AMY SZPARA

NEW SARPY – A day after a gasoline storage tank caught on fire at Orion Refining Corp., a group named the New Sarpy Concerned Citizens held a protest demanding that the plant relocate or move the nearby neighborhoods away. Just three days after the protest that took place last Friday morning, an environmental scientist made claims that the fire was not caused solely by the lightning bolt which hit the tank. Rather, she said, the fire was caused by negligence at the plant. According to Wilma Subra, the tank would have withstood the lightening strike if it had been in proper working order. She said it caught fire because it failed to drain water off the roof, and caused gasoline to be exposed to the air and possible lightning strikes. “It looks like the drainage system wasn’t working properly. If it had been, the fire wouldn’t have happened,” said Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB), an environmental organization which tests air for hazardous emissions. “There are two issues,” said Subra. “The floating roof tanks and their drains don’t function properly, which led to the incidents that caused the fire. And the benzene. It is required by state standards it be below 3.67 parts per billion.” According to Subra, the instrumentation used by Orion can only go down to 100 parts per billion. “That’s over 25 times the state’s standards,” she said. Subra is now investigating the incident on behalf of the New Sarpy Concerned Citizens. According to Rolfes, Orion did not have enough foam to extinguish the fire and had to seek more from other facilities. This, she said, may have allowed tons of toxic smoke to billow into the air. The tank and its inspection records are currently under investigation. The LABB took samples of the air, which are expected to be in shortly. Subra is investigating to find out if any toxins were released during the fire. She said that Orion used the wrong measuring devices when testing for toxins. Orion Refining Corp. is currently involved in a class action lawsuit that was filed Monday, though it was not filed by the LABB or the New Sarpy Concerned Citizens. According to Joy Patin, spokes woman for Orion, due to the pending lawsuit they cannot release any more information concerning the fire or the claims made by the LABB at this time. She said she hopes to be able to make a comment by early next week after the lawsuits are thoroughly reviewed. Monique Harden, an attorney for Earthjustice, said the current lawsuits are counterproductive. “These class action lawsuits that go on get the residents checks for $100 or $150. That might help them get groceries, but it doesn’t solve the problem,” she said. “These people want out. There’s just a lot of room for abouse with these lawsuits. I wonder how many of these attorneys care about the issue or cared about it before the fire, or do they just care about this being a money-maker,” she said.