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ExxonMobil Refinery (2638), Baton Rouge

LDEQ Accident Report

Accident #123244
State Police #10-02386
Accident Date2010-05-05
Report Date 2010-05-12
Follow-up Date 2010-08-27
Follow-up: Yes

Pollutants Released

Pollutant Duration Point Source Greenhouse Gas Criteria Pollutant Ozone forming chemical Amount of Release
Sulfur DioxideNo Information GivenPCLA-2 UnitNOYESNO1,052.0 pounds

Accident Classified As: Reportable Quantity

Cause of Problem: Instrument Failure

The PCLA-2 unit was following start up procedures when one of the unit's air blowers tripped due to an erroneous upstream level instrument reading. Reduced air flow rates caused an increase in light material production, which resulted in a compressor shutting down. This in turn caused hydrocarbon to be sent to the flare system, by design, until unit operations could be restored. The flaring resulted in a sulfur dioxide RQ exceedance. The original amount reported was 969 lbs, but an updated amount increased the estimate to 1,052 pounds of SO2 released..

Discharge Preventable - No

The release was considered non preventable because the flaring was caused by an unexpected instrument malfunction.

Notes/Remedial Actions

This release is RQ. Instrument level was adjusted to prevent erroneous readings. A citizen complaint ( T-13243) was also logged in by SPOC [State Police].