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Chalmette Refinery

The refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana is run by ExxonMobil and has the ability to produce up to 193,000 barrels of crude oil each day. A large amount of construction was done at the plant in the early 1990's to greatly increase the size of the facility as well as the amount of oil that could be refined, stored and shipped out.

2005 was a difficult time for the Chalmette refinery. As the year began, ExxonMobil was under attack from environmental groups that claimed the company broke the regulations stipulated by the Clean Air Act. The company was taken to court, and found guilty of these violations. A comment from the judge ruling over the case stated that he believed ExxonMobil would continue to ignore the Clean Air Act, and that he felt it was necessary to take action to avoid this. The final ruling claimed that ExxonMobil is considered at fault for releasing toxic emissions and that the company would be held responsible for what they had done. It was decided that the emissions could easily have been prevented, but that the refinery owners did nothing to prevent them. The pollutants that were released from the plant were highly toxic, and could cause cancer and other diseases for local residents. ExxonMobil was hit with fines and forced to make massive upgrades to prevent further hazardous emissions.

Later that year, one of the worst storms hit the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of Chalmette and left a good portion of the city under water. Buildings were blown over by massive winds, and many were considered to be beyond repair. The future of the oil refinery was in question, as survey teams investigated to determine whether or not it was even worth an attempt to save the plant. Finally, the decision was made to rebuild and bring the refinery back to life and up to code. It took until early 2008 for most businesses and industries to reopen in Chalmette, but the city is slowly growing and developing once again.

These troublesome times were not the only difficulties that hit the refinery in Chalmette. Earlier in its history, the facility was home to many industrial products that contained a naturally occurring material called asbestos. This was not unusual, almost every refinery across the globe had asbestos on site, but studies later determined that it is a hazardous material. Asbestos is made up of tiny fibers, and these fibers will break free and drift in the air as the products they are in start to fall apart after long term use. The fibers can not be seen by the human eye, so people were able to inhale them without ever knowing it. Once the asbestos fibers have been inhaled, they are able to corrode the host's respiratory system and develop into a disease called mesothelioma, which can be fatal. People may slowly develop these health issues over several years before any signs become noticeable, so anyone who worked at a location that utilized products containing asbestos should notify their healthcare provider immediately.

Last modified: December 09 2009.