Environment

Texas Freeze Led to Release of Tons of Air Pollutants as Refineries Shut

The largest US oil refiners released tons of air pollutants into the skies over Texas, according to figures provided to the state, as refineries and petrochemical plants in the region scrambled to shut production during frigid weather.

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A police officer drives past a refinery in the industrial east end in Pasadena, Texas, on 18 September 2018.<br/><br/>
Credit: Loren Elliott/Reuters.

The largest US oil refiners released tons of air pollutants into the skies over Texas this past week, according to figures provided to the state, as refineries and petrochemical plants in the region scrambled to shut production during frigid weather.

An arctic air mass that spread into an area unused to such low temperatures killed at least two dozen people in Texas and knocked out power to more than 4 million at its peak. It also hit natural gas and electric generation, cutting supplies needed to run the plants along the US Gulf Coast.

Shutdowns led to the refineries flaring, or burning and releasing gases, to prevent damage to their processing units. That flaring darkened the skies in eastern Texas with smoke visible for miles.

“These emissions can dwarf the usual emissions of the refineries by orders of magnitude,” said Jane Williams, chair of the Sierra Club’s National Clean Air Team.

She said US regulators must change policies that allow “these massive emissions to occur with impunity.”

The five largest refiners emitted nearly 337,000 pounds of pollutants, including benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide, according to preliminary data supplied to the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ).

Valero Energy said in a filing with the TCEQ that it released 78,000 pounds over 24 hours beginning last Monday from its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, citing the frigid cold and interruptions in utility services.

The 118,100 pounds of emissions from Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery from Monday to Thursday were more than three times the excess emissions that it declared to the US Environmental Protection Agency for the whole of 2019.

Marathon Petroleum's MPC.N Galveston Bay Refinery released 14,255 pounds over less than 5 hours on Monday, equivalent to about 10% of its total releases above permitted levels in 2019.

Exxon Mobil said its Baytown Olefins Plant emitted nearly a ton of benzene and 68,000 tons of carbon monoxide, citing in its disclosure the halting of “multiple process units and safe utilization of the flare system.”

Exxon blamed the shutdown of two Texas refineries on the freezing weather and loss of natural gas supplies. A spokesman said its petrochemical plants in Texas and Louisiana had supplied 560 megawatts to local communities, helping power about 300,000 homes.

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