Most of a highly toxic chemical stored at a fire-damaged Philadelphia oil refinery has been rendered inert, clearing the way for closer inspections of the site following a June blaze that led to the plant’s closure, Reuters reported. About 340,000 pounds of hydrofluoric acid (HF) stored at Philadelphia Energy Solutions’ refinery was chemically neutralized, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said. HF can burn the skin and form a potentially deadly fog at room temperature. The process “substantially reduces the risk to the community,” Thiel said, noting some HF acid still remained at the site. Initial phases of the fire probes, including data gathering, have largely been completed, Thiel said. HF is used by more than one-third of U.S. refineries in the alkylation process to make high-octane gasoline. PES’s alkylation unit was destroyed in a fire and series of blasts on June 21 just minutes after the chemical was dumped into a safety vessel. The HF in that vessel has been neutralized, Thiel said. Since the fire, PES has closed the refinery complex, which was the largest and oldest on the East Coast, and filed for chapter 11 protection. Most of the roughly 1,100 PES workers have been laid off without health benefits, including 640 union employees. PES on Thursday asked the bankruptcy judge to hire investigations and crisis management attorneys to advise the company on the seven federal, state and local investigations into the cause of the June blasts, court documents show.
