Pemex halts some operations following fatal blast at Deer Park refinery

Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) subsidiary Pemex Transformación Industrial (PTI) Norteamérica SA de CV has suspended operations of certain processing units to investigate the cause of a chemical leak that caused two fatalities at the operator’s 340,000-b/d refinery in Deer Park, Harris County, Tex.

Reported as taking place in one of the refinery’s process units at 4:40 p.m. CST on Oct. 10, the acid gas leak resulted in the confirmed “death of two or more persons,” with “five affected workers” under care by the site’s emergency care center, Pemex said in a release later that day.

Upon notification of the incident, the operator said it immediately activated emergency protocols—which included execution of safety ventings—and notified local authorities.

To mitigate further impacts at the site, Pemex said it has halted operation of the refinery’s coking and hydrotreating units.

With investigations now under way to determine the causes of the accident, the operator is working to reactivate operation of the impacted units, Pemex said.

The operator revealed neither an estimated timeline for restart of the refinery’s coking and hydrotreating operations nor the precise location of the gas leak.

Additional Deer Park refinery accident details

In a separate release posted to its official social media account at 10:25 p.m. CST on Oct. 10, the city of Deer Park’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) said it was “notified of a chemical leak involving hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) at 5:25 p.m. CST, after which the Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA) was activated and dispatched to the scene.

While the city of Deer Park issued a shelter-in-place at 7:00 p.m. CST, the order was lifted at 9:30 p.m. CST after air-monitoring reports from Harris County Pollution Control, Harris County Hazmat, and environmental consulting firm CTEH revealed no hazardous pollutants within the surrounding community, OEM said.

In addition to confirming two deaths stemming from the incident, OEM said the Harris County Texas Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) reported that 35 Pemex employees were triaged following the gas leak.

Alongside Pemex’s internal investigation, OEM confirmed the HCSO will continue with its own investigation into the accident.