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Valero (26003), Norco

LDEQ Accident Report

Accident #No LDEQ Number Available
State Police #13-04038
Accident Date2013-09-12
Report Date 2013-09-19
Follow-up Date 2013-11-20
Follow-up: Yes

Pollutants Released

Pollutant Duration Point Source Greenhouse Gas Criteria Pollutant Ozone forming chemical Amount of Release
Slurry Oilunknowntransfer line at Dock 5NONONO25.0 gallons

Accident Classified As: Below Reportable Quantity (BRQ)

Cause of Problem: Corrosion

On September 12, we discovered at approximately 05:30 that a leak had developed on a 16" line while in use to transfer slurry oil to a vessel at our Dock 5. This resulted in a 15 gallon slurry oil spill to the batture [i.e. land]. The volume of oil that entered the river cannot be confirmed, but is estimated on the order of 10 gallons. The density of the oil caused it to sink to the bottom, which does not allow for accurate quantification of the total volume that entered the river. This failure is attributed to corrosion under the insulation of this transfer line. A repair plan for the corrosion was being executed as a result of the 2012 inspection, but a small, intermittent leak on an adjacent water line caused the corrosion at this point to be accelerated. The water leak was discovered as a result of this incident investigation. The known damage of the insulation on certain locations of the transfer line also contributed to this moisture driven corrosion.

Discharge Preventable - Yes

At the time the incident occurred, an inspect and repair plan was in progress for the purpose of preventing this type of incident, although the location of the release had not yet been inspected and repaired. Note that the unforeseen acceleration of the corrosion due to the leaking water line caused the pipe to fail well before anticipated by our inspection survey.

Notes/Remedial Actions

Once the leak was identified, the line was isolated and boom was deployed into the river. Containment and absorbent pads were placed under the leak site to capture any residual oil and a vacuum track was deployed to remove the remaining contents of the line. Absorbent boom was placed on the shore to prevent additional oil from going to the river and to capture oil possibly in the water already. Our contracted oil spill response organization was mobilized to assist with the cleanup. The oil that spilled to the dirt was removed with a vacuum truck. The in the area was excavated and placed into roll out boxes for disposal. The oil spilled to the river sank to the sediment. Some oil was captured using absorbent boom or was found on the side of the docked barges. This oil was removed and disposed as non-hazardous waste. The following corrective measure have or will be implemented to prevent this recurrence: 1) Repair the line by replacing sections of old pipe. 2) Take the Reduced Crude Line out of service, inspect and repair if necessary before putting back into service. 3) Review incident with all Complex I/SGS (dock operators) personnel for improved hazard recognition. 4) Develop an overall inspection plan on the remaining, insulated batture piping. 5) Confirm that all batture piping from Dock 4 to Dock 5 is inspected.