The effects of Hurricane Katrina suspended many industrial plant operations in at least eight different counties in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. According to Houston's Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources), there are over 260 industrial plants located in the counties of Mobile and Baldwin, Ala.; Harrison, Hancock and Jackson, Miss.; and Jefferson, Saint Charles and Plaquemine, La.
Many large petroleum refiners and petrochemical producers began reducing production rates and preparing for a controlled shutdown on Aug. 26. By Aug. 27 most had shut down completely. A small number of industrial plants in the affected region resumed some small level of production by Sept. 3, the date of this report, although several major natural gas and product pipelines serving these plants with feedstock remained out of service, limiting production. Pipeline companies were aggressively evaluating the level of damage to determine what repairs were necessary to restore operations safely, and as of this writing some limited supply on the Colonial and Plantation Pipeline crude oil pipeline systems had resumed.