The legal limit for toxic gas released by Pemex near Houston, Texas was exceeded in hours-long leakage of toxic gas
Pemex, the Mexican state-owned oil refinery, reported to Texas regulators that it released 43,500 lbs of highly toxic hydrogen sulfur gas in an incident that killed one person earlier this week.
Two contract workers were killed and 35 injured in an accident that occurred on Thursday at a refinery.
According to Pemex’s initial report submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on October 10, the leak continued for seven hours and forty minutes. The hydrogen sulfide leakage during the incident exceeded the 6.89 pound per hour hourly limit of the gas. This was more than 800-fold.
The date of the data provided by Texas regulators is October 11.
Pemex said in a late Friday statement that the refinery will be operating at "low levels" this weekend as it investigates the source of the leak.
Buzbee Law Firm, based in Houston, said that it was retained by "several family members affected by this horrific event."
Pemex has been operating the facility for almost three years.
People familiar with the situation say that work was being done on a unit for recovering sulfur at the time the fatal release occurred.
Deer Park is a major supplier of motor fuels to Mexico. The government wants to become more energy independent by reducing its dependence on imports.
Victor Rodriguez, the newly appointed CEO of Pemex, told reporters Friday morning that 13 workers were still hospitalized following exposure to the leak. Mexico's Energy Minister said that the facility would be returning to normal operations by the end of the day.
The company has now retracted this statement.
The company stated in a statement released on Friday that "the refinery is still operating at a stable level and will remain so throughout the weekend, as long as access can be gained to the affected areas for inspections."
Rodriguez, who assumed control of the refinery earlier this month, said on Friday that the company had shut down three or four units following the leak.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which investigates industrial accident and makes recommendations for preventing future incidents, is also investigating what it called a "very grave incident."
The CSB announced late Friday night that their investigators would arrive at the refinery Saturday.
Shell operated Deer Park's refinery for many decades. Pemex acquired Shell's half stake in the joint venture in early 2022.
Shell announced that in 2021 it will sell its Deer Park interest to Pemex at a price of $596 million.
Pemex has suffered from major accidents at its domestic refineries, including fires and explosions that have killed people in Mexico. Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Erwin Seba, Mexico City; Ana Isabel Martinez added reporting; Diane Craft edited.
(source: Reuters)
