(Bloomberg) -- Two people are dead and 35 are injured after a chemical release at a Houston area refinery owned by Mexico’s state oil company.
The Deer Park plant halted some operations after the hydrogen sulfide leak late yesterday, according to a statement from Petroleos Mexicanos. The workers who died were contract staff and not Pemex employees, Chief Executive Officer Victor Rodriguez Padilla said in a press conference Friday.
“We were not able to recover the bodies until dawn due to the area remaining contaminated for a few hours,” Padilla said.
Hydrogen sulfide is an extremely flammable, poisonous gas known for its rotten-egg odor. Exposure to high levels can quickly lead to death, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The state-owned company has come under scrutiny in recent years for its poor safety record, including a 2021 offshore platform accident that killed five, and numerous fires at its network of oil refineries. Pemex in 2022 acquired the Deer Park plant, which had been a joint venture between the state oil company and Shell Plc.
The leak occurred at an amine recovery unit, according to a person familiar with the matter. Amine is a chemical compound used as a purifying agent to strip acidic gases like hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from hydrocarbon streams.
The refinery shut at least three units following the leak, Padilla said. Among them were a coker that processes residual oil and a hydrotreater that removes sulfur from refined products.
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said in a statement that it’s launching an investigation into the incident.
--With assistance from Christopher Charleston, Maya Averbuch and Guillermo Molero.
(Adds details on leak and CSB investigation in final paragraphs)
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