LA Bucket Brigade : Refinery Accident Database

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Calumet Lubricants 8 (1214), Shreveport

Causal Factor: Power Failure

LDEQ Accident Number Accident Date	Point Source(s)	Notes	Amount of Release
109029 2008-09-13	FL 2001 #3 Flare vacuum truck loading area, flare line knock-out drum	Cause: Hurricane Ike blew down 2 power poles inside the refinery causing plant power failure. Both Sulfur Recovery Units (SRUs) were down and all acid gas was routed to the #3 flare. The boilers were also down and there was no steam on the flare. As a result the #3 flare opacity was greater than 20% for 2 hours. While in start-up, refinery operators noted that the flare pressure was higher than normal. The investigation revealed that the flare knock-out drums were full of liquid and the flare lines had liquid in them as well. Followup: No Notes: Power lines and poles were replaced In response to problems during start-up, contractors were immediately brought in to provide vacuum truck services, and the liquids removed from the knockout drums and flare lines was placed into Baker fractionation tanks. The Vacuum truck operations of removing the liquid from the flare line had the unfortunate result of creating odor problems within the refinery. Low levels of Hydrogen Sulfide were detected around the vacuum truck loading areas and at the three flare line knock-out drums. Calumet personnel monitored hydrogen sulfide levels within the refinery for industrial hygiene purposes. Liquids from the Sour Water Stripper were also found to be entering the flare lines, adn the sources of these liquids were identified and blinded off.	Sulfur Dioxide: 12,800.0 pounds
102122 2008-01-08	FL 2001 #3 Flare	Cause: Power outage on previous day caused motor windings to burn out on liquid pump on flare drum. The flare gas compressor shut down as a result. Followup: No Notes: This incident is linked to the previous day which is why the state police numbers are the same. The pump was replaced.	Sulfur Dioxide: 2,736.0 pounds
116061 2009-06-29	MEK	Cause: Due to an electrical power failure, operations were dumping deketonizer bottom water to the sump. Also at the same time operations were dropping out the primary and secondary feed drums to the warm wash receiver. They had only one predilution pump on and the warm wash receiver overflows to the sump. The south sump pump could not keep up and solvent backed out of the sump leg drain at the MEK charge pump. Source of ignition was heat trace that was arcing above the pump. Followup: Yes Notes: Fire was extinguished, electrical heat tape turned off, and an electrician was called over to look at it.	Methyl Ethyl Ketone: 2.4 pounds Lubricating Oil: 1.0 pounds Toluene: 3.6 pounds Water: 3.0 pounds
116060 2009-06-28	#3 Flare	Cause: Off-site and on-site transformers failed causing complete power failure. #3 flare smoking due to lack of steam Followup: Yes Notes: electricians called to restore power.
115655 2009-06-12	Flare #3	Cause: Swepco off-site transformer failed and cause plant power failure at approximately 7pm. SRUs and boilers shut down causing excess SO2 to be released to #3 Flare. Because of lack of boilers thick black smoke was also coming from the #3 flare. Followup: No Notes: power restored, restarted all process units.	Sulfur Dioxide: 850.0 pounds
112663 2009-02-11	#3 flare	Cause: Plant power failure from storm event caused shut-down of processing units. Utility pole was knocked down which caused electrical sub-station to fail. Both Sulfur Recovery Units went down, the belco thermal oxidizers and most other processing units. Followup: No Notes: Attempting to repair electrical and restart units. LDEQ conducted a field inspection and completed a field interview form: Strong odor was noted upon arrival. Perimeter air monitoring was conducted. SO2 and H2S were the parameters that were monitored. All monitoring showed non-detect. Full PDF was not able to be uploaded at this time. Current PDF does not include LDEQ investigation form. No refinery letter.	Sulfur Dioxide: 5,640.0 pounds
128951 2011-02-01	FLARE	Cause: LDEQ states that the plant lost power, causing a loss of steam to the flare. This caused excess smoke to be released from the flare. Followup: No Notes: Issue was resolved when power came back on. LDEQ states that no offsite impact was noted. LDEQ report only. No refinery letter.
