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Accident # | 135174 |
State Police # | 11-06987 & 11-06988 |
Accident Date | 2011-11-09 |
Report Date | 2011-11-17 |
Follow-up Date | 0000-00-00 |
Follow-up: | No |
Pollutant | Duration | Point Source | Greenhouse Gas | Criteria Pollutant | Ozone forming chemical | Amount of Release |
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) | No Information Given | Naphtha line | NO | NO | YES | BRQ |
Benzene | 10s | NIG | NO | NO | YES | 9.0 gallons |
Accident Classified As: Below Reportable Quantity (BRQ)
This LDEQ incident report documents two separate Benzene and VOC releases. The first release of Benzene occurred at 10:00 on 11/9/11 was due to a pinhole leak in a Naphtha line. The second release of VOCs with a percentage of Benzene which occurred at 10:10 the same day and secured within approximately ten seconds later via an automatic safety valve. The unit was shutdown for repair. This incident was caused by a process upset.
No Information Given.
The first incident was resolved when a clamp was placed to contain the leak. The second incident was resolved when a safety valve kicked in and the unit was shut down. Air monitoring in the area by Exxon showed non-detect for both incidents. The leak that occurred in the first incident released 9 gallons of material with a 1.2% weight of benzene. This is below reportable quantity. The second incident released more than 1,000 pounds of VOCs and flammable vapors, but they were released into a cooling tower and this did not vent into the atomsphere. Since nothing vented into the atmosphere, this release is below reportable quantity. An initial notification indicated that more than 10 pounds of benezene had been released which is RQ. LABB does not have access to the refinery's incident report.
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