The Mexican energy giant Pemex failed to communicate with local authorities and first responders in the wake of the hydrogen sulfide leak at its refinery in Deer Park that left two contract workers dead and 35 others injured on Thursday night, said Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia during a Friday afternoon press conference. 

Pemex’s failure to communicate air monitoring information from the site in a timely manner delayed first responders, and Precinct 2 eventually had to send its own pollution control air monitoring team to provide real-time data about air quality.

“We didn’t have a [Pemex] spokesperson ready to share the necessary information,” Garcia told reporters in Spanish. “Secondly, when the firefighters, the police were responding, they didn’t have access to information about the chemicals.”

The regular spokesperson for the company was on vacation, said Garcia.

Pemex did not respond to the Landing’s requests for comment as of Friday afternoon.

Garcia also said that Pemex also failed to utilize the CAER industry emergency system, which is meant to alert the community about potentially dangerous events. Only Shell Deer Park submitted information into the system, but said it was not a Shell incident.  

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Fire Marshal’s Office are still investigating the deadly hydrogen sulfide leak that occurred Thursday at 4:40 p.m. at the Pemex refinery in Deer Park. The U.S. Chemical and Safety and Hazard Investigation Board also announced that it’ll be looking into the incident. The federal agency does not issue citations or fines but makes safety recommendations.

The Institute of Forensic Science removed the two bodies from the Pemex facility early Friday morning and some workers were transported for injuries to Baytown Hospital, according to HCSO. 

Of the 35 people injured during the incident, 13 are currently receiving care at the hospital, and their condition is stable, said Victor Rodriguez, CEO of Pemex, earlier on Friday. 

HCSO is still waiting for the levels of hydrogen sulfide to subside before entering the complex. 

Rodriguez said that the workers killed and impacted were not employees of Pemex but maintenance contractors. The company, also known as Petroleos Mexicanos, took over ownership of the Deer Park Refinery from the Shell Oil Company in January 2022. 

Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S , is a colorless, flammable, and toxic gas that is hazardous even in small amounts. It strongly smells of rotten eggs and can cause various health issues, from irritation to headaches to seizures. 

Workers may have opened a flange and released the gas while working on a line holding hydrogen sulfide, according to senior deputy Thomas Gilliland, public information officer of HCSO. 

A spokesperson for the Deer Park Police Department said the agency would not release any additional information until the sheriff’s office finished its investigation and Pemex released preliminary information on the disaster.

How is H2S involved in the refinery?

Hydrogen sulfide gas is found in petroleum and natural gas and is removed during the refining process. Oil or natural gas is considered “sour” if it has high concentrations of H2S and must be handled with utmost care at oil refineries due to its toxic, corrosive nature. 

Because of this, refineries have areas called Sulfur Recovery Units, which separate the H2S from the oil and convert it to sulfur, said Neil Carman, clean air director for the Sierra Club and retired regulator for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. 

“There should be warning signs, and employees are supposed to have monitors and training to deal with hydrogen sulfide,” Carman said. “Nobody should have been killed. Works should have full protective, respiratory equipment. Something must have gone terribly wrong.” 

All crude oil refineries have a system of 24/7 H2S air monitors set up inside the plant where the sour crude oil is piped into large storage tanks because it can leak fugitive H2S gas, said Carman. The monitors “beep” and signal when the gas reaches a certain level. Workers are warned outside and inside the refinery control rooms. 

Refineries are required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to add signage in English and Spanish throughout the plant to warn workers of the hazards of H2S. 

Levels of H2S above 500 parts per million can lead to immediate collapse and unconsciousness, according to OSHA. A single breath of H2S at 1000 ppm can cause cardiac arrest and death. Prolonged exposure at even 50 ppm can cause health impacts as well, including unconsciousness and death, and any exposure to H2S at or above 100 is considered immediately dangerous to life and health. 

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