Excellence Refined - 30 Years - Valero

Hours after Hurricane Rita roared across
Valero’s Port Arthur Refinery, floodwaters
covered much of the refinery grounds and
surrounded this storage tank. The company’s
response was immediate — from employee
assistance to refinery restart — and the plant
was back online in less than three weeks. It was
the first Gulf Coast plant downed by the storm
to restart after Rita.
media repeatedly requested tours of Valero’s refineries,
with their “Valeroville” villages, onsite support and
camaraderie. Unusual to the world, perhaps, but on par
with Valero’s culture.
Former Valero CEO Bill Greehey personally visited with refinery employees
following two back-to-back hurricanes in 2005. Through their stories, Valero
learned of the mass devastation in Texas and Louisiana, and quickly organized a
massive response of food, shelter and financial aid.
for communities and their law enforcement personnel –
made a lasting impression. More than $650,000 in SAFE
Fund grants went out, alongside food, clothing, sheets,
blankets, hats, chain saws, fuel and generators. National
Gasoline, electricity and food were in short supply
during both hurricanes. But while other sites shuttered
operations, Valero responded to its work force because
it was the right thing to do. “I came here two years ago,
and I’ve never seen anything like this. What I saw was
tremendous support,” one St. Charles employee said.
“People who had lost everything were helping those
with more immediate needs. If someone lost his whole
house, he would go and help his neighbor so they could
save that neighbor’s house. From the corporate support
to the co-worker support, people were helping each other
out. It was just overwhelming, the caring and support
that we got.”
Valero St. Charles restarted in just nine days – ahead of
any other refinery downed in the aftermath of Hurricane
The Heartbeat of Valero
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