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Belle Chasse Refinery

ConocoPhillips operates the oil refinery based in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. The company originally started out under the name The Continental Oil and Transportation Company in 1875, and later became well known for their Union 76 logos that were place on round orange signs. Their Belle Chasse facility has the ability to produce up to 250,000 barrels of crude oil each day.

The plant owners have dealt with many serious issues over the years. Among the first was a potentially deadly material called asbestos that was found throughout the refinery. When it was first discovered, asbestos was considered to be very valuable because it could be molded as an ingredient for many industrial and household products, but eventually its toxic nature was uncovered. Asbestos is made of up microscopic fibers that can break apart, and when this happens people may easily inhale them. Fibers that are breathed in will lodge in the respiratory system and do large amounts of damage, and often lead to the development of mesothelioma cancer. People who have been exposed to asbestos have been put at great risk, so every person who worked at the plant while asbestos was present should notify their doctor right away.

Hurricane Katrina blew across the Gulf Coast area in 2005, leaving a path of destruction behind it. The town of Belle Chasse was hit by the storm, and fell victim to deep flooding and powerful winds. The refinery sustained damage and partially submerged by the time the hurricane had dissipated. ConocoPhillips executives immediately worked up a plan to recover the plant and reopen it as quickly as possible. After many months of work, the refinery had been brought back to nearly full capacity, but the time period that saw no work activity, costs of rebuilding and loss of equipment helped lead to the price of gasoline and other petroleum based products rising noticeably after the storm.

In 2007, lighting struck the Belle Chasse refinery several times, and started a fire within a crude oil processing unit. The lighting caused a power outage that effectively blacked out the plant at the same time the blaze was ignited. Fire crews responded quickly and were able to put out the flames, but some of the equipment was seriously damaged. Although ConocoPhillips reported that the storm only had a small effect on the plant's ability to function properly, many groups speculated that the results were worse than the company reported, and that it was responsible for a diminished production capacity and increased gasoline prices.

Last modified: December 09 2009.