GARYVILLE, La. (WGNO) — It was a scary morning for residents in Garyvill near the Maraton Refinery, where there was an explosion at the plant on Monday, February 21.
The incident was confirmed by the St. John Emergency Management Office just before 10 a.m.
Authorities with the St. John Sheriff’s Office say no deaths were reported in the incident, however, one person was injured.
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WGNO spoke to neighbors of the facility to gauge their reactions. Norco resident Ryan Brewer recalls his experience of the explosion:
“I was standing in the kitchen, just making breakfast. It was kind of weird because at the same time I closed my refrigerator door, our house shook pretty violently. Living around here, we’re used to things like this happening. It was violent so we didn’t think it was a transformer or anything. So the house shook and we went outside, assuming it was one of the plants right here in Norco and a few minutes later I check Facebook and found out it wasn’t.”
Louisiana State Police temporarily closed down Airline Highway between LA 54 and West 10th Street. The road has since reopened near Marathon.
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The refinery issued a statement regarding the explosion on Monday morning:
Marathon Petroleum is responding to a fire at its Garyville, Louisiana, refinery that began at approximately 9:30 a.m. Central Time. All employees and contract workers have been accounted for. One contract worker sustained an injury and is currently being evaluated at a local healthcare facility as a precaution. Air monitoring has been deployed in the community, and local emergency responders have been notified. The safety of responders, employees, contractors, and the community is our top priority as we work to extinguish the fire.
Adra Lee works across the street from the Marathon Refinery and is all shook up after the explosion.
“It was just a big, old boom. Like the world shook, the earth shook. Then I looked up and saw a big ball of fire. I almost fell down, but I balanced myself enough to stand up, but when I looked over to see what it was and I ran,” she said.
Adra’s relieved now knowing that everything is under control at the Marathon Refinery.
“There are no fatalities or injuries except a minor injury to a contract worker, who is being treated at a local facility,” Jaclyn Hotard, St. John Parish President said.
Hotard said there are no off-site impacts to the community, but they are monitoring the air quality.
“There is also air monitoring being conducted to determine the impacts to the community, we stand by the work with Marathon to see this through,” Hotard said.
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As for Adra, she says she can smell something in the air.
“It is a horrible smell. It is bad. We don’t know what it consists of, is it harmful to us,” she said.
Operations at the Marathon Refinery are back to normal. Workers were able to go about their normal workday.
Early this morning traffic was being diverted on Airline Highway from LA 54 to W. 10th Street.
This is a developing story. WGNO will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.
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Categories: Local, Louisiana, News, St. John the Baptist Parish, Video
Tags: explosion, garyville, Louisiana, refinery, Reserve
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