Home Search Emissions Pollutants About the Database


Valero (1238), Meraux

LDEQ Accident Report

Accident #139318
State Police #12-02671
Accident Date2012-05-02
Report Date 2012-07-03
Follow-up Date 0000-00-00
Follow-up: No

Pollutants Released

Pollutant Duration Point Source Greenhouse Gas Criteria Pollutant Ozone forming chemical Amount of Release
Sulfur Dioxide10h 10mNorth Flare, South Flare, #2 SRU Incinerator, #3 SRU IncineratorNOYESNO2,364.0 pounds

Accident Classified As: Reportable Quantity

Cause of Problem: Weather

A lightning strike affecting Entergy's power distribution network caused a power interruption at the refinery, causing units to undergo safety shutdowns that included venting high rates of gases to both flares. The power interruption affected a significant portion of St. Bernard Parish.affected the north and south flare.

Discharge Preventable - No

According to the follow-up notification letter submitted by Valero, this incident was not preventable. The outage was not due to issues at the refinery. The outage occurred because an Entergy power distribution network was affected by a lightning strike.

Notes/Remedial Actions

Power to the refinery was quickly restored, but the interruption tripped several units. The refinery established emergency procedures for the units. After stabilizing unit and refinery-wide conditions, the refinery methodically restarted each unit. The refinery received one citizen phone call for noise on the evening of the event. Reportable Quantity was only exceed for sulfur dioxide during this event, but the refinery will report emissions from this event for other pollutants in the annual Emissions Inventory.