Archive for October, 2009
BP fined $87 million over Texas refinery safety issues by OSHA
Oct-30, 2009 Washington- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced it is issuing $87,430,000 in proposed penalties to BP Products North America Inc. for the company’s failure to correct potential hazards faced by employees. The fine is the largest in OSHA’s history. The prior largest total penalty, $21 million, was issued in 2005, also against BP.
Safety violations at BP’s Texas City, Texas, refinery resulted in a massive explosion — with 15 deaths and 170 people injured – in March of 2005. BP entered into a settlement agreement with OSHA in September of that year, under which the company agreed to corrective actions to eliminate potential hazards similar to those that caused the 2005 tragedy. Today’s announcement comes at the conclusion of a six-month inspection by OSHA, designed to evaluate the extent to which BP has complied with its obligations under the 2005 agreement and OSHA standards.
“When BP signed the OSHA settlement from the March 2005 explosion, it agreed to take comprehensive action to protect employees. Instead of living up to that commitment, BP has allowed hundreds of potential hazards to continue unabated,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Fifteen people lost their lives as a result of the 2005 tragedy, and 170 others were injured. An $87 million fine won’t restore those lives, but we can’t let this happen again. Workplace safety is more than a slogan. It’s the law. The U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate the preventable exposure of workers to hazardous conditions.”
For noncompliance with the terms of the settlement agreement, the BP Texas City Refinery has been issued 270 “notifications of failure to abate” with fines totaling $56.7 million. Each notification represents a penalty of $7,000 times 30 days, the period that the conditions have remained unabated. OSHA also identified 439 new willful violations for failures to follow industry-accepted controls on the pressure relief safety systems and other process safety management violations with penalties totaling $30.7 million.
“BP was given four years to correct the safety issues identified pursuant to the settlement agreement, yet OSHA has found hundreds of violations of the agreement and hundreds of new violations. BP still has a great deal of work to do to assure the safety and health of the employees who work at this refinery,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab.
The BP Texas City Refinery is the third largest refinery in the United States with a refining capacity of 475,000 barrels of crude per day. It is located on a 1,200-acre facility in Texas City, southeast of Houston in Galveston County.
Will this large fine serve up a wakeup call to company managements regarding the importance of following safety guidelines and good engineering practices? Only time will tell….
Oil spill a mile long threatens San Francisco bay
30th Oct 2009- The Dubai Star, a vessel anchored in San Francisco bay has apparently leaked oil into the bay, threatening the marine environment in the bay. The US Coast Guard is reportedly handling this issue and monitoring the area.
Oil spills are one of the major hazards of transporting goods (including oil itself) over long distances across the globe. The introduction of bigger and larger supertankers and giant supertankers have only increased the risks of environmental disasters manifold in this decade.
Dow Chemical pipeline leak forces evacuation
Oct 30-An underground pipeline carrying Tolune Di-isocyante ( a highly toxic intermediate coomonly known by the acronym TDI and which is used in manufacturing polyurethanes) in a Dow facility in Freeport, Tx leaked heavily, prompting the evacuation of more than 75 families staying in the area. As of the now the leak has stopped but the the evacuated families cannot return to their homes, at least until Sunday, according to reports, to ensure that there is no danger to them if the chemical leaks again during repair.
Dow is reportedly footing the hotel expenses of the evacuated people. However, other residents of Freeport are questioning the delay in response to the leak. The pipeline leak was apparently reported on Sunday, 25 Oct but real work to repair it started only on Monday, 26th Oct.
Though underground pipelines are a safer way to transport hazardous chemicals (as compared to say, tank trucks or railroad cars), the fact remains that small leaks can remain undetected for long times and pollute the surroundings. It is not known if there are mandatory inspections of such buried pipelines every few years (and if they are whether they are really done). If anybody can answer these questions, please post it in the comments section.
BTW there were some reports saying that the residents were not really in danger and the evacuation was “precautionary” in nature. However this cannot be true as TDI is a known toxic chemical, the properties of which are lised on the EPA website as below
From http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/toluene2.html
2,4-Toluene diisocyanate is primarily used as a chemical intermediate in the production of polyurenthane products. 2,4-Toluene diisocyanate is extremely toxic from acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) exposures. Acute exposure to high levels of 2,4-toluene diisocyanate in humans, via inhalation, results in severe irritation of the skin and eyes and affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems (CNS). Chronic inhalation exposure to 2,4-toluene diisocyanate in humans has resulted in significant decreases in lung function in workers, an asthma-like reaction characterized by wheezing, dyspnea, and bronchial constriction. Animal studies have reported significantly increased incidences of tumors of the pancreas, liver, and mammary glands from exposure to 2,4-toluene diisocyanate via gavage (experimentally placing the chemical in the stomach). The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified 2,4-toluene diisocyanate as a Group 2B, possible human carcinogen.
