HOUSTON: Fines for violations of air, water and waste regulations by U.S. petroleum storage facilities so far this year have exceeded all of last year: even without including two major Houston-area disasters in the last month still under investigation: according to a Reuters analysis of federal data.
The nation is now shipping as much as 3.6 million barrels per day overseas, and cheap natural gas prices have fueled a boom in petrochemical production that also necessitates more storage, particularly on the U.S. Gulf Coast. With that, however, have been more air and water quality incidents. That figure does not include two incidents in Texas for which federal and state investigations are underway, but no fines have yet been assessed.
The blaze at a site along the Houston Ship Channel in Deer Park, Texas, started when a leak from a tank containing volatile naphtha ignited and spread to others in the same complex. Those tanks hold tens of thousands of barrels of products used to boost gasoline octane, and make solvents and plastics.Weeks later, a blast and fire at a separate plant north of Houston that makes an aviation fuel component killed one worker and injured two others.