PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS –
SAUDI ARABIAN OIL REFINERY
DEMOCRACY NOW
SEPTEMBER 26, 2017
AMY GOODMAN: What are you facing in Port Arthur?
HILTON KELLEY: Well, what we're facing in Port Arthur, Texas, number one, is mass evacuations of our renters. We're also facing Superfund sites. We're also facing—
AMY GOODMAN: Explain what Superfund sites are.
HILTON KELLEY: Well, a Superfund site is an area that's been deemed uninhabitable due to contamination of some type of toxin. And most of the time in our area, it's petroleum waste or petroleum material that has been discarded in some shape, form or fashion, and it has rendered the land uninhabitable.
AMY GOODMAN: Keep going. What else?
HILTON KELLEY: And so, with that being said, many of our people are being displaced. I mean, there's a lot of danger when you live in a situation like this. And also, we're dealing with a situation with our elderly, in our community and in other communities around Port Arthur, Texas, where many people's homes that were flooded, these folks were right at their 30-year mortgage payment, where they was about to be done with that. And now they're having to start over because FEMA is offering them a loan instead of some kind of grant opportunity. And basically, most of the people in Port Arthur has been abandoned by FEMA. The Red Cross has reached its limit. And many people were in lines trying to get their $400 check, and now that's gone. I mean, I've gotten thousands of phone calls and emails saying that "We need help now," to this day. And the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is just starting to show its ugly head.
AMY GOODMAN: How many Superfund sites, how many refineries are there in Port Arthur?
HILTON KELLEY: Well, I think we have somewhere around 15 to 16 Superfund sites in Port Arthur. And Port Arthur is—
AMY GOODMAN: These are toxic sites.
HILTON KELLEY: These are toxic sites, land that you cannot build on anymore, and even some waterfronts.
AMY GOODMAN: That flooded.
HILTON KELLEY: Yes. And so, when you have a Superfund site that's already contaminated, and then it's exacerbated by a hurricane, what you have is debris or material that may spill into the communities and get into the floodwaters. And as you walk through those floodwaters, of course, you're being contaminated with petroleum products, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain what happened in Valero. I mean, we were showing your own video of what took place there.
HILTON KELLEY: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: And what is Valero?
HILTON KELLEY: Well, Valero is an oil refinery located right in the historic African-American community. And what happened that particular day, from my understanding, is that there was some kind of a spark that ignited this fuel storage tank. It's what you're watching burning. And the fuel storage tank exploded. I mean, when it exploded, it rattled windows for about a mile. My brother lives within a quarter of a mile from that facility, and he called me immediately. He said, "Man, I believe one of the plants just exploded." And so I rushed to the scene, and, of course, I pulled out my camera and started to film and take photos of the incident.
But yet, this is—a storage tank exploding is somewhat uncommon in our area, but there are constant emissions due to shutdowns and startup emissions, and also due to incidents that take place whenever they lose power. We see a lot of black smoke. We see fire at night, all through the night sometimes, 14-hour burns, or two- or three-day burns at the Motiva plant. Or if it's not the Motiva plant, it's the Chevron chemical.
AMY GOODMAN: This is the largest plant in the United States?
HILTON KELLEY: Yes, Motiva oil refinery is the largest oil refinery in the Northern Hemisphere. These guys put out 625,000 barrels of oil per day. So, on any given day, we're going to get our daily dose of sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid, 1,3-butadiene, which is a known carcinogen. And we have a disproportionate number of people in Port Arthur that are suffering with cancer, that are suffering with respiratory issues.
AMY GOODMAN: This is plant run by Saudi Arabia?
HILTON KELLEY: Yes, this is 100 percent Saudi-owned. And we want to encourage the Saudi prince, the Saudi to come to Port Arthur and visit with the people that are living on that fenceline, that are living at or below the poverty line, and answer the question: Why aren't they doing more to assist this community in its time of need? And why aren't they doing more to assist the people any time in that particular community that have to bear the brunt of them making billions of dollars annually?
See the rest of this interview at -
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/9/26/fenceline_communities_on_gulf_coast_face
See the rest of this interview at -
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/9/26/fenceline_communities_on_gulf_coast_face
