Power Outage Causes Massive Flare Up At BP
The City of Whiting has been notified of a power outage at the BP Whiting Refinery property which has affected power to the Refinery, according to a press release from Whiting.
As a result of this power outage, additional product is being burned which will cause additional flaring of the stacks. This flaring is a safety release to burn off the extra product and is a normal process during an event. BP is working to resolve the power outage as quickly as possible.
BP is in the process of safely shutting down the refinery after a suspected power outage, according to a BP Spokeswoman. “We have activated our emergency response team and evacuated refinery office buildings out of an abundance of caution.” Local fire departments are assisting with the evacuation by closing nearby roads. “The safety of refinery staff and the community are our highest priority,” BP said.
Out of an abundance of caution, BP has also evacuated the employees from the Glass House located on Indianapolis Boulevard and 129th Street. No further evacuation is required.
Indianapolis Boulevard from 129th to Schrage will be closed to all traffic. Please use Calumet Avenue to travel North or South.
IDEM is on site.
Update as of 3 PM- Dozens of smoke odor & gas leak calls are currently coming in across Lake County and Cook County. This is a direct impact from the BP flare up. Currently Munster, Hammond, East Chicago and Highland are in direct path of this heavy smoke.
