Western Refining: Yellow plume was practically harmless, residents did not report problems

ABC-7 has obtained the Western Refining’s final report on the “emissions incident” that had many Central El Paso residents concerned.

The final report was filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. It lists additional chemicals released January 11, 2017.

While the initial report states sulfur dioxide was released, the final report states other contaminants like hydrogen sulfide and volatile organic compounds were released.

Click here to read Western Refining’s final report.

Experts ABC-7 spoke with told ABC-7 the yellow plume of smoke did not pose any danger to nearby residents.

Western Refining says a valve malfunction was to blame for the emissions incident, which lasted seven hours.

“It’s leaking some of these things like carbon monoxide, hydrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and various other things,” said Dr. Russell R. Chianelli, a UTEP chemistry professor. “Most of these things, if they were up in the air in gases, would dissipate and not threaten any of the people.”

Western Refining spokesman Gary Hanson told ABC-7 the gases were “diverted to the flare, which is about 400 feet up in the air.”

That is supposed to act as a fail safe. ‘We add steam to it and about 98 percent of what was released combusted as it went into the air,” Hanson said, adding the yellow plume was “practically harmless.”

Hanson said Western Refining spoke with neighboring residents to confirm. “We didn’t have any reports of any issues or problem,” Hanson said.

The exact cause of the event that triggered the emissions is under investigation. “Once we find the issue, then we look at the rest of the process and say ‘okay, are there other places where this could be a problem?'” Hanson said.

The TECQ will now launch its own investigation. OSHA also confirmed it has opened an investigation into the matter.