HOUSTON — The
U.S. chemical industry is ready to implement emergency plans as it monitors
Hurricane Sandy, according to a report from ICIS.
“The
facilities are pretty prepared,” said Scott Jensen, a spokesman with the
American Chemistry Council (ACC). “They’ll put their plans in place as they get
a better understanding of where the storm is going to hit and how it will
impact them.”
Most
facilities were not expected to incur major structural damage and will be
operational within days, the ACC said.
“The storm
can cause cascading effects beyond being able to get the facility back online
such as transporting material in, getting the employees access and shipping the
products out,” Jensen said.
Staying informed
is key, he added, and the federal government has done a good job coordinating
with the ACC and directly communicating with the facilities.
The Chemistry
Council of New Jersey (CCNJ) said the Regional Operations Intelligence Center
was on alert, prepared for the state to communicate with the private sectors
about power, utilities, transportation and other operations.
“All of our
East coast operations continue to operate normally while we prepare our
facilities for the storm,” said Phillips 66, which operates a 238,000 bbl/day
refinery in Linden, N.J.
Braskem said
it was undergoing storm preparations at its 345,000 ton/year polypropylene
(PP) plant in Marcus Hook, Pa.
NOAA said the
said the large size of the system and its slow movement would cause “pretty
significant surge and widespread winds."
In 2011,
Irene paralleled the U.S. east coast, while Sandy may hit the coastline more
directly, Franklin said.
In addition,
NOAA is seeing at least three “blocking mechanisms” causing the storm to move
in a westerly direction. With the slow movement, the storm will last several
days, and the full moon will affect tides.