Employees at BP refinery in Whiting evacuated after power outage
WHITING, Ind. - Employees at the Whiting BP refinery were temporarily evacuated due to an ongoing power outage.
The city announced the outage Thursday afternoon and said as a result, more oil is being burned, leading to "more flaring of the stacks."
"If you would’ve been out here right at noon, you would’ve thought the world ended," said Dennis Betustak, who lives across the street from the refinery and saw thick black smoke.
Officials say the flaring is a "safety release" to burn off the extra oil and is normal.
"When that happens, the pressure has to come down. That pressure is relieved to the flares," said BP’s Director of Health, Safety and Environment Rudy Gallegos. "The flare is the safe location to relieve it well above the ground. It may look large, but it’s doing what it’s supposed to do."
An estimated 500 – 1,000 employees at BP were evacuated from the Glass House, on Indianapolis Boulevard and 129th Street, out of precaution from the outage.
As of around 4 p.m., the evacuation was lifted.
The area is closed to all traffic and drivers are urged to use Calumet Avenue in the meantime. There is no immediate danger to the public.
"You get a little bit used to and you are just putting your trust in everybody and everything that they got it all handled," said Brittany Perez.
BP officials say they expect power to be completely restored and all roads reopened by 10 p.m.
The Lake County HAZMAT response team is assisting at the scene to do "atmospheric testing." They are joined by multiple fire departments and BP's emergency response team.
NIPSCO has issued a statement and said its facilities are not associated with today's power outage at the refinery.
"NIPSCO’s electric system is not associated with today’s event at the BP facility in Whiting, Ind. BP maintains its own infrastructure to support the electric needs of its facilities. NIPSCO’s electric system was not interrupted during this event and is continuing to perform normally," the company says.
We'll bring more updates as they become available.