Related
Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel has been reporting every development — the start of hydrofluoric acid disposal, the completion of the process and, now, after three months of a 24/7 fire department presence, a declaration of control.
"We're here this morning to mark another milestone," Thiel said Tuesday. "We know enough about what's happening on the incident site, and we've confined the hazards to the immediate site of the incident."
However, Thiel says, that doesn't mean the incident is over.
"We are continuing to work closely with PES and their contractors and all the federal agencies that are involved," he said. "EPA still has a monitoring system on site. Our hazardous materials unit still has a monitoring system on site."
Thiel says there are only trace amounts of hazardous materials on the site, and five different air monitoring systems remain active around the site, all showing no release of hazardous materials. And the final disposal of the trace amounts of hydrofluoric acid are the responsibility of PES, which has declared bankruptcy.
Thiel says the fire department will bill PES for the expenses of the last three months. He says he hasn't calculated the total yet, "but it will be substantial."
The future of the refinery is yet to be determined. A meeting of the refinery advisory group is scheduled for Wednesday evening. Federal investigators are still looking into the cause of the explosion.