U.S. refiner PBF Energy reported a power failure and plant shutdown at its Delaware City, Delaware, refinery on Saturday as a massive blizzard hit the U.S. East Coast, according to a filing with state regulators.
PBF said the refinery had released hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia and sulfur dioxide "due to a plant shutdown as the result of a power failure," according to the filing with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
The filing did not say whether the outage had affected the entire 190,000 barrel per day refinery or only parts of it.
The company did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
East Coast refiners had planned to bring in extra staff and to help apply steam to pipes and gauges to prevent freezing as the snowstorm descends on the region, the first real test of their resilience following a wave of glitches that knocked out some 40 percent of their capacity a year ago.
Although most refineries, particularly those in northern climes, are designed to operate throughout the winter season, increasingly extreme weather conditions have tested them.
Additional refinery glitches could bolster regional fuel prices, which have fallen alongside crude oil this year due in part to record high seasonal stockpiles of diesel and gasoline.
The winter storm dumped nearly two feet of snow on the suburbs of Washington, D.C., overnight and then unexpectedly gathered strength as it slammed into the New York metropolitan area, with predictions of up to 30 inches by Sunday.
Tides higher than those caused by Superstorm Sandy three years ago caused major flooding along the Jersey Shore and Delaware coast, setting records in Cape May, New Jersey, and Lewes, Delaware, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick O'Hara.
Power outages, however, appeared rare, with fewer than 1,000 of Delmarva Power's customers affected, according to its website.
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