The cause of the odor Sunday night was an organic sulfur material widely used to odorize natural gas because of its distinctive unpleasant smell.
Air monitoring measurements confirm no health risk to surrounding communities.
This vapor released happened while Lubrizol teams were preparing a rail car for unloading on-site. This included safely heating the rail car to prepare the materials for transfer. We are investigating why the material began to break down, resulting in an offsite odor release. Our response team immediately began treating the railcar to minimize the odor, notified local authorities and initiated air monitoring.
Odors have largely dissipated. Any nuisance odors still present will continue to subside.
The leak Sunday night trigged a shelter-in-place for the Seabrook and La Porte, Texas, areas. Though some reports of mild irritations, no major medical issues were reported due to this incident.
