By Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams Texas oil refineries released hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollutants including benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide into the air as they scrambled to shut down during last week's deadly winter storm, Reuters reported Sunday. Winter storm Uri, which killed dozens of people and cut off power to over four million
Four of the largest refineries in Texas are discovering widespread damage from the deep freeze that crippled the state and expect to be down for weeks of repairs, raising the potential for prolonged fuel shortages that could spread across the country. Exxon Mobil's Baytown and Beaumont plants, Marathon Petroleum's Galveston Bay refinery and Total's Port Arthur facility all face at least several weeks to resume normal operations, people familiar.
A rare winter storm knocked out nearly half the wind-power generating capacity of Texas and pushed temperatures in southeast Texas down into the teens, according to reports. These ice storms locked up wind turbine towers, driving driving electricity demand to record levels, the state’s grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) reported. Wind generation […]