Another stinky refinery hiccup

Flames and plumes of black smoke spewed into the air from Shell Puget Sound Refinery on Friday due to a flare burning excess gases.

Some La Conner residents caught a short-lived whiff of something foul late Friday morning, although the prevailing winds were said to be blowing the fumes away from populated areas.

This is not the first time that fumes from the refinery have reached the La Conner area. In February the refinery produced a strong odor that blanketed the town for several hours, prompting some residents to leave and stay with family or in hotels. Some people with respiratory problems had to visit hospital emergency rooms.

During Friday’s incident, both Shell and the Northwest Clean Air Agency monitored the air for pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and particulate and found the air quality to be within the range of “good” quality.

Shell’s Community and Social Performance Coordinator Jody Ayon said that the incident was caused when a steam-generating unit shut down. The units began coming on again in the afternoon.

“The health and safety of the community and our people are of the utmost importance in everything we do,” said refinery spokesperson Cory Ertel in a statement on Shell’s website. “We are very grateful to our employees, who responded quickly and comprehensively to this issue. There is still some work to do from an operations perspective, but there should be no impact to the community.”

Ertel encourages residents with any concerns to call the refinery’s hotline at 360-293-1797.