September 10, 2021

Horrible news . . .

One dead, one injured in chemical plant explosion in Toronto’s east end

TORONTO — One person has died and another was in life-threatening condition after an explosion at a chemical plant, officials said Wednesday.

Toronto Fire Services said they were called to an industrial area shortly before 10 a.m. for reports of an explosion.

Acting fire Chief Jim Jessop said firefighters saw visible smoke coming from the building. Once inside, firefighters encountered heavy smoke as they did a quick search for people.

“We knew there were people in there,” he said.

Toronto Paramedic Services said one person was pronounced dead at the scene and a man in his 40s was rushed to a trauma centre.

Paramedic deputy commander Shawn Staff said three other people were assessed on scene, but not taken to hospital.

Toronto Fire District Chief Stephan Powell said the explosion occurred at Siltech, a company that makes silicone products.

The explosion triggered a small fire that officials said has now been extinguished.

“This is a sad day,” Powell said.

Jessop said firefighters pulled out of the building because of the potential dangers associated with the various chemicals at the plant.

“We have mitigated the situation, we have stabilized the situation, but until we know for certain what chemicals and compounds we’re dealing with, knowing that there is no further risk to human life, we’re going to pull back,” he told reporters at the scene.

Jessop said it’s too early to know what caused the fire.

“Without question our crews were met with a significant chemical fire that took us a while to extinguish,” he said.

These types of fires are much more challenging than the normal types the public is used to because you have to pick a specific extinguishing agent to safely extinguish it and not make the situation worse.”

Police said roads and railways in the area have been shut down as the investigation continues.

They said the fire has been classified as an industrial accident. The Ministry of Labour will be investigating, police said.

A woman who answered the phone at Siltech confirmed the fire occurred there, but declined further comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2021.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/newsalert-one-dead-one-injured-in-chemical-plant-explosion-in-torontos-east-end/ar-AAOehro

September 8, 2021

IDA Update

US Gulf oil, natgas output begins to recover after Ida

Author: Janet Miranda

2021/09/07

HOUSTON (ICIS)–More than a week after Hurricane Ida made landfall, 79% of offshore oil production and nearly 78% of natural gas production in the US Gulf remains offline, according to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

The percentage of shut in production has been reduced by 14 and 11 percentage points for offshore oil and natural gas respectively from 3 September, when 93% of oil production and 89% of natural gas production was offline in the US Gulf.

The following table shows the number of platforms and rigs evacuated, including the total of oil and natural gas that has been shut in.

	Total	%
Platforms evacuated	79	14.11
Rigs evacuated	4	36.36
Oil shut in (bbl/day)	1,443,800	79.33
Gas shut in (bcf/day)	1.736	77.89

Source: BSEE

Key ports such as Port Fourchon in Louisiana were damaged by Ida. The port is a main site for offshore workers.

As of 4 September, the US Coast Guard is allowing conditional access to Port Fourchon waterways, including Belle Pass with restrictions for daylight operations only.

Currently, vessels in ports can manoeuvre in port waterways. Navigation through the main channel is down to one lane only.

The port will be fully reopened when channel surveys have been completed and obstructions from debris have been removed.

Shell said on Tuesday that it is beginning to deploy employees to its Auger and Enchilada/Salsa assets.

Its Perdido asset in the southwestern Gulf was never disrupted and continues to be online, along with its storage and offloading vessel, the Turritella.

At its West Delta 143 offshore facility, damage assessments continue, Shell said.

Shell has also re-staffed its Pipeline’s Ship Shoal 28 asset and are now working to finalise assessment of the platform and pipelines. A stand-up test will be conducted prior to restart of the pipeline.

Platform start up will remain dependent on the availability of downstream infrastructure including pipelines and delivery locations, the company said.

BP has conducted a visual assessment of its four Gulf of Mexico platforms, and reported no major damage, the company said on Thursday.

Production will remain shut in until further confirmation that it is safe for operations to resume.

Its onshore assets at Houma and Port Fourchon experienced the brunt of the storm’s force with damage to both facilities that will require repairs. BP will temporarily relocate its shore base and heliport to other locations.

BP’s midstream and downstream assets are in various stages of start-up and await facility inspections and power restoration.

Chevron has begun to deploy personnel to provide closer assessments of possible damage to any of its assets, the company said on Wednesday.

Fourchon terminal and Empire terminal and their related pipeline systems remain shut in, Chevron said.

PLANT STATUS
The following shows the status of the chemical plants and refineries affected by Ida.

