The hours-long toxic gas leak at an oil refinery near Houston far exceeded the legal limit

Pemex’s Deer Park oil refinery near Houston discharged 43,500 pounds of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas over more than seven hours in a deadly incident earlier this week, according to the Mexican state company’s disclosure to a Texas regulator. .

Thursday’s accident killed two contract workers and injured 35 others while working at a refinery unit.

According to Pemex’s initial report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the October 10 leak continued for 7 hours and 40 minutes. Over the course of the incident, the hydrogen sulfide discharge exceeded more than 800 times the hazardous gas’s hourly emission limit of 6.89 pounds per hour.

The data from the Texas regulator is dated October 11.

The refinery, which has a crude oil processing capacity of 312,500 barrels per day, will operate this weekend at a “low level” while Pemex investigates the cause of the leak, the company said late on Friday in a statement.

The Houston-based Buzbee Law Firm said it was hired by “several families affected by this terrible incident.”

Pemex management has been operating the facility for nearly three years.

Work was underway at a sulfur recovery unit at the time of the fatal discharge, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Deer Park refinery is a major supplier of motor fuels to Mexico, where the government has sought to reduce dependence on gasoline and diesel imports from non-Pemex refineries in an effort to be more energy self-sufficient.

Newly appointed Pemex CEO Victor Rodriguez told reporters Friday morning that thirteen workers remained hospitalized after being exposed to the leak, while Mexico’s energy minister said in the same briefing that she expected the facility to return to operations. normal on Friday.

But the company backed away from that expectation with its latest statement.

“The refinery continues to operate in stable conditions and at a low level, a level that will be maintained throughout the weekend, as long as it is possible to access the areas to carry out the corresponding inspections,” the company said in its statement on Friday. -fair. night statement.

Rodriguez, who took over earlier this month, noted on Friday that three or four units at the refinery were closed following the spill.

The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), which investigates industrial accidents and makes recommendations to prevent future incidents, also began an investigation into what it described as a “very serious incident”.

The CSB said Friday night that its investigators were expected to arrive at the refinery on Saturday.

For decades, Deer Park was operated by oil major Shell, but Pemex took full ownership of the refinery in early 2022, acquiring Shell’s 50% stake in what was a long-running joint venture.

In 2021, Shell disclosed that it sold its stake in Deer Park to Pemex for around US$596 million.

Pemex’s domestic refineries have suffered serious accidents for years, including explosions and fires, which have caused deaths in Mexico.