145587 2012-12-25	Flare #2	Cause: On 12/20/12, The voltage on the six 12.5 kV feeders supplying service to Calumet from the Midway Substation experienced a significant voltage sag. The voltage dropped down to 18.9 volts (16.4%) on the West 12.5 kV bus for 37.32 cycles, and 18.3 volts (15.9%) on the east bus for 37.31 cycles. This event caused all the incoming voltage to sag, which caused Calumet to lose production. At the same time, 12.5 kV OCB 5500 tripped and reclosed auto. At the time of the event, the area was in midst of a severe storm, including very strong wind gusts and lightning. A 12.5 kV knife-blade switched burned up, probably due to lightning, which caused 12.5 kV circuit breaker 5500 to open. Calumet personnel reported seeing a blue flash at the time of the incident, which was most likely the offending lightning strike. On 12/25/12, the west 69/12.5 kV transformer differentialed, causing both of the 69 kV Breakers (8310 and 10320) in the Midway Substation to lock out. Therefore, the voltage went to 0.0 volts (0.0%) on all six 12.5 circuits feeding the refinery. At the time of the event, the area was in midst of a severe storm, including strong wind gusts and lightning. 12.5 kV circuit breaker 5500 experience both external and internal damage. 12.5 kV circuit breaker #5500 failed which caused the west 69/12.5 transformer to differential, which triggered the operation of the 69 kV breakers. Also, lost on 12.5 kV middle phase metering PT when the neutral burned off. On 12/30/12, the incoming voltage to the six 12.5 kV feeders supplying service to Calumet from the Midway Substation dropped down to 59.3% of normal for approximately 3.84 cycles. At the time of the event, the 69 kV circuit breakers on the transmission line between SWEPCO's Arsenal Hill and Shed Road Substations tripped on time and reclosed automatically. The cause of the fault is unknown. The events that occurred on 12/20/12 and 12/25/12 were due to weather, but the cause of the event that occurred on 12/30/12 is unknown. Followup: No Notes: The 69 kV breakers (8310 and 10320) in both the Midway and Hardy substations operated one time and reclosed automatically, with no further problems. Circuit breaker 5500 was cleared, and then the rest of the station was restored to normal. The SWEPCO protection scheme worked as designed to prevent further damage to the system. Circuit breaker 5500 was later replaced, which should help to prevent a further outage like this one. SWEPCO is also looking at replacing 12.5 kV circuit breaker #4910. SWEPCO will also be replacing another 15 switches, bus PT's, station post insulators and adding transition plates where needed. On 12/25/12, a citizen reported flaring, black smoke, and a sulfur odor at the Calumet Lubricants Shreveport Refinery. The LDEQ contacted the facility who advised that the plant suffered a power failure during the bad weather when a circuit breaker failed at Southwester Electric and Power Company and caused a refinery circuit breaker to trip. Due to the incident, the flare increased, and an estimated 80 pounds of SO2 was released from Flare #2. This flare is permitted to emit a maximum of .01 pounds per hour of SO2. In a Power Disturbance/Interruption Analysis submitted by Calumet, the facility reported three separate incidences of power outages. The event reported by the concerned citizen occurred on 12/25/12. The following incidents are reported by Calumet: On 12/20/12, the 69kV breakers in both the Midway and Hardy substations operated one time and reclosed automatically, with no further problems. The 12.5 kV knife-blade switch was later bypassed by SWEPCO, thus temporarily eliminating the problem. The SWEPCO protection scheme worked as designed to prevent further damage to the system. All three phases on the switch with the burned blade were changed out the next morning, and the substation was returned to normal. On 12/25/12, the 69kV breakers in both the Midway and Hardy substations operated one time and reclosed automatically, with no further problems. Circuit breaker 5500 was cleared and then the rest of the station was restored to normal. The SWEPCO protection scheme worked as designed to prevent further damage to the system. Circuit breaker 5500 was later replaced, which should help to prevent further outage like this one. SWEPCO is also looking at replacing 12.5 kV circuit breaker #4910. SWEPCO will also be replacing another 15 switches, but PT's station post insulators and adding transition plates were needed. On 12/30/12, after the 69 kV breakers reclosed automatically, no further action was required. The RQ for sulfur dioxide is 500 pounds.	Sulfur Dioxide: 80.0 pounds
139058 2012-04-22	SRU Unit	Cause: On 4/22/12 both Sulfur Recovery Units (SRUs) tripped and sent acid gas to flare gas recovery system. This increased the hydrogen sulfide concentration of the fuel gas and caused an exceedance of the 500 lb RQ limit for sulfur dioxide. Emission point v-f . Followup: No Notes: Attempt to restart SRUs and reduce DHT/LOHT charge rate. Specific remedial actions and plans to prevent recurrence are to be determined. 2 copies of written report were included in this document. Written report says that the release started on 4/23/12 at 12 pm and ended on 4/23/12 at 11 pm. The duration says 11 hours. Then it says that the event occurred on 4/22/12. They reported the release on 4/23/12. A memorandum is included in this document dated 4/25/12. It states that the permit levels for hydrogen sulfide gas released through a flare with exceeded several times during this incident. There were no complaints and no follow ups related to this incident.	Sulfur Dioxide: 1,696.0 pounds
