BIG SPRING, Texas -- Alon USA Energy Inc. said it will be able to honor all of its supply contract following an explosion yesterday that completely shut down its Big Spring, Texas, refinery . Four people were injured on Monday in the explosion and fire at the 67,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) facility, said Reuters.
"There were no life-threatening injuries," Big Spring Mayor Russ McEwen said at a news conference near the refinery.
The company will be able to honor its supply contracts, spokesperson Blake Lewis told the news agency.
McEwen said company officials told him the fire, [image-nocss] which began around 8:00 a.m. CST, was brought under control by 11:00 a.m., although smoke still poured from the scene, 290 miles west of Dallas. Interstate 20 was closed in the area.
"They feel very comfortable that they are getting everything under control They are making sure hazardous materials are segregated," McEwen said.
Howard County Judge Mark Barr, administrative chief of the county, cautioned that the fire was not out. "It's probably going to take some time to get it out," he said.
The cause was not immediately determined, McEwen said. "They'll have to reconstruct and figure out what happened. They do not know what happened," he said.
Residents near the refinery said their houses a mile away shook when the blast occurred. "To me, it's a miracle" that more people were not injured, Laura McEwen, the mayor's wife, told Reuters. "We live a mile to a mile-and-a-half away and our house shook."
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