LA Bucket Brigade : Refinery Accident Database

Chalmette Refining (1376), Chalmette

LDEQ Accident Report

Accident #	84328
PDF Available	PDF
State Police #	05-08692
Accident Date	2005-12-05
Report Date	2005-12-12
Follow-up Date	0000-00-00
Follow-up:	No

Pollutants Released

Pollutant	Duration	Point Source	Greenhouse Gas	Criteria Pollutant	Ozone forming chemical	Amount of Release
Hydrogen Sulfide	3d 22h 40m	Sulfur Recovery Unit Thermal Oxidizer Stack	NO	NO	NO	2,371.0 pounds
Nitric Oxide	3d 22h 40m	Sulfur Recovery Unit Thermal Oxidizer Stack	NO	YES	NO	2,070.0 pounds
Nitrogen Dioxide	3d 22h 40m	Sulfur Recovery Unit Thermal Oxidizer Stack	NO	YES	YES	230.0 pounds
Sulfur Dioxide	3d 22h 40m	Sulfur Recovery Unit Thermal Oxidizer Stack	NO	YES	NO	900,344.0 pounds

Accident Classified As: Reportable Quantity

Cause of Problem: Power Failure

Loss of power triggered upset of refinery and shutdown of the refinery's operating sulfur recovery unit.

Discharge Preventable - No

Due to the work begin conducted by Entergy, the refinery claims that the release was not preventable by refinery personnel. Investigation of the incident by refinery personnel indicated that external power supplied by Entergy was lost due to activity external to refinery operations.

Notes/Remedial Actions

A power outage and refinery shutdown resulted in flaring, including a release of Sulfur Dioxide, Hydrogen Sulfide, Nitric Oxide, and Nitrogen Dioxide beginning 12/5/05 and continuing intermittently during the repair of equipment damaged by the outage. The power outage occurred when Entergy was doing some work at the Meraux substation. The entire refinery lost power. The units are now back on line but at minimal rates while repairs are being performed. The refinery is still flaring S02 and H2S because there was damage to the sulphur plant. Operations were conducted in order to minimize emissions while maintaining a safe and orderly stabilization of refinery operation and restart of some refinery process units. Refinery Management has met with Entergy to stress the impact of this incident and request that appropriate measures be taken in order to prevent a recurrence. Operations were conducted in order to minimize emissions while maintains a safe and orderly stabilization of refinery operations and restart of some refinery process units. This is clearly far exceeding the reportable quantity for sulfur dioxide (RQ=500 lbs).