Marie
Breakiron
F.O.R. San Bernard
Board Member/Secretary
*Secretary/ San Bernard River Foundation
Petroleum Coke is a solid, coal-like petroleum
product used in the cement, power generation and
steel industries. The product is thought to be
non-hazardous by OSHA, but its dust can cause
respiratory irritation and it could easily blow
into the air if not kept moist.
The San
Bernard River Coke Range War of 1999- PART I
Marie
Breakiron
Range Wars
of the old west were usually fought over land or
water rights and often ended with somebody be ‘n
“strung up”. Unlike many of the long, violent,
range wars of the legendary Old West, the San
Bernard River Coke Range War of 1999 was short,
non violent, and settled—not with a six shooter
or a rope—but with a hand shake. Many wouldn’t
even call it a war at all, “just a neighborly
disagreement”.
Phillips Petroleum company (Phillips), an
industrial complex in Sweeny, Texas, had been
barging product down the San Bernard River (SBR)
to the intercoastal waterway for over ˝ century
and was recognized as an environmentally
responsible good neighbor. Phillips was a major
employer in the area—a respected corporate
leader. Phillips and private river dwellers
shared equally the SBR navigation rights.
The prudent recreational River dweller respected
the slow moving barges. Because of the extended
distance required for the barges to come to a
halt, they had the potential of “barging” into
anything that broke the rules and accidentally
or intentionally got in their way. Children
loved the tug-powered barges and often jumped up
and down along the riverbanks to signal the
tugboat captains to sound their blaring warning
horns. During the Christmas season, one special
tug would be covered completely in bright
Christmas lights and its beautiful Christmas
music could be heard for miles along the River
as it pushed its empty barge to the Phillips
loading terminal.
In 1999, the Phillips Petroleum Complex Facility
in Sweeny, Texas announced plans to build a
58,000-barrel a day *Coker Unit at its Sweeny
Facility. The Coker Unit Project would mean
additional local jobs and increased economic
growth. The project would include construction
of an overland conveyor system [4.6 miles long
and approximately 25 feet in the air] from the
Sweeny Phillips plant to its SBR barge loading
dock. Barge traffic, carrying the projected
4,000 tons of *petroleum coke product per day,
would increase from approximately 480 single SBR
barge trips a year to about 2, 670 barge trips a
year.
Some local concerned citizens were upset with
the Phillips’ coke conveyor and barging plans.
Like the sheepherders and the cattle ranchers
over a hundred years ago, Phillips and the
concerned citizens were headed for a
showdown......enter: Ralph Primeau.
To be continued Monday 2/11
RAW COKE
Disclaimer: The Phillips
Petroleum data included in this
document were taken entirely from
archived local newspaper articles.
All other accounts of the event are
based solely on the author’s first
hand knowledge, the author’s
personal opinion, and the author’s
interviews with Arlene Primeau.
*Definitions:
Petroleum Coke is a solid,
coal-like petroleum product used in
the cement, power generation and
steel industries. The product is
thought to be non-hazardous by OSHA,
but its dust can cause respiratory
irritation and it could easily blow
into the air if not kept moist.
The Coker Unit uses a thermal
process to remove heavy materials
from crude oil and turns them into
petroleum coke, a substitute for
coal in power generation and steel
industries.
The Coker Project included
construction of a 4.6-mile overland
conveyor system and barge loading
dock on the San Bernard River. The
conveyor would begin in the Sweeny,
Texas refinery and travel overland
(approx. 25 ft in the air) to a
barge loading facility on the San
Bernard River.
Raw Coke photo courtesy
Wikipedia
~Marie Breakiron 2008
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