ENROLLED
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 32
BY REPRESENTATIVES GAROFALO, ABRAMSON, ADAMS, ANDERS, ARMES,
ARNOLD, BADON, BARRAS, BARROW, BERTHELOT, BILLIOT, STUART
BISHOP, WESLEY BISHOP, BOUIE, BROADWATER, BROWN, BURFORD,
HENRY BURNS, TIM BURNS, BURRELL, CARMODY, CARTER, CHANEY,
CONNICK, COX, CROMER, DANAHAY, DOVE, EDWARDS, FANNIN, FOIL,
FRANKLIN, GAINES, GEYMANN, GISCLAIR, GUILLORY, GUINN, HALL,
HARRIS, HARRISON, HAVARD, HAZEL, HENRY, HENSGENS, HILL,
HODGES, HOFFMANN, HOLLIS, HONORE, HOWARD, HUNTER, HUVAL,
IVEY, JACKSON, JAMES, JEFFERSON, MIKE JOHNSON, ROBERT JOHNSON,
JONES, KLECKLEY, LAMBERT, NANCY LANDRY, TERRY LANDRY,
LEBAS, LEGER, LEOPOLD, LOPINTO, LORUSSO, MACK, MIGUEZ, MILLER,
MONTOUCET, MORENO, JAY MORRIS, JIM MORRIS, NORTON, ORTEGO,
OURSO, PEARSON, PIERRE, PONTI, POPE, PRICE, PUGH, PYLANT,
REYNOLDS, RICHARD, RITCHIE, ROBIDEAUX, SCHEXNAYDER,
SCHRODER, SEABAUGH, SHADOIN, SIMON, SMITH, ST. GERMAIN,
STOKES, TALBOT, THIBAUT, THIERRY, WHITNEY, ALFRED WILLIAMS,
PATRICK WILLIAMS, WILLMOTT, AND WOODRUFF
A RESOLUTION
To commend the Chalmette Refinery for one hundred years of operation in St. Bernard
Parish, Louisiana, and the commitment to Louisiana demonstrated by such a long-
standing operation.
WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 11 of the 2015 Regular Session of the Louisiana
Legislature has declared Monday, April 20, 2015, as ExxonMobil Day at the Louisiana State
Capitol, recognizing the invaluable contributions its operations have made to the economy
of the state of Louisiana and to the prosperity of its citizens; and
WHEREAS, one of the facilities demonstrating this long-standing commitment to
the state of Louisiana is the Chalmette Refinery operated by ExxonMobil and jointly owned
with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. and located in Chalmette, Louisiana in St. Bernard Parish
where a small refinery operated by Chalmette Petroleum first opened in 1915, but later grew
into a medium-sized refinery located on four hundred acres of land along the Mississippi
River near the Chalmette National Historical Park, site of the last major battle of the War of
1812; and
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WHEREAS, in the post-Katrina world of St. Bernard Parish, the Chalmette Refinery
has been an essential element of recovery for the region, first serving as the command post
for hurricane response due to the fact that the refinery sits on the high ground in St. Bernard
Parish but also as the recovery began, ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation, in an
effort to help the community around one of its major facilities in Louisiana, stepped up to
help the recovery effort through the donation of $23 million for hurricane recovery with $10
million to be used specifically for New Orleans area schools, including $4.2 million for St.
Bernard Parish schools and $2 million for a new cultural arts center for the school district;
and
WHEREAS, the original Chalmette Refinery was built at a time when their main
product was kerosene for lighting purposes but with the advent of the automobile and gas
engines, gasoline soon became the predominant product of the refinery, gasoline that was
originally used primarily to fuel boats for the movement of produce and fruits along the
Mississippi River by affiliated companies owned by the Vaccaro brothers, Joseph, Felix, and
Luca, who changed the name of the refinery to the Chalmette Oil and Refining Company;
and
WHEREAS, the Chalmette Petroleum Corp, with a refining capacity at the time of
7,500 barrels per day, was acquired in 1944 by Bay Petroleum who held the refinery until
1953 when it was sold to Tennessee Gas whose president, Henry Gardner Symonds, began
an expansion of the refinery that resulted in a 35,000 barrel per day crude unit; a catalytic
cracking unit capacity of 18,000 barrels per day; and an alkylation capacity of 2,500 barrels
per day; and
WHEREAS, in 1988, Tenneco Oil Company sold the Chalmette Refinery to the
Mobil Corporation, a corporation that, in 1998, merged with Exxon and brought the
Chalmette Refinery to the newly merged corporation known as ExxonMobil; and
WHEREAS, the designation of ExxonMobil Day at the Louisiana State Capitol
recognizes that ExxonMobil and its thousands of employees and retirees further demonstrate
their commitment to the state of Louisiana by taking an active role in the betterment of
communities throughout the state of Louisiana by providing tens of thousands of volunteer
hours annually to numerous nonprofit organizations and local food banks as well as
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providing financial support to dozens of educational, environmental, cultural, and
humanitarian groups through charitable contributions and matching grants; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature of Louisiana hopes for another hundred years of the
continued operation of the Chalmette Refinery in the same manner as in the past, that is, in
a manner heavily participating in and supportive of the community around the refinery.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the Chalmette Refinery for one hundred
years of operation in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, and for its continuing contributions to
the economy and the prosperity of the citizens and workers in St. Bernard Parish.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the Chalmette Refinery.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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