Mobile Refinery
Gulf Atlantic Refining & Marketing owns and operates the oil refinery in Mobile, Alabama. The plant produces 16,700 barrels of crude oil per day. Gulf Oil was originally formed in 1901 and currently operates as part of the Chevron corporation.
Following the tremendous destruction from Hurricane Ike, the refinery in Mobile had to deal with the possibility of destroyed equipment and a temporary halt in production. These factors, along with concerns that the supply of oil within the Gulf Coast region may have been damaged, have led to the price of gasoline in the Mobile area rising dramatically. Within two hours of the hurricane, prices had gone up by eight cents a gallon, and it has continued to gradually increase. The rising price has caused many people to purchase as much gasoline as possible before costs can go up even further, but many experts warn that this practice could have a negative impact that would actually cause the price of gasoline to shoot up at an even faster rate.
The refinery in Mobile has had a history of safe operation throughout the years, but there was one major health related problem that plagued the facility. This came in the form of a once popular construction material known as asbestos. Many years ago, asbestos was used in a wide array of products that were found in industrial work sites like oil refineries. They were popular because they had the ability to hold together under the great heat that is regularly produced inside these plants. However, it was later discovered that tiny particles of the asbestos that was used in these products could easily be blown into the atmosphere, and once that happened they could be unknowingly inhaled by anyone. People who inadvertently breathed in the free floating asbestos fibers have been put at great risk. Asbestos is now known to have the ability to remain inside a human body for many years, where it can do large amounts of damage to the respiratory system. This damage may take a long time to be noticed, and symptoms may develop slowly over several years. Exposure to asbestos can also lead to potentially deadly forms of cancer such as Mesothelioma. Because of the long term duration of asbestos within the respiratory system, any person who worked at the Mobile refinery while these products were in use is urged to notify their doctor and schedule an appointment for a complete check up right away.
Last modified: December 09, 2009.
