Texas refinery outages bring orders to stay inside [View All]

[sonias]

AP via Google News 4/26/11
Texas refinery outages bring orders to stay inside

TEXAS CITY, Texas (AP) — Schools canceled classes and residents were urged to stay inside Tuesday after power outages shut down three Houston-area refineries, including BP unit where a 2005 explosion killed 15 people, and a Dow Chemical plant.

Emergency officials were working to determine what caused the Texas City outages, which a spokeswoman for Texas New Mexico Power company said involved a "customer-owned equipment problem."

Utility spokeswoman Cathy Garber said the company provides power to the affected plants but was not the source of the outages. Garber said four "events" affected transmission lines Monday night, but said she did not have details.

Texas City's emergency sirens sounded and residents were advised to stay indoors as a precaution after the BP refinery and Dow plant lost power about 11 p.m. Monday, Texas City Homeland Security coordinator Bruce Clawson said. Valero and Marathon Oil refineries lost power nearly six hours later.

Officials said there were no immediate reports of hazardous emissions.

Crazy. Things are just getting crazier by the day.