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CITGO Petroleum (1250), Lake Charles

LDEQ Accident Report

Accident #132825
State Police #11-04550
Accident Date2011-07-30
Report Date 2011-08-08
Follow-up Date 2011-08-25
Follow-up: Yes

Pollutants Released

Pollutant Duration Point Source Greenhouse Gas Criteria Pollutant Ozone forming chemical Amount of Release
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)15mTank 36 (EQT0088) and Tank 37 (EQT0089)NONOYES2,576.0 pounds
Slop Oil15mTank 36 (EQT0088) and Tank 37 (EQT0089)NONONO2,016.0 gallons

Accident Classified As: Reportable Quantity

Cause of Problem: Human Factors

The operator failed to manually close the naphtha valve after the switch to C-4 was made, ultimately causing a roof drain leak on Tank 37, a slop oil tank containing hydrogen sulfide. Thus, Citgo failed to diligently maintain control equipment in proper working order whenever emissions were being made.

Discharge Preventable - Yes

The refinery representative stated that the incident "could have been avoided by minimizing the amount of time the naphtha was lined up to the slop tank(s)."

Notes/Remedial Actions

Immediate corrective actions taken were changing routings of materials into tank 37 and making efforts to identify the source of the light materials that were believed to cause the hydrocarbon release. Vacuum trucks were cleaning up the spill at the time of the police report.