Crime & Safety

Hess Steam Blow Off 'Uneventful'

There wasn't much to the vapor cloud hovering over Port Reading, police said.


Residents around Port Reading this morning saw another one of those mysterious vapor plumes from Hess earlier today, but as Woodbridge police said, there wasn't much to it.

"It was uneventful...but somewhat eventful," said Woodbridge Police Captain Roy Hoppock.

A truck loading propane at Hess Corporation’s Port Reading refinery developed a leak at approximately 10:45 a.m. today, explained Jon Pepper, a spokesman for the company.

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"Emergency responders dispersed the vapors until the leak was stopped at 1 p.m. Non-essential personnel were evacuated from the facility while refining and gasoline and distillate product loading operations continued as normal," Pepper said in a statement. "There were no injuries."

Woodbridge fire trucks, ambulances, and both the local and county Office of Emergency Management were called to the scene, just in case, but no injuries were reported, Hoppock said.

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"They don't know what it was. They're still investigating it," he added.

Hoppock said the humid, low-lying cloudy weather probably prevented the cloud from blowing off sooner than it would have on a more fair weather day. 

The scene was cleared in a little more than an hour, he added.

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