hurricane late Friday, bringing several feet of rain and strong winds. It has since crawled northeast along the Gulf Coast, damaging refinery infrastructure and forcing Exxon Mobil, Shell and other companies to halt operations, emitting hazardous gases as they shut down the vast plants that populate the Texas coast.

The Gulf Coast is home to nearly a quarter of the U.S. fuel refining output and half the country's chemical manufacturing. The storm has cut power to nearly 300,000 people in Texas, forced 13 refineries to shut down and caused another five to ramp down operations, according to the latest information from the Department of Energy.

President Donald Trump visited the Corpus Christi area Tuesday to survey the flood damage.

An EPA spokeswoman did not immediately return calls for comment. The EPA, whose funding Trump has sought to slash, is in charge of monitoring the area air quality. Trump has not yet appointed a director to the agency's Texas district.

Chemical maker Chevron Phillips reported the largest pollutant release. The company estimated it had sent more than 766,000 pounds of chemicals to its flare for burning as it shut its Baytown plant down because of the storm, it said in a TCEQ filing.

But Harvey’s heavy rains have allowed a significant amount of chemicals to escape straight to the atmosphere from their storage tanks.

“External floating roof tanks impacted by torrential downpour from Hurricane Harvey,” Kinder Morgan noted in its Pasadena terminal in a filing showing a release of 279,500 pounds of chemicals.

A tank’s “floating roof partially sank during the excess rain event from Hurricane Harvey,” Exxon said in a filing showing more than 12,000 pounds of chemicals escaping from its Baytown refinery.

The emissions volumes are based companies' initial estimates, and the figures could change as more information is released.

The American Petroleum Institute noted that preparing refineries for such an unprecedented storm was a complex process, and it said the industry was “committed to the safety of our workers and the community and the protection of human health and the environment.” The American Petroleum & Fuel Manufacturers trade association did not immediately reply to questions.

TCEQ spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said the agency would conduct investigations into any large emissions events, though those actions would be delayed because of the storm.

“We are in contact with facilities and talking with facilities.” Morrow said.