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Valero (26003), Norco
LDEQ Accident Report
| Accident # | 130948 |
| State Police # | 11-02543 |
| Accident Date | 2011-05-02 |
| Report Date | 2011-05-09 |
| Follow-up Date | 2011-06-30 |
| Follow-up: | Yes |
Pollutants Released
| Pollutant | Duration | Point Source | Greenhouse Gas | Criteria Pollutant | Ozone forming chemical | Amount of Release |
| Methane | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | YES | NO | YES | 6.1 pounds |
| Ethane | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 146.6 pounds |
| Propane | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 436.3 pounds |
| Propylene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 158.7 pounds |
| Isobutane | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 107.1 pounds |
| n-Butane | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | NO | 436.9 pounds |
| 1-Butene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 140.1 pounds |
| Isobutylene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 104.6 pounds |
| trans-2-Butene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | NO | 61.0 pounds |
| cis-2-Butene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | NO | 41.6 pounds |
| 3-Methyl-1-Butene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 20.7 pounds |
| Isopentane | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 72.1 pounds |
| 1,3-Butadiene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 4.8 pounds |
| n-Pentane | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | NO | 122.4 pounds |
| 1-Pentene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 14.0 pounds |
| 2-Methyl-1 Butene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 24.9 pounds |
| trans-2-Pentene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | NO | 21.7 pounds |
| cis-2-Pentene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | NO | 62.9 pounds |
| 2-Methyl-2-Butene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 10.7 pounds |
| Hexane | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | NO | 80.6 pounds |
| Hydrogen Sulfide | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | NO | 38.7 pounds |
| Ethylene | a few minutes | Coker LPG line | NO | NO | YES | 8.1 pounds |
Accident Classified As: No Information Given
Cause of Problem: No Information Given
Valero had blinded and de-inventoried the Coke LPG line as part of a project to elevate the Prospect Road pipe bridge that connects their East Plant and West Plant. The blinds were removed several days prior to the incident but valves in the pipe system remained closed. Valero believes that gas leaked by one of the valves and accumulated in a section of pipe after the blind had been removed on the West Plant side of the project area thus trapping gas between two closed valves. On the day of the incident, the project operator opened the downstream valve in the pipe bridge that was closest to the FCCU in order to commission a new section of pipe; the upstream valve remained. When the valve was cracked open, gas that had accumulated in the pipe leaked out into the FCCU which was undergoing construction at the time of the incident.
Discharge Preventable - Under Investigation
Under investigation. State there will be a follow up.
Notes/Remedial Actions
Coker liquified petroleum gas (LPG) which is composed mainly of butenes and propenes was released from pipe openings in the FCCU area and dispersed. Emissions were minimized by isolating the coker LPG line. Valero identified the following corrective actions and target completion dates were identified as a result of the root cause failure analysis of this incident: (1) Issue safety alert on this incident to all personnel (2) Review incident with operators and discuss need for good communications when lining up piping to units (3) Develop a battery limits blind list for the FCCU for use during future turnarounds (4) Develop a battery limits list for Complex III (Crude-Vacuum-Coker units) for use during future turnarounds
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