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Marathon Ashland Petroleum (3165), Garyville

LDEQ Accident Report

Accident #No LDEQ Number Available
State Police #12-05851
Accident Date2012-08-29
Report Date 2012-09-07
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
Gasoline24 hoil spill response boat (LA 1409 FG - The Big Tuna)NONOYES10.0 gallons

Accident Classified As: Reportable Quantity

Cause of Problem: Weather

Marathon's oil spill response boat (LA 1409 FG - The Big Tuna), located at Dock 1, was found to be submerged on August 29, 2012 during Hurricane Isaac. This is likely due to the eight-foot surge that occurred on the Mississippi River during the hurricane. The boat was removed from the river on August 30, 2012 - at that time it was noted that approximately 10 gallons of gasoline had been lost from the fuel tank while the boat was submerged in the river.

Discharge Preventable - No

The surge in the Mississippi River level was not predicted during Hurricane Isaac. The boat had been moored securely to Dock 1 there was not enough slack in the lines when the river level increased suddenly and the water overwhelmed the boat causing it to become submerged in the river.

Notes/Remedial Actions

As soon as conditions allowed, the boat was removed from the Mississippi River. The facility claims this release exceeds Reportable Quantities for oil. This is actually below Louisiana DEQ reportable quantities, but there is an inconsistency in facility's notion of RQ for oil and the actual state of Louisiana (LDEQ) RQs. There is no LDEQ incident # for this event, although this is linked to National Response Center NRC incident # 102-2780.