Relief — WRC advises possible traffic increase as repair work picks up during break in weather
Warmer weather will likely prompt increased activity at Wyoming Refinery Co. this week, a company official said on Feb. 24.
“With the improved weather we expect to be able to get more work done with the investigation and assessments, and we hope to be able to begin with some of the repairs,” said Dallas Scholes, the director of government and public affairs for Par Pacific Holdings, the Houston, Texas-based energy company that owns and operates the refinery.
A Par Pacific Holdings news release said that the sub-zero temperatures the week after the Feb. 12 explosion at the refinery made for grueling conditions for investigation, assessment and repair.
“Conducting simultaneous prevention measures to prevent future damage from freezing kept the workforce very busy,” the release said. “This was a challenging week, but we are very happy to report WRC had no environmental exceedances nor any personal work-related injuries.”
Even though the company made progress, “we still have work to do to better predict when the facility will be fully operational,” according to the release.
The company hopes contractors will begin moving large machinery, such as cranes, into town this week, Scholes told the News Letter Journal.
“We ask for your patience as Main Street traffic may be temporarily diverted due to the delivery of large equipment and cranes,” the release said. “We will minimize this inconvenience as much as possible while working with Newcastle PD and Weston County Sheriff on traffic control.”
Scholes told the NLJ that he did not know on which days or at what times the traffic would increase, but he does not anticipate more noise compared with normal operations. If that changes, the company will advise the community.
“We are providing a head’s up so no one is any more surprised than we are when things are free to happen,” Scholes told the NLJ. “Safety will continue to dictate the schedule more than anything else.”
The company has posted more updates and information about the explosion at newcastleheaterresponse.com.