An explosion at BP’s largest U.S. refinery shook the town of Whiting, Indiana Wednesday night but has not impacted production at the plant.
The Whiting Fire Department said the explosion happened at the BP Whiting Refinery around 9:05 p.m. and was felt as far as two miles away.
Whiting Fire called the plant to ask if it needed assistance but was told to stand by as BP’s internal fire department and emergency vehicles handled the situation, CBS said.
BP spokesman Scott Dean confirmed that there was “an operational incident on a process unit on the north end of the refinery.”
BP’s fire department extinguished the blaze by 11 p.m.
One refinery employee was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure but was later released.
No further injuries were reported.
The plant has a capacity of 413,500 barrels per day.
BP said Thursday morning that production was “minimally impacted as a result of the incident and the refinery continues to produce products for customers.”
No spills or toxic clouds were reported.
The sprawling refinery is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal, in the communities of Whiting, East Chicago, and Hammond, Indiana.
