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Louisiana Refinery Accident Database

CITGO Petroleum (1250), Lake Charles

LDEQ Accident Report

Pollutants Released

Accident Classified As: No Information Given

Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

On November 16, 2011 at 16:30, Terminal personnel witnessed bubbles coming to the surface of the water in the vicinity of a vessel in port. Discharge appeared to be coming from under the bottom of the vessel under a slop tank storage compartment. It was creating a light sheen and a strong odor in the area of the discharge along a dock area. The slop tank was pumped into another compartment that appeared to slow the leak. Vessel personnel stated that the vessel was doubled hulled and the xylene was not coming from the vessel. Kevin Natali was notified by Diana LeBlanc with Citgo on 11/17/11 that 4 valves on the Marpol line (which discharges overboard) on board the vessel was found to be leaking.

Discharge Preventable - No Information Given

Notes/Remedial Actions

Hard booms were deployed around the vessel by CITGO and ES&H. The slop tank was pumped into another compartment that appeared to slow the leak. After discovering the leaking valves, the leak was secured approximately at 4 AM on November 17, 2011. The vessel was inspected by the US Coast Guard before it was released. VOC amount released manually tested with results reading 4.0 PPM. Rough calculation was done by Citgo engineering and determined the release was over 1000 lbs. CITGO LCMC will provide an update to this Courtesy Notification Letter with information from the United States Coast Guard MSU Lake Charles in regards to the citation issued to the MV Chembulk New Orleans as the information becomes available. This incident is linked with incident #135306.