Valero says leak had no impact on environment, community

Release of sulfuric acid called rare

A week after sulfuric acid leaked into the Mississippi River from Valero’s St. Charles Refinery in Norco, officials say that there should be no impact on the environment or community whatsoever.

The leak was discovered coming from a dockside pipeline on Thursday, Sept. 30 and it spilled about 60 to 80 gallons of sulfuric acid into the river.

Refinery spokesman Ron Guillory said the leak was discovered around 4 p.m. and was probably leaking for less than three hours.

“It was a small leak over the course of a few hours…it was more of a drip,” Guillory said. “There was really nothing to clean up since it dripped into the river and it dilutes relatively quickly.”

Although the leak will not have any impacts on wildlife or drinking water, Guillory said it is a very rare occurrence.
“It’s not very common at all,” he said. “That pipeline is used to transfer sulfuric acid from a barge into the tank. At the point where the leak occurred, there wasn’t any transfer going on, the line wasn’t being used. But there’s always going to be some (residual) product in the line.”

The refinery uses the acid as a catalyst to extract gasoline from butane, according to Guillory.

One person was given first-aid for facial injuries after the discovery of the leak, but Guillory said it was not a serious injury.