The cause of the accident at Valero Texas City was a boiler failure. Valero spokesman Bill Day isn’t saying whether an explosion or a fire occurred, pending an investigation. Day said the fatality was the first at the refinery since Valero purchased the refinery from Basis Petroleum in 1997.
Texas City Emergency Management coordinator Bruce Clawson said that the explosion was never a threat to the community. There was no release of any dangerous chemicals, he said.
The refinery which covers 290 acres and employs about 480 people and is continuing operations. The refinery processes about 245,000 barrels of crude a day.
The San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. is North America’s largest independent petroleum refiner and marketer, the site said. Once the closure of the Valero Delaware refinery is complete, Valero will revert to being the second largest with ExxonMobil moving into first.
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