Exxonmobil Refineries Damaged By Harvey Release Hazardous Pollutants

By By Steven Mufson The Washington Post ExxonMobil acknowledged Tuesday that Hurricane Harvey damaged two of its refineries, prompting the release of hazardous pollutants. The acknowledgement, in a regulatory filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, follows repeated complaints on Twitter of an "unbearable" chemical smell over parts of Houston. However, it was not immediately clear what caused the smell. The company said in the filings that a floating roof covering a tank at ExxonMobil's Baytown oil refinery sank in heavy rains, dipping below the surface of oil or other material stored there and causing unusually high emissions, especially of volatile organic compounds, a category of regulated chemicals. The Baytown refinery is the second largest in the country.