World Environment Day-Some thoughts
June 5, 2010 -So today is World Environment Day. We’re in the midst of an oil leak and spill disaster, so now is a good time to think where we’re moving. Is the planet less polluted today than some decades ago, before the environment was given its due importance. We think no, todays pollution levels seem far below the levels that were seen in the 1950s and 1960s. This is because of more stringent norms, government oversight through organisations like the EPA and other “non-state” actors like environmental watchdogs like Greenpeace and others. Today the smoke belching, gas spewing factory may be a rarity, but is it because of the above mentioned things or is it because most of these have shifted to China? BTW there you can still witness these smoking chimneys and soot that hangs in the air, especially during winter when it all turns into a thick smog and haze.
As far as disasters are concerned, the BP incident is a rare event these days-more of a black swan event-not that I am saying that it could not have been predicted or that the response could not have been better, but that it was really perhaps the first incident in which a blowout preventer failed. Or was it really the first one, as BP claims? Have there been other incidents in the past when these devices failed? Perhaps someone in the Oil and Gas industry should come out with statistics.
But, I digress here. Today on the occasion of World Environment Day, we should all pause to think whether we are really making the environment a better place over the years or worse? Is todays economic model sustainable? For how long? What legacy should we gift our children and grandchildren? A polluted planet and tons of Collaterized Debt Obligations (CDOs)? Can’t we do any better? We better think seriously about it now.
Comments are welcome!
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Oil tanker collision in Texas causes big oil spill
Sunday, Jan 24, 2010-Port Arthur,TX
A collision between an oil tanker (ship) and a barge towing vessel caused an oil spill in the waters off Port Arthur,TX. The oil spilled is estimated to be about 450,000 gallons, a huge amount by any account.The spill is being cleaned up with booms. Fire and emergency responder officers reported that several blocks of the downtown area had been evacuated. Other reports siad that Hydrogen Sulfide gas is also being emitted from the spilled oil. The gas, which smells like rotten eggs, is highly toxic and can be fatal if inhaled in large quantities.
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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.
