I lived about three miles from there. You could start to clean the soot off your windowsill, and by the time you got from one end to the other end, the first end was sooty again.
Remember most of these refineries have been in there current location 75-100 years. The town and cities have grown up around them. Many originally had buffer areas around them, but most have not kept that space.
Will be interesting to see what was the cause of this.
I remember many trips on Rt 1/9 between New Brunswick and Newark. Your nose always told you when you were passing the refinery; near Elizabeth I believe. Actually, it was the same whether on Rt 1/9 or the NJ Turnpike. At night you could see the flame-plumes from the methane burn off.
Sounds like Marcus Hook. Most depressing place I have ever been...