HLS 15RS-1421 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 32
BY REPRESENTATIVES GAROFALO AND BARROW
COMMENDATIONS: Commends the Chalmette Refinery for 100 years of operation in St.
Bernard Parish
1 A RESOLUTION
2To commend the Chalmette Refinery for one hundred years of operation in St. Bernard
3 Parish, Louisiana, and the commitment to Louisiana demonstrated by such a long-
4 standing operation.
5 WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 11 of the 2015 Regular Session of the Louisiana
6Legislature has declared Monday, April 20, 2015, as ExxonMobil Day at the Louisiana State
7Capitol, recognizing the invaluable contributions its operations have made to the economy
8of the state of Louisiana and to the prosperity of its citizens; and
9 WHEREAS, one of the facilities demonstrating this long-standing commitment to
10the state of Louisiana is the Chalmette Refinery operated by ExxonMobil and jointly owned
11with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. and located in Chalmette, Louisiana in St. Bernard Parish
12where a small refinery operated by Chalmette Petroleum first opened in 1915, but later grew
13into a medium-sized refinery located on four hundred acres of land along the Mississippi
14River near the Chalmette National Historical Park, site of the last major battle of the War of
151812; and
16 WHEREAS, in the post-Katrina world of St. Bernard Parish, the Chalmette Refinery
17has been an essential element of recovery for the region, first serving as the command post
18for hurricane response due to the fact that the refinery sits on the high ground in St. Bernard
19Parish but also as the recovery began, ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation, in an
20effort to help the community around one of its major facilities in Louisiana, stepped up to
21help the recovery effort through the donation of $23 million for hurricane recovery with $10
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HR NO. 32
1million to be used specifically for New Orleans area schools, including $4.2 million for St.
2Bernard Parish schools and $2 million for a new cultural arts center for the school district;
3and
4 WHEREAS, the original Chalmette Refinery was built at a time when their main
5product was kerosene for lighting purposes but with the advent of the automobile and gas
6engines, gasoline soon became the predominant product of the refinery, gasoline that was
7originally used primarily to fuel boats for the movement of produce and fruits along the
8Mississippi River by affiliated companies owned by the Vaccaro brothers, Joseph, Felix, and
9Luca, who changed the name of the refinery to the Chalmette Oil and Refining Company;
10and
11 WHEREAS, the Chalmette Petroleum Corp, with a refining capacity at the time of
127,500 barrels per day, was acquired in 1944 by Bay Petroleum who held the refinery until
131953 when it was sold to Tennessee Gas whose president, Henry Gardner Symonds, began
14an expansion of the refinery that resulted in a 35,000 barrel per day crude unit; a catalytic
15cracking unit capacity of 18,000 barrels per day; and an alkylation capacity of 2,500 barrels
16per day; and
17 WHEREAS, in 1988, Tenneco Oil Company sold the Chalmette Refinery to the
18Mobil Corporation, a corporation that, in 1998, merged with Exxon and brought the
19Chalmette Refinery to the newly merged corporation known as ExxonMobil; and
20 WHEREAS, the designation of ExxonMobil Day at the Louisiana State Capitol
21recognizes that ExxonMobil and its thousands of employees and retirees further demonstrate
22their commitment to the state of Louisiana by taking an active role in the betterment of
23communities throughout the state of Louisiana by providing tens of thousands of volunteer
24hours annually to numerous nonprofit organizations and local food banks as well as
25providing financial support to dozens of educational, environmental, cultural, and
26humanitarian groups through charitable contributions and matching grants; and
27 WHEREAS, the Legislature of Louisiana hopes for another hundred years of the
28continued operation of the Chalmette Refinery in the same manner as in the past, that is, in
29a manner heavily participating in and supportive of the community around the refinery.
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HR NO. 32
1 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
2Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the Chalmette Refinery for one hundred
3years of operation in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, and for its continuing contributions to
4the economy and the prosperity of the citizens and workers in St. Bernard Parish.
5 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
6to the Chalmette Refinery.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 32 Original 2015 Regular Session Garofalo
Commends the Chalmette Refinery for 100 years of operation in St. Bernard Parish and for
its continuing contributions to the economy and the prosperity of the citizens and workers
in St. Bernard Parish.
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