Texas City residents were ordered to remain indoors for an hour Tuesday after a dustlike substance called catalyst began pouring from a stack at the BP refinery, local and company officials said.

At least five Texas City residents who live near the plant were treated for minor skin and eye irritations at Mainland Medical Center, medical center spokesman Harold Fattig said. All were released.

The white and gray dust, fragments of an alumina silica catalyst, causes the irritation.

Neil Chapman, a BP spokesman, said the incident was caused by a brief loss of electrical power that caused more material to be sent to the flare.

Swirling winds prompted Texas City officials to order citywide residents to stay indoors from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Production at the refinery, which is still operating at 50 percent capacity following an explosion that injured 15 people in March 2005, was not affected, Chapman said.

Officials with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Galveston County Health District said Tuesday that they would begin sampling the air and collecting samples of the dust from cars and other surfaces for analysis.

For More Information Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
409-938-2211 or 409-392-0007
kkoopman@gchd.org