Shell Deer Park response to ITC incident

As a member of Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA), Shell Deer Park’s Emergency Response crew provided support to ITC through CIMA from March 17 to March 20 includingaround the clock personnel, and firefighting equipment and drone support. Our Emergency Response teams drill throughout the year to stay ready to respond in the event of an incident.

As always our top priority is operating in a safe and environmentally sound manner, and the safety of our employees and community is paramount. Throughout the event, we have had ongoing air monitoring and our team of responders continue to monitor air quality on our site to ensure the safety of those at work.

Due to changing wind conditions on March 20, Shell Deer Park detected low levels of benzene in two zones on our east fence line of the facility. Shell has global standards for permissible exposure limits; where Shell’s permissible exposure limits differ from OSHA exposure limits, Shell follows the more stringent criteria. In this case, the chemical readings we saw were at or below the OSHA permissible exposure limits but above Shell standards, resulting in a shelter in place for those zones around 11 a.m.

As of 2:15 p.m. on March 20, Shell Deer Park lifted the shelter in place after multiple rounds of air monitoring over the 3 hours all showed non-detect. Shell will continue to monitor air quality throughout the site and take appropriate actions to ensure the safety of those working at our facility. As always, we will connect with our local officials to share our status.

On behalf of all employees at site, I’d like to offer our thanks to the emergency responders who’ve worked to maintain our safety this week; we are proud to stand beside them as members of team Deer Park.

Be safe,

Greg Willms
VP, Shell Deer Park