Toxics information slow in coming for Texas refinery blast

An explosion and fire at a Texas oil refinery on Monday injured four workers, and news that the facility would be closed for as long as two months was a factor behind oil prices jumping to more than $100 a barrel. The ALON USA refinery near Big Spring (pop. 25,000) produces about 70,000 barrels a day.

Fortunately, no one was killed in the incident, which occurred on the Presidents' Day holiday. Only one of the injured workers remained hospitalized today and was reportedly in stable condition; a passing motorist also suffered minor injuries when the blast shattered her vehicle's windows. The Dallas-based company, which is majority-owned by ALON Israel Oil, said the investigation into the cause of the blast is still ongoing.

The explosion shook buildings miles away and sent a cloud of black smoke into the sky over Harris County. Nearby residents were asked to stay in their homes to cut down on traffic problems, but at least one woman told reporters she was heading to a friend's home in another community to avoid inhaling toxic fumes.

At this point, little information is available about what sort of chemicals were in the smoke. There were no announcements about potential toxic risks -- or the lack thereof -- from the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA's regional office, the Texas Governor's Office, the Department of State Health Services, or Howard County. ALON's press releases about the incident didn't address toxic risks, either.

But there's clearly the potential for the incident to take a toxic toll on the local community, given the pollutants associated with refinery operations. According to the facility's latest Toxics Release Inventory for 2005, the Big Spring refinery reported total on-site disposal or other releases of almost 170,000 pounds of various toxicants and carcinogens, including 1,023 pounds of 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene; 43,233 pounds of benzene; 161 pounds of cumene; 3,560 pounds of cyclohexane; 5,064 pounds of ethylbenzene; 9,374 pounds of ethylene; 2,060 pounds of hydrogen fluoride; 7 pounds of mercury; 7,556 pounds of methanol; 20,497 pounds of N-hexane; 960 pounds of naphthalene; 75 pounds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; 43,375 pounds of propylene; 25,409 pounds of toluene; and 7,504 pounds of xylene.