Baytown refinery cited for spill that coated residents with oil

Monday, August 07, 2006

(8/07/06 - HOUSTON) -- State investigators have cited Exxon Mobil Corp., saying the company failed to disclose in a timely manner details of a storage tank leak that coated a nearby public housing project with oil.

A report by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also cited the company for three other violations of air and water pollution laws stemming from the Jan. 23 spill at its Baytown refinery.

The agency said a storage tank at the refinery failed, spilling 1,400 barrels of heated process gas oil onto the ground and releasing a steam that carried the oily material to a public-housing complex across the street, covering homes, cars and playground equipment with lubricant and a waxy material.

The report, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, cited the Irving-based company on Thursday.

The TCEQ said the state did not learn the company's oil had coated much of the 28-unit housing project until 18 hours after the spill from the 150,000-barrel storage tank began.

The company's initial report to the state, filed within the required 24 hours, said the spill was contained on the refinery's grounds.

Under state regulations, any information about a spill that could trigger a change in response is required to be relayed "as soon as possible."

"Exxon Mobil began clean up in the residential area ... (and) did not notify the agency of the offsite impacts until 6:15 p.m. on January 24, 2006," the violation notice states. "This notification was made only after the TCEQ ... had received a media contact regarding the incident and repeatedly called Exxon Mobil to obtain information ..."

The company, which has 14 days to review the violations and request a meeting, said the regulations do not clearly spell out how fast it needs to report new information about an incident.

"We reported the spill to the TCEQ in the required time frame," said Jeanne Miller, a spokeswoman for the Baytown refinery, one of the country's largest. "There is a provision in a TCEQ regulation about providing updates as soon as possible, but there is no specific timeline outlined. We did provide updates to the TCEQ."

Miller said the company already has taken actions to fix the problems.

According to state investigators, Exxon operators knew that a gauge measuring the level of liquid in the tank broke and remained unfixed for more than two days before the spill occurred. An alarm on the tank also failed to sound.

The state's action comes after Harris County issued two violations to the company in April. The county cited Exxon Mobil for creating a nuisance in the neighborhood and for violating its air pollution permit.

What penalties, if any, the company will receive have not been determined.

Environmental advocates are pushing for the company to buy the housing complex and for the Baytown Housing Authority to relocate the community.

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