Archive for May, 2009
Explosion at Sunoco refinery in Delaware-ethylene leak suspected cause
It is Monday, May 18, 2009 and firefighters are still battling flames at Sunoco’s refinery and petrochemical complex at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. A suspected Ethylene leak caused a massive explosion and fire in a unit in the refinery and petrochemical complex on Sunday night. Luckily, no casualties have been reported.
Sunoco reportedly operates the Marcus Hook, 335,000-bpd Philadelphia and 145,000-bpd Eagle Point, New Jersey, refineries as a single facility. The news immediately led to a rally in gasoline prices in the area.
Further details about the incident were not immediately available but local TV stations reported hearing the explosions in communities surrounding the facility.
This incident is the latest of explosions, fires and other disasters being reported in chemical and petrochemical plants in the US. Has the operations, safety and engineering staff at these huge facilities been reduced (or downsized) by the bean counters to such a degree that a lot of muscle has been cut alongwith the fat? One never heard of so many incidents previously, so obviously this is happening and nobody in the industries seems to “get” the big picture, which is not pretty. It just shows us the decline in the operating standards over the last few years when the engineers and technicians got sidelined and the so called “MBA/Accountant/Bean Counter” types took positions of power, in US manufacturing. Youngsters quickly saw that the path to success, did not go through an engineering career and we are seeing the results, not only on Wall Street, but also on Main Street.
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Suspected gas leak at Total refinery in Texas affects workers
On May 12, 2009, there was reportedly a gas leak at Total’s Port Arthur refinery and petrochemical complex, which affected a few contract workers.
The gas was apparently Hydrogen Sulfide gas, but Total says that no evidence of a leak was found. However, it is unclear if any gas detectors were actually mounted near the area, or if they were, whether they could detect H2S and finally, whether they were actually connected to an alarm system (surprised?-not unusual, as this was exactly also the problem in the Bayer Cropscience, Institute, W.Va, incident ).
One of the affected workers, Brad Blount, said that he was carrying out a pipe fitting and welding job , high up on a scaffolding about 50 feet high, when he said he smelt the gas. He recognized it as Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). He immediately stopped his work, held his breath and clambered down. He was luckily not injured or badly affected, said reports on the web, posted by Beaumont Enterprise.
However, he has now quit working for Total, after this incident.
Apparently, Total does have personal gas monitors, but it is not clear if they were issued to contract workers too. Personal gas monitors, can detect a variety of toxic gases and can alert the wearer to immediately evacuate in case of an emergency. They are widely used in the chemical and petrochemical industries, as a matter of routine. Costing less than a few hundred dollars each, they can be life savers in case of a gas leak.
Meanwhile, other reports say that five contract workers, who were hospitalized after the leak, have now been released. They were adversely affected by the gas and complained about shortness of breath, amongst other things. OSHA is reportedly watching the developments closely, amidst reports that Total has launched its own investigation into the incident.
