Pygas release at Westlake Chemical
Published 7:30 am Friday, October 10, 2014
A release of raw pyrolysis gasoline occurred at Westlake Chemical in Sulphur on Thursday. No injuries were reported.
Joe Andrepont, spokesman for Westlake Chemical, said the incident occurred shortly after 7 a.m. when a vacuum truck, decanting water from the company’s Petro 2 Unit, spilled the gasoline into a ditch inside the plant.
He said the ditch already had containment barriers up to keep the gas from spilling offsite. No offsite impact or shelter-in-place was reported.
“Once the spill occurred our response team reacted immediately,” he said. “They put the foam on top immediately to keep the odors down.”
Westlake executives notified the Calcasieu Parish Local Emergency Planning Committee, the National Response Center, the state Department of Environmental Quality and state police about the incident, Andrepont said.
About 200 gallons of gasoline was released, he said. He added that the amount was not a lot. “It really was a minor event,” he said.
Andrepont said the vacuum truck was operated by a Westlake contractor, but that he did not have the contractor’s name. He said the spill was cleaned up entirely before noon.
Pyrolysis gasoline, also known as pygas, is a naptha-range product used in gasoline blending and is a co-product in the production of ethylene, a primary Westlake Chemical product.
Pygas contains benzene, a hydrocarbon and a vital component of gasoline.
Rick Hickman
