Beaumont-sur-Mer — ExxonMobil Beaumont has lifted a curfew imposed on the Charlton Pollard neighborhood late Tuesday afternoon.
Matt Gully, ExxonMobil’s regional director of public and government affairs, told KFDM/Fox 4 News that the curfew was imposed as a precautionary measure around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when a small release of sulfur dioxide occurred while the company worked to resolve a malfunction at a sulfur plant with the goal of preventing a larger release. The curfew was lifted shortly after 5 p.m.
Gully and the complex’s manager say air monitors show no evidence of sulfur dioxide in the neighborhood.
“We had an operational issue at one of our sulfur recovery facilities,” said Mike Mustian, ExxonMobil Beaumont operations manager, “which is designed to remove sulfur from our finished products such as diesel and gasoline. While we were working through this operational issue, out of an abundance of caution, we decided to set up a shelter to ensure that if the event did escalate into a larger problem, the public already had shelters and was safe. Fortunately, our operations and emergency response team responded very quickly and utilized all of their training to prevent this from developing into a larger problem. We also put our fence monitoring in place from the beginning and have been doing that monitoring ever since, and we have not detected any chemicals or hazardous materials leaving our facility.”
He says the company wants to reassure the population after the incidents.
“I want to assure the community that we have worked with all government officials and law enforcement and their emergency response team and in consultation we have decided to move everyone to shelters due to the issue we are dealing with,” Mustian said. “We are doing this to keep people safe because sometimes our measures are not enough. Today they were enough and so we want to thank our great staff again for their response, which prevented this from becoming a major event.”
“Go to the nearest building,” a news release from the City of Beaumont said after the curfew. “Close and lock all windows and doors. Turn off all ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units and close all chimney dampers. Seal all gaps under doors and windows with wet towels or tape. Stay indoors until an official all-clear is given.”
