Probe into Valero refinery Inferno begins

The inferno at Valero Energy Corp.'s Sunray, Texas refinery triggered by an explosion sent a huge black cloud bulging into the sky.

The fire did not turn out to be lethal and all employees at the Valero Energy Corp. were safe. The company claimed that the fire started at the refinery's “propane de-asphalting unit,'' where fuel is processed at high temperatures.

Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio, Texas. It has approximately 22,000 employees on its rolls and generates annual revenue of more than $80 billion. The company owns and operates 17 refineries throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.3 million barrels per day.

Valero, the largest refiner in North America, operates 17 refineries, 16 in North America and one in Aruba.

Paul Jenkins, fire chief in the nearby community of Dumas, said Valero's fire brigade was combating the conflagration. Flames could be seen from 60 miles away. The refinery was shut down after the blast, as were pipelines in and out of the facility.

The city of Dumas, 12 miles south of the refinery, had its guests (workers) coming in from Valero refineries in Texas and Oklahoma to assess the damage and plan for repairs.

The influx has resulted in paucity of rooms. A clerk at one of the motels explained, “Valero went boom. All these people are coming to town because of it."

Investigators for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, who headed for Texas, will focus their investigation on the explosion at the Sunray refinery.

CSB spokesman Daniel Horowitz said that it was premature to contemplate expanding the investigation to include three other fires this year at Valero refineries in Texas City.

“I think the fact that the other fires have occurred was a factor in deciding to go start look at this one,” he added.