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Valero (26003), Norco

LDEQ Accident Report

Accident #115515
State Police #091764
Accident Date2009-06-09
Report Date 2009-06-16
Follow-up Date 2009-09-28
Follow-up: Yes

Pollutants Released

Pollutant Duration Point Source Greenhouse Gas Criteria Pollutant Ozone forming chemical Amount of Release
Carbon Monoxide35 minutesFireNOYESNO1,290.0 pounds
Nitrogen Dioxide35 minutesFireNOYESYES1,419.0 pounds
Total Organic Carbon35 minutesFireNONONO1,084.0 pounds
Sulfur Dioxide35 minutesFireNOYESNO13,095.0 pounds
Hydrogen Sulfide35 minutesFireNONONO91.0 pounds
Particulate Matter35 minutesFireNOYESNO258.0 pounds
Carbon Monoxide2 hours 3 minutesFlare 1 and 2NOYESNO128.0 pounds
Nitrogen Dioxide2 hours 3 minutesFlare 1 and 2NOYESYES24.0 pounds
Particulate Matter2 hours 3 minutesFlare 1 and 2NOYESNO1.0 pounds
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)2 hours 3 minutesFlare 1 and 2NONOYES48.0 pounds
Sulfur Dioxide2 hours 3 minutesFlare 1 and 2NOYESNO4,839.0 pounds
Hydrogen Sulfide2 hours 3 minutesFlare 1 and 2NONONO13.0 pounds

Accident Classified As:

Cause of Problem: Corrosion

High temperature sulfide corrosion caused a pipe in vacuum tower bottom service to fail. The leak combusted, process units were upset, and ultimately shut down. Shutdown caused emission from flare.

Discharge Preventable - No

Valero relied on process safety information and surveys that had been prepared by the previous owner. This ultimately began the series of events leading to the pipe failure.

Notes/Remedial Actions

After the fire was discovered, crude/vacuum/coker processes were suhut down and the units were depressurized to flare.