Mile 140.5 - LBD Marathon Garyville Refinery, Pinnacle Polymers, and Air products and Chemicals

140.5 LBD Marathon Garyville Refinery, Pinnacle Polymers, and Air products and Chemicals

Construction began in 1973 by ECOL, Ltd. and was completed in 1976, when Marathon purchased and started up the plant. Marathon is located on 3,500 acres of former San Francisco Plantation property. Marathon is the third largest U.S. refinery with 522,000 barrels per calendar day. The refinery uses the following processes: crude distillation, hydrocracking, catalytic cracking, hydrotreating, reforming, alkylation, isomerization, sulfur recovery and coking. Producing: gasoline, petroleum distillates, fuel-grade coke, polymer-grade propylene, asphalt, propane, slurry and sulfur. In 2013 Marathon Garyville Refinery toxic releases were 664,053 pounds into the air, and 9,601pounds into the river.

Pinnacle Polymers has a plant on the far side (from the river) of the Marathon refinery. Pinnacle Polymers produces polypropylene plastics for fiber and solid materials and can produce in excess of one billion pounds of polypropylene per year. In 2013 Pinnacle Polymers toxic releases were 106,216 pounds into the air.

Air Products and Chemicals has a small plant in the Marathon complex behind the Cargill grain elevator. The plant produces hydrogen from methane (natural gas) which it supplies to the Marathon refinery as well as feeds into Air Products extensive Louisiana Hydrogen Pipeline Network. The plant produces 120,000,000 standard cubic feet of hydrogen per day. In 2013 Air products and Chemicals toxic releases were 37,970 pounds into the air. (Paul Orr)