Company	Site	Products	Status	Force Majeure
AmSty	St James, Louisiana	Styrene	Shutdown
BASF	Geismar, Louisiana	BDO, EO, isocyanates, polyols	Shutdown
Cornerstone	Waggaman, Louisiana	ACN, melamine	Shutdown	Declares FM
Cos-Mar	Carville, Louisiana	Styrene, ethylbenzene	Shutdown
DAK Americas	Bay St Louis, Mississippi	PET	Shutdown	Declares FM
Dow	Plaquemine, Louisiana	Ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, EO, glycol ethers, PE, PG, PO	Expected Restart
Dow	Taft, Louisiana	Ethylene, propylene, acetic acid, acrylic acid, acrylic acid esters, ethanolamines, EO, glycol ethers, LLDPE, oxo-alcohols	Shutdown
Dow	Taft, Louisiana	2-EHA	Shutdown	Declares FM
Enterprise Products	Louisiana, US	Propylene, NGLs	Shutdown
ExxonMobil	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Ethylene, propylene, BD, benzene, toluene, IPA, PA, plasticizers, PE, PP, base oils	Restart
Formosa Plastics	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	PVC, VCM	Shutdown
INEOS Oxide	Plaquemine, Louisiana	Ethanolamines	Shutdown	Declares FM
Lion Copolymer	Geismar, Louisiana	EDPM	Restart
Marathon Petroleum	Garyville, Louisiana	Gasoline, propylene, refined products	Shutdown
Methanex	Geismar, Louisiana	Methanol	Shutdown
NOVA	Geismar, Louisiana	Ethylene, propylene	Shutdown	Declares FM
Olin	Freeport, Texas	VCM	Shutdown	Declares FM
Olin	Plaquemine, Louisiana	Caustic soda, chlorine	Shutdown
Olin	St Gabriel, Louisiana	Caustic soda, chlorine	Shutdown
OxyChem	Convent, Louisiana	Caustic soda, chlorine	Shutdown	Declares FM
OxyChem	Geismar, Louisiana	Caustic soda, chlorine, EDC	Shutdown	Declares FM
OxyChem	Taft, Louisiana	Caustic soda, chlorine	Shutdown	Declares FM
PBF Energy	Chalmette, Louisiana	Benzene, toluene, MX, propylene	Shutdown
Phillips 66	Belle Chasse, Louisiana	Benzene, toluene, MX, propylene	Shutdown
Pinnacle Polymers	Garyville, Louisiana	PP	Shutdown	Declares FM
Roehm	Fortier, Louisiana	Methyl methacrylate (MMA)	Shutdown
Rubicon	Geismar, Louisiana	MDI, polyether polyols, aniline, nitrobenzene	Shutdown
Shell	Geismar, Louisiana	EO, EG, glycol ethers, linear alcohols, linear olefins	Shutdown
Shell	Norco, Louisiana	Ethylene, propylene, BD	Shutdown
Shintech	Addis, Louisiana	PVC	Shutdown
Shintech	Freeport, Texas	PVC	Shutdown
Shintech	Plaquemine, Louisiana	Caustic soda, chlorine, EDC, PVC, VCM, ethylene	Shutdown
Total Energies	Carville, Louisiana	PS	Shutdown
Valero	Meraux, Louisiana	Gasoline, refined products, propylene	Shutdown
Valero	St Charles, Louisiana	Gasoline, refined products, propylene	Shutdown
Westlake	Geismar, Louisiana	Caustic soda, chlorine, EDC	Shutdown	Declares FM
Westlake	Plaquemine, Louisiana	Caustic soda, chlorine, EDC, PVC, VCM	Shutdown	Declares FM
YCI Methanol One	St James, Louisiana	Methanol	Shutdown

POWER RESTORATION
Power has been restored to 60% of the 948,000 customers who lost service after Hurricane Ida made landfall on 29 August, regional power distributor Entergy said on Tuesday.

Of the 226 affected transmission substations, 188 have returned to service as of the afternoon of 6 September, as well as 151 of 211 affected transmission lines.

About 700 miles of transmission lines remain out of service, Entergy said.

Distribution system damage in Louisiana and Mississippi included 30,679 poles, 36,469 spans of wire and 5,959 transformers damaged or destroyed.

The number of poles damaged or destroyed is more than hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Delta and Zeta combined.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER, PORTS OPEN
The US Coast Guard open the lower Mississippi river to all vessel traffic in New Orleans and key ports throughout southeast Louisiana late on Friday.

The opening required the removal of several downed power lines that were obstructing the waterway.

The Coast Guard continues to work with its partners to reconstitute ports and waterways throughout Southeast Louisiana to pre-storm capacity in Port Fourchon, Bayou Lafourche, Houma Navigation Canal, and key points along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) has resumed receipt and delivery of crude to regional refineries.

The Loop is the nation’s only deepwater oil port for supertankers. Some 50% of the nation’s refining capacity can be supplied by LOOP, which moves 12% of the nation’s annual crude oil imports.

RAIL UPDATE
Norfolk Southern reopened its NS New Orleans intermodal facility on Monday, the rail company announced. The embargo at its Croxton and Erail facility have been lifted.

Ingates for local and interline shipments originating at or destined to its Erail facility have reopened. Local ingates originated or destined to its Croxton facility remained closed.

Outgates in its northeast facilities are currently open. Some rail lines in the north region of New Jersey have been impacted by slow orders and signal delays. Customers in the Northeast should expect 24-48 hour delays.

Union Pacific (UP) has resumed operations from St James to New Orleans, although generators remain in place for signal and gate operations until commercial power is restored, the rail company said on Friday.

Interchange with Norfolk Southern resumed on Thursday, although it was limited to daylight hours only due to the city-mandated curfew. Interchange with all other carriers in New Orleans remained embargoed.

CSX has also seen the impacts of the storm in the northeast, with disruptions in operations in portions Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Customers are advised to expect delays, it said on Thursday.

It is also continuing repair work on track and signals on the New Orleans and Mobile line.

BNSF has reopened nearly all of its main line between Lafayette, Louisiana, and New Orleans, the US railroad company said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Kansas City Southern (KCS) announced it had resumed operations on the New Orleans subdivision.

https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2021/09/07/10682546/us-gulf-oil-natgas-output-begins-to-recover-after-ida