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Accident # | 148316 |
tate Police # | N/A |
Accident Date | 2013-04-24 |
Report Date | 2013-05-01 |
Follow-up Date | 0000-00-00 |
Follow-up: | No |
Pollutant | Duration | Point Source | Greenhouse Gas | Criteria Pollutant | Ozone forming chemical | Amount of Release |
Oil | 3h 30m | junction box | NO | NO | NO | 1,134.0 gallons |
Accident Classified As: Reportable Quantity
After a heavy rainstorm, approximately 24 barrels of oil from the process sewer was reported in the clean stormwater ditch along the north side of Avenue B, and approximately 3 barrels of oil to the ground from a nearby sewer hub southwest of Tank 20D-36. It was discovered that the block valves on the sewer junction box south of Avenue C East and Alabama Street were inadvertently left open. This junction box controls drainage from the tank farm and can be lined up to to go either the process sewer system or clean stormwater. The primary lineup is to have all valves closed except after rainfall events. It appears the clean stormwater block valve was left open from a previous rain event. The process sewer system swelled and filled the junction box, which then flowed into the storm ditch via the clean water side of the sewer box that had been left open.
The oil was contained onsite, recovered using vacuum trucks and reprocessed in the refinery's recovered oil system. Once the source of the release was identified, the block valve lineup to stormwater was immediately closed thus stopping the release. Containment boom and absorbent boom was placed at multiple locations to contain the oil that had reached the stormwater ditch. Microbe-enhanced bagasse placed after ground cleanup. To prevent recurrence: the operator accountable for the improper line-up has been coached; the Logistics Production Supervisor has reviewed this incident with the Production Team Leaders and is currently reviewing with each shift; the production supervisor has taken feedback from the shifts on how to improve verification of proper line-ups in the field; Motiva is executing a project to improve line-up visualization; and the Logistics Production Team Leads will ensure drainage junction box line-up status is accurately documented in the department end of shift reports. Most of the oil floated on the water surface in the storm ditch. Residual of oil staining remaining on the vegetation and ground surface was chopped/scraped until oil was no longer visible. Oil in contact with the ground was confined to the surface with no impact below a few inches. All oil-stained soils, PPE, and other contaminated materials were properly containerized for disposal.
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