LA Bucket Brigade : Refinery Accident Database

Valero (26003), Norco

LDEQ Accident Report

Accident #	121983
PDF Available	PDF
State Police #	10-01216
Accident Date	2010-03-09
Report Date	2010-03-16
Follow-up Date	2010-05-07
Follow-up:	Yes

Pollutants Released

Pollutant	Duration	Point Source	Greenhouse Gas	Criteria Pollutant	Ozone forming chemical	Amount of Release
Diesel Fuel	No Information Given	Tank 150-25 & Tank 325-5: Expansion Joint	NO	NO	YES	112,890.0 gallons

Accident Classified As:

Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

Refinery letter states that diesel was spilled due to the malfunction of an expansion joint on the inlet piping of to tank 150-1 during the transfer of ultra low sulfur diesel between two tanks.

Discharge Preventable - Yes

Refinery follow-up letter states that based on the incident investigation it was determined that this incident was reasonably preventable. As of 6/2011 incident classified as "open" by LDEQ.

Notes/Remedial Actions

RQ. Reportable quantities were exceed. Vacuum trucks were used to pump down diesel fuel from the dike containment area of Tanks T-150-1 & 2. The refinery also mobilized a third party contractor for site remedial cleanup efforts. In addition, frac tanks and portable pumps were used to assist in the recovery. The contaminated soil was sent to a landfill. The following actions were taken to prevent a recurrence of the incidence: 1. A refinery guideline will be developed and published describing the steps needed to avoid water hammer when starting pumps in the tank farm. 2. Complete a tank farm survey to prioritize hose and expansion hose replacement. 3. Replace all stainless steel hoses with hard pipe or an engineered expansion hose. 4. Develop, write, and publish to the Right to Know Center, a Standard Operating Procedure to specifically address the transfer that was made during the incident. 5. Provide additional training on the new Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel system for all operators in the tank farm.