Shell Reports Emissions at Deer Park, Texas, Plant

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA RDSB) reported emissions from its Deer Park, Texas, refinery and chemical facility following a leak of benzene.

In a statement to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Shell said the emissions event happened Wednesday over a four-hour period. The cause, it said, was rooted in an Oct. 10 incident in which "a flange leak occurred at the Phenol 2 unit."

The refinery said the flange leak is ongoing, and the material released is benzene, which is a component of crude oil that has carcinogenic properties.

"Currently [the] area has been barricaded and the flange has been tightened to mitigate the emissions," Shell said.

Deer Park is located along the Houston Ship Channel, 20 miles east of downtown Houston. The facility includes a 326,000-barrel-a-day refinery.

Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2017 08:32 ET (12:32 GMT)