Motiva Enterprises

Though the Port Arthur Refinery, owned by Motiva Enterprises, has begun to take steps in earnest to control its impact on the environment, the company was still the subject to an asbestos lawsuit brought by 22 former employees. A jury found the Port Arthur Refinery at fault and fined Motiva $35.2 million for causing their cases of asbestosis in 2001.

Also in 2001, Motiva Enterprises collectively reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to pay for assessments of toxic air emissions from the plant and to reduce their levels. The Port Arthur Refinery, included in the settlement, agreed to decrease its levels of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter by 60,000 tons annually. The installation of leak detectors per the settlement was designed to decrease carcinogenic compound releases of compounds such as benzene.

Leaks from the refinery still occur to this day, but immediate public notification limits their damage to those living nearby.

Early History

In 1903, two years after the discovery of the gusher well at Spindletop, Texas, the Port Arthur Refinery began operations under Texaco. Initially, the refinery focused on grease, asphalt and lube oil production. Gasoline production was added in the 1920s, and refining capacity increased each decade with the increasing need for oil and gas in the United States. By the 1980s, the Port Arthur Refinery reached its peak production levels of 4 million barrels per day refined.

The Port Arthur Refinery ran under the Texaco label until 1989, when Saudi Refining purchased 50 percent of the plant. Nine years later, in 1998, the current co-owners of the Port Arthur refinery - Texaco and Saudi Refining - joined with Shell Oil Co. to create Motiva Enterprises, LLC. Chevron purchased Texaco in 2001 and thus adopted its share of Motiva Enterprises, but by 2002, Chevron sold its share of Motiva Enterprises to Shell Oil, Co. The Port Arthur Refinery continues operations under Motiva Enterprises today.

Asbestos in Oil Refineries

If flame or extreme heat was a risk, asbestos was the insulator of choice for most of the 20th century. Therefore, it was usual for oil refineries like the Motiva Enterprises Port Arthur Refinery to be made with materials made with asbestos. One of the other properties of certain kinds of the fibrous mineral is that they resist chemicals. As a result, asbestos was used in counter tops, lab equipment and safety clothes. And while the asbestos served its purpose well in preventing fire damage and in protecting people and equipment from high temperatures, the mineral also exposed those same people to significant health risks.

Much of this asbestos was the form called amosite. Amosite is one of the amphibole forms of the asbestos family of minerals and is generally considered more apt to lead to disease than the serpentine form. This amosite, in the form of asbestos transite, was used in oil refineries, chemical plants and laboratories throughout the country for many years before it was outlawed for construction purposes in the 1970s.

Asbestos transite could be laminated, sprayed onto pipes and ductwork and molded into working surfaces just like cement could. As long as asbestos transite was solid, this form of asbestos offered little hazard. However, when asbestos-containing transite aged, it became prone to becoming powdery, which caused the lethal, microscopic particles to float into the air. Asbestos when it is in this condition is considered friable, a term that is used for material that is easy to crush. Laboratory and chemical plant ovens also almost always were constructed with friable asbestos in insulation linings.

The Dangers of Friable Asbestos

Friable asbestos is dangerous since in this condition the particles can be easily released in the environment. Medical conditions like asbestosis can result from the inhalation of asbestos. Another unusual, but often fatal, disease caused by asbestos is mesothelioma. The pleural variety of the disease, which attacks the tissue that lies between the lungs and the chest cavity, is the most common. When those airborne particles settle on food or in beverages and are subsequently swallowed, pericardial or peritoneal mesothelioma may occur, though they are rarer than pleural mesothelioma.

In the past few decades scientists and researchers have uncovered much information concerning the risks associated with asbestos exposure; therefore there are strict rules controlling its use. When facilities such as the Motiva Enterprises Port Arthur Refinery were built, however, the use of asbestos was more prevalent. And even now, asbestos from long ago may be the source of problems if it is released during demolition and remodeling jobs.

The Lurking Danger of Asbestos

Unlike typical job-related injuries, which are readily observed and known about soon after the causing incident, asbestos-related diseases may take ten, twenty, or even thirty years to manifest. The symptoms of asbestosis and mesothelioma - chronic coughing and shortness of breath (also known as dyspnea) - may easily be confused with the symptoms of other, less serious disorders. Those that were employed by or spent much time around oil refineries such as the Motiva Enterprises Port Arthur Refinery should, accordingly, ask their doctors for a mesothelioma treatment guide. New treatments for mesothelioma are being discovered, and early detection provides the patient the highest chance of beating the previously always-fatal disease. Early diagnosis is crucial as there is no mesothelioma cure, yet when caught early there is a chance the disease can be treated.

Sources

Justice.gov - Clean Air Agreements Reached with Petroleum Refiners
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2001/March/119enrd.htm

Motiva - Port Arthur Refinery
http://www.portarthurrefinery.com/go/doc/96/58620/

Monica Perin - Refinery workers win $35.2 million jury award in lawsuit over asbestos
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-71768794/refinery-workers-win-35.html

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) - Laboratories and Shops
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/ASB/acmimages3.html

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Disposal
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/HAZEXCEPTIONS/a.html