On the 25th, a chemical leak occurred in an oil storage tank in an oil refinery in southern Louisiana, USA, causing a fire. According to local media reports, on the 26th, a pungent smell could be smelled in the air where the incident occurred. Many local residents have also expressed their health concerns to the media.
After the accident, Marathon Oil, which operates the refinery, confirmed that the leaked chemical was naphtha, one of the feedstocks used to make gasoline. After the accident, some local residents said they felt nausea, dizziness and headaches. Medical experts remind residents near the incident to stay indoors as much as possible, especially those with respiratory problems.
Local resident Michael: Yesterday (25th) night, my eyes hurt so much that I had to get up repeatedly and keep rinsing with water.
Local residents recalled that more than an hour after the fire began, they still did not hear any sirens, and the refinery staff did not tell them what happened. Thinking about the situation at that time, many people felt panic.
Martinez: I can't understand why they [the refinery staff] didn't come and remind us? There have been some accidents here before, and such things always happen, but no one ever reminds us.
Records show that there have been several safety incidents at the refinery involved
According to US media reports, this is not the first time that such an accident has occurred at the refinery, which caused a chemical spill and caused a fire.
In February 2022, an explosion occurred at the refinery, injuring 4 workers, according to Louisiana and federal records. The investigation revealed that the explosion was caused by serious violations of workplace safety standards at the refinery. In October of the same year, a fire broke out at the refinery, which burned for about 10 hours and injured two workers.
In addition, in 2020, a fire broke out on one of the refinery's production lines, but fortunately no one was injured.
Source: CCTV News Client
Process Editor: TF016