MOSCOW (MRC) -- Limetree Bay said air quality testing near its US Virgin Islands refinery found zero concentrations of sulfur dioxide, hours after the National Guard said it found elevated levels of the chemical during its own testing, reported Reuters.
Schools in St. Croix shut for the second time in a month last week after residents smelled an odor, and many reported physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea and burning eyes. Three residents sought medical attention at the local hospital, according to a government health official.
"This air monitoring detected zero concentration of hydrogen sulfide, zero concentration of sulfur dioxide and zero concentration of hydrocarbons," Limetree said Sunday, adding that the results were shared with the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.
Industrial hygiene specialists conducted air monitoring beginning Friday through Saturday evening at five locations to the west and northwest of the refinery, Limetree said on Sunday in a statement to Reuters.
The civil support team said Saturday that its preliminary readings from Friday afternoon into Saturday morning found elevated quantities of sulfur dioxide in the air near the refinery, but "readings conducted outside the other facilities Saturday did not provide any elevated readings of harmful chemical constituents."
Maintenance on one of the refinery's units, a coker unit that upgrades residue from refining, was causing "light hydrocarbon odors", a Limetree spokesperson said last week.
As MRC wrote earlier, in late March 2021, EPA said it had revoked an expansion permit for the Limetree Bay oil refinery in the US Virgin Islands, citing concerns that the area around the facility is overburdened with pollution. The decision allowed the plant to keep operating but blocked ongoing expansion work pending an EPA review to assess measures the facility needs to take to protect nearby residents.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
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