Ivan Pounds Gulf, Shutters Plants

NATURAL DISASTER

Hurricane Ivan shut down a broad swath of the chemical industry from Sept. 15 to 16 on the Gulf Coast east of New Orleans and extending to Pensacola, Fla.

Coastal Alabama and the large chemical industry in Mobile were directly in Ivan's projected path. At its large complex there that makes specialty chemicals such as silicon derivatives, Degussa prepared for the storm by sending nonessential employees home by Tuesday and by shutting down all chemical production and securing equipment before Wednesday. A skeleton crew remained on-site to ride out the storm on Wednesday night.

However, the storm veered east of the area, making landfall near Gulf Shores, Ala., with 130-mph winds. After a preliminary investigation, Degussa employees found no damage to the plant more serious than felled trees and torn shingles. "So far, so good," spokeswoman Penny Roman says.

Solutia was unable to reach officials at its nylon chemical complex in Pensacola, Fla., close to Ivan's center, and a damage assessment at the unit had not been done by C&EN's press time.

DuPont shut down its crop protection products plant near Mobile; its De Lisle, Miss., titanium dioxide plant; and its First Chemical unit in Pascagoula, Miss.

A DuPont spokesman says the preparations at chemical plants aren't all that different from what people do in their homes. "Like people do in their own backyards, you secure debris to keep it from becoming projectiles," he says.

Further west in Louisiana, the storm was not as intense, but chemical production was impacted nevertheless. BASF says output at its Geismar, La., integrated chemical complex was slowed by 5 to 10%, not because of the direct effects of the storm but because port facilities in New Orleans were shuttered.

Dow Chemical declared force majeure on propylene oxide and propylene glycol made at its Plaquemine, La., plant because of the logistics in the region. "As rail, truck, and marine carriers suspended their activities and shut down multiple yards, interchanges, and routes to avoid traffic congestion and storm damage, Dow has been unable to transport any PO, PG, or derivatives," says Antulio Borneo, commercial director for Dow's oxides and glycols business.

Shell Chemicals had two storms to contend with last week. Because of Hurricane Ivan, the company shut down production in Norco, La., and planned to start it back up on Thursday. Shell's Geismar unit was undamaged by Ivan, the company says, and was operating normally after the storm. The company also idled its feedstock refinery in Puerto Rico, where tropical storm Jeanne hit on Sept. 15.