By David Vitrano
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Hot on the heels of a flaring event at Shell Chemical in Norco that alarmed some local residents over the weekend and into the beginning of this week, the environmental watchdog group Louisiana Bucket Brigade released its annual reports on the state’s refineries and chemical plants.

Although the company has said the flaring posed no health threats to area residents, the Bucket Brigades report ranks two other flaring events at Norco’s Motiva Enterprises, where Shell Chemical is located, among the top 10 accidents based on emissions during 2011. In March 2011, an elevated flare there released more than 40,000 pounds of carbon monoxide and more than 75,000 total pounds of pollutants into the atmosphere. Then in September 2011, another elevated flaring incident there released nearly 30,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide and nearly 42,000 pounds of total pollutants.

Neighboring Valero St. Charles refinery was also mentioned twice on the list, citing an October 2011 release of more than 1,000 pounds of benzene and a total of more than 37,000 pounds of pollutants as well as a June 2011 incident that released 170 pounds of sulfur dioxide and nearly 28,000 pounds of isobutene.

Other refineries mentioned on the list include Chalmette Refining, an ExxonMobil operation, CITGO Petroleum and Calumet Lubricants 8.

The report also noted that in 2011, Motiva in Norco had a total of 31 accidents releasing nearly 182,000 pounds of emissions and 84 gallons of ground or water emissions. Marathon’s Garyville facility had 18 accidents in 2011, releasing a total of more than 36,000 pounds of air emissions and 3,179 gallons of ground or water emissions.

The report featured a statement from Calvin Smith of Norco, who said, “I think that they should have a better procedure about at least warning us and give us the option about evacuating. Sometimes things happen at the plant, and they don’t even tell us.”

Among the findings released in the reports was that equipment failure caused nearly half of air emission accidents in 2011 while piping or tubing was to blame for more than 95 percent of ground and water emissions.