Caribbean Petroleum Corporation Tank Explosion in Puerto Rico
Nov 18 Update: Cause of the accident found out- please click here for the detailed story.
This week seems to be the season of refinery accidents. After the Tesoro refinery fire, now we have another one, this time in Puerto Rico.
Oct 25, 2009- A large fire that reportedly broke out in the Caribbean Petroleum Corporation’s Bayamon facility in Puerto Rico is still raging without any signs of getting under control anytime soon. More than 150 firefighters are working continuously at the scene, backed by the National Guard. News from various sources say that about 1500 people have been evacuated from their homes. Schools in the vicity are reportedly closed due to the incident.
The fire began after an explosion in the facility, that was heard for miles around. Surprisingly explosions reportedly happened in as many of 12 out of the 40 or so storage tanks at the location.
What adds a twist in the tale is the suspicion, that it may have been an act of sabotage. To investigate this aspect, sources claim that FBI agents are on the hunt for the perpetrators, who have scrawled graffiti about it in a San Juan tunnel.
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB for short), has also stepped in to investigate and has now deployed a six member team of investigators to travel to Puerto Rico immediately. CSB Investigator Jeff Wanko, PE, will lead the team which is expected on the island soon.
And to top it all, a lawyer has already gone ahead and filed a class action suit against Caribbean Petroleum Company in the Federal District court in San Juan.
A huge cloud of acrid smoke, as seen in the picture below has started enveloping parts of San Juan. However Gov. Loius Fortuno, reportedly denied to reporters that the event can be classed as an environmental disaster.
Here’s a picture of the fire that gives a perspective of it’s scope and severity.
CaribbeanPetroleumFirePuertoRico
Stay tuned for more developments on this one on this blog.
Tesoro Refinery Fire at Salt Lake City-CSB to investigate
There has been a fire at the Tesoro refinery in Salt Lake City, Utah that looks eerily similar to the infamous Texas BP fire. Despite so many incidents, apparently, safety is not being given the top priority it once was, by company managements. Or such incidents happening due to the bean counters in the higher ups in these companies? (Because these penny wise pound foolish guys seem to have virtually decimated the large engineering and operations groups that used to be present in many large companies). Today, under the guise of “cost cutting” and “operational efficiencies”, most large engineering teams have been given the heave ho. The results are there for all to see. Anybody who has worked in the 70s, 80s or even early 90s will understand what I am talking about…..
The below news is from the CSB’s website at http://www.chemsafety.gov
Washington, DC, October 22, 2009 – A three-person investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will be examining a fire that occurred Wednesday evening at the Tesoro refinery in Salt Lake City, Utah, following a power outage earlier in the day.
According to refinery officials, liquid hydrocarbons were released from a flare stack during an effort to restart the refinery’s crude unit. The hydrocarbons were ignited in a pool fire that extended from the base of the stack and damaged a trailer and other equipment that were positioned nearby.
CSB Investigator Cheryl MacKenzie will lead the three-person team from the CSB’s Western Regional Office in Denver, Colorado. The team is expected to arrive at the site today.
CSB Chairman Bresland said the CSB inquiry would seek to determine if there are any similarities to the 2005 accident at the BP Texas City refinery, which occurred when flammable liquid erupted from a blowdown stack during a unit startup, leading to a massive vapor cloud explosion that killed 15 workers in nearby trailers and injured 180 others. The CSB recommended numerous changes to regulations, enforcement, and industry safety practices following that accident.
“Nearly four years after the disaster in Texas City, there continues to be a disturbing number of fires, explosions, and releases at the nation’s refineries. These events endanger workers and the public and can disrupt the supply of needed transportation fuels,” said Chairman John Bresland. “A sudden release of flammable liquid from a flare or blowdown stack poses a potential risk to people, equipment, and the environment and warrants a close look.”
No injuries were reported in the fire at Tesoro, but smoke and flames were visible over a wide area in Salt Lake City, and an interstate highway and a commuter rail line were closed temporarily. Refinery and municipal firefighters extinguished the blaze within an hour.
The CSB continues to investigate the serious flash fire that occurred in January 2009 at the Silver Eagle refinery in nearby Woods Cross, Utah, with a final report expected early in 2010.
