MOSCOW (MRC) -- At least two people are dead and six others are injured after a chemical leak at LyondellBasell's Texas facility on Tuesday, reported FoxNews with reference to officials' statement.
Emergency officials responded to a "mass casualty" incident at the LyondellBasell complex in La Porte, just after 7:30 p.m., according to the Harris County Fire Marshal.
LyondellBasell said in a statement that its complex experienced an acetic acid leak, which occurred within its acetyls unit area that had been shut down earlier in the day for planned maintenance.
"The leak is stopped and clean-up is in progress," LyondellBasell said. "Air monitoring continues to demonstrate no levels of concern for the community. All appropriate regulatory agencies have been notified."
LyondellBasell said two contractors were killed. Among the injured were five contractors and a LyondellBasell employee, who were transported to local hospitals for treatment, the chemical industry company said.
An investigation is underway into the cause of this incident, the company stated.
As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBassel's La Porte, Texas, cracker was heard to be offline again after a short-lived restart, reported S&P Global with reference to sources familiar with operations' statement on July 23. The cracker had been confirmed as back online July 20, but, according to one market source, it was shut again not long after.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC