By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – An environmental watchdog group announced this week 10 of Louisiana’s largest refineries and chemical plants reported the release of millions of pounds of toxic chemicals into the air and millions of gallons of polluted water into state water sources as a result of accidents between 2005 and 2008.

The findings of the report, compiled by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, show that between 2005 and 2008, the plants reported 2,116 accidents to state officials at the Department of Environmental Quality.

Of the 10 plants listed in the report, four of them – Marathon Petroleum, Valero Refining, Motiva Enterprises of Norco and Motiva of Convent – are situated within the River Parishes. Those four plants only account for about 400 of the total reported accidents.

“What we’ve found is not a pretty picture,” said Bucket Brigade Director Anne Rolfes. “But these refineries can improve, and we want (this report) to be the first step in solving the problem.”

Eric Parrie, a research associate for the Bucket Brigade’s report, explained the release of the report kicks off what the group is calling a “refinery efficiency initiative” to get refinery operators together with community leaders and state officials in an attempt to come up ways to reduce accidental emissions.

“We’re not looking for a silver bullet or an end-all solution to this problem,” Parrie said. “We are just hoping to engage in a dialogue to see what can be done in the way of reform.”

Parrie said the Bucket Brigade has scheduled a roundtable discussion for February with members of DEQ, the Environmental Protection Agency and representatives from the 10 plants cited in the report. He said the group has gotten positive responses from all but three refineries. He said Chalmette Refining and Murphy Oil, both in St. Bernard Parish, have declined the invitation.

He also said Valero Refining in Norco has yet to respond either way.

“The problem is not going to get solved if we don’t get input from the refineries themselves,” said Parrie. “Our goal is to do what we can to prevent future accidents. Less accidents mean less legal disputes and less health risks.”

Parrie noted that results of the report showed about one-third of the accidents occurred as a result of storm activity.

For example, in July 2005, a gust of wind during Hurricane Cindy – a category 1 storm – knocked out power to several oil processing units on the Motiva site in Norco.

The outage resulted in the release of an 83,000-pound mix of toxic gases into the air including small amounts of carcinogens such as benzene.

“One serious problem that we see over and over again is that these refineries don’t appear to be ready for storms,” Parrie said. “We’re not just talking about hurricanes but also just a heavy rain event.”

DEQ spokesman Rodney Mallet said the agency works in conjunction with the EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure the refineries have programs in place when it comes to weather events. He said it is generally hard to predict how a weather event will affect operations.

“In recent hurricane situations we have made an effort to remind refineries of the impending storm,” Mallet said. “We make sure that a plan is in action, but there is no limit to what can happen.”

Mallet agreed an open dialogue is a good step in the right direction toward determining what the state and the refineries can do to reduce emissions but said it is important all information is accurate and truthful.

“We all have a responsibility to keep our environment clean,” said Mallet. “But no one should go into this with a specific agenda.”