BATON ROUGE - Some Baton Rouge residents were startled early Wednesday morning when they noticed flaring at a local chemical plant.

According to ExxonMobil Baton Rouge, the plant began experiencing flaring due to a unit startup Tuesday.

Plant representatives say the flares should be minimized by noon Wednesday.

According to ExxonMobil, flares are safety control devices intended to consume excess hydrocarbons.

The plant apologized for any inconvenience and reiterated the importance that ExxonMobil places on safety.