138122 2012-03-21	#2 Flare	Cause: Electricity to the flare gas compressors failed, returned, and failed again, causing sulfur dioxide to be released to the #2 flare on two occasions. The power failure was attributed to a bad solenoid valve, which cauased a primary fuse to blow in the breaker. Followup: Yes Notes: The bad valve has been replaced, and the compressor began running well again as of 15:30 on 3/22/12.	Sulfur Dioxide: 1,000.2 pounds
152539 2013-11-22	No Information Given	Cause: Spill of slop oil on east side of refinery on November 22. Loss of power due to heavy rain caused East sump pump in the tank farm area to back up of east sump separators and release oil to surrounding area. Followup: No Notes: Restore power. Use vac trucks to remove product in area and restart pumps when power restored.	Slop Oil: 420.0 gallons
152202 2013-11-06	No. 2 Flare	Cause: Citizen complaint of flaring was received on 11/6/13. Flaring was a result of power failure which caused the No. 2 Hydrogen Plant to trip and lose power. The heavy flaring occurred from the No. 2 flare from 10:35 to 10:50 on 11/6/2013 Followup: No Notes:
149948 2013-07-29		Cause: On July 27, at approximately 9 AM, the plant sustained a power loss during inclement weather. Power was out for 2h 30m. The resultant startup caused the flares to exceed the maximum permitted pounds per hour release. Followup: No Notes: No information given on remedial actions. Flares exceed permits and are to be reported in deviation reports, but due to the incident being unavoidable, and not of reportable quantity, the permit exceedences are to be deferred to the next enforcement inspection. H2S fuel gas concentration was 1600 ppm following the event during startup, and the rolling average was approximately 360 ppm when the permitted limit is 160 ppm. There was approximately 87 pounds of SO2 from flare #2 and 2 pounds of SO2 from flare #3 in the 24 hour period.	Sulfur Dioxide: 89.0 pounds
146440 2013-02-04	Flare #2	Cause: Heavy flaring of sulfur dioxide resulted due to power failure on February 4, 2013. The heavy flaring began at approximately 2026 hours on February 4, 2013, and continued until 0730 hours on February 5, 2013. At 0949 hours on February 5, 2013, an email from Calumet documented that the flaring stopped at 0730 hours that morning. The plant lost a substation in the west side of the refinery that brought down the boiler systems due to loss of feed pumps and water softeners. This cascaded to loss of other units in the plant. Flaring continued until the flare gas compressor operation could be restored. Reportable quantities were not reported to Louisiana State Police. While reportable quantities were not exceeded, the permit limit for Flare 2 (the point source for this incident) of 0.01 lbs/hour of sulfur dioxide was exceeded by a rate of 41.1 lbs/hour. Also, the plant reported that the highest average three hour value to be 3325ppm SO2. Followup: No Notes: Even though email correspondence has been located between the refinery and LADEQ the day of the discovery and after heavy flaring had stopped, LABB COULD NOT LOCATE OFFICIAL REFINERY LETTER BEYOND EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WITH LADEQ. A memoranda from LADEQ dated February 8, 2013 cites that this scenario has also occurred with an incident labeled by LADEQ on 12/25/2013 (a typo, but still mentions a repetitive incident). A complaint was reported to LADEQ by Ms. Velma White citing "extremely bad flaring" on February 4, 2013 at 1635 hours.	Sulfur Dioxide: 455.0 pounds
158553 2014-09-05	#2, #3 Flares; Dynawave	Cause: A citizen complaint was received on 9/5/14. The description of the complaint was that high flaring with black smoke was coming from Calumet Lubricants. Also on 9/5, Calumet notified the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) that flaring was a result of a power failure which caused the facility to shut down. The preliminary cause of the power outage was a dead buzzard that had gotten between the phase and ground lines. Followup: No Notes: No remedial actions detailed in report	Sulfur Dioxide: 254.0 pounds
153988 2014-02-20	None Reported	Cause: A citizen complaint was received at the NWRO on 2/20/14 at 14:24. The description of the complaint was that continuous black flaring started at 1:55 pm on 2/20/14. An on-site investigation was conducted with Mr. Dessonier, Environmental Engineer of Calumet, on 2/20/2014. Mr. Dessonier stated the thunderstorm caused a power flicker which caused a loss of the refinery. Due to the power lost, the refinery shut down and all the units are routed to flare #2 and flare #3 to depressurize. Flaring with heavy smoke started at 13:50 2/20/14. At the time of the inspection the flaring was noted to be continuous throughout the inspection. Mr. Dessonier stated that the facility is in the process of re-starting the refinery at the time of the inspection. He also stated that during the startup process minor flaring could occur. Flaring began around 13:50 and stopped around 20:00. Followup: No Notes: Community member photos of flaring were also forwarded to enforcement officials at the Environmental Protection Agency.