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Chalmette Refining (1376), Chalmette

Causal Factor: Under Investigation

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date
Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
134930

2011-10-27
Line leak at Tank 68
tank 68
Cause: On October 27, 2011, Chalmette Refinery made a verbal notification that an ongoing combined release from Tank 68 and a retired line in the Treating Area under Incident 11-06603 was resolved, and submitted a follow up letter on October 28, 2011, accordingly. On the morning of October 28, 2011, the retired line was found to be leaking again, potentially in excess of reportable quantities, and notifications were made. The source was isolated at 1500 hours on October 29, 2011, ending the release in excess of a reportable quantity. Cleanup of the area was completed at 1600 hours on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

Followup: Yes

Notes: Foam was applied to the area, to reduce the emissions from the event. Vacuum trucks were used to recover the benzene and water, and the source was isolated October 29, ending the reportable release. United States Environmental Services was onsite from October 24 to November 1, to assist with cleanup of the area. This accident is linked to 134832. According to LDEQ investigator Lee Lemond, the original accident occurred on a line leak, but the facility thought it was caused due to a tank leak. The facility "repaired the tank" and closed the accident file for 134832. The same leak was later rediscovered as this accident (134930), and it was correctly identified as a line leak. After the second accident report was filed, the line leak was actually repaired.
Benzene: 9,204.0 pounds
Hydrocarbon: 7,229.0 pounds
129381

2011-02-23
PSV Valve
Cause: State Police report states a PSV valve may be leaking and that cause of leak is under investigation. LDEQ Report states PSV valve was leaking to flare system.

Followup: No

Notes: BRQ

142614

2012-09-04
crude feed charge line to the #1 Crude unit
Cause: On Tuesday, September 4, 2012, at approximately 05:00 hours, crude oil accumulation was observed on the ground by the benzene recovery unit (BRU) area. This incident happened during refinery startup activities subsequent to Hurricane Isaac. The cause of the accumulation is a leak in the crude feed charge line to the #1 Crude unit. No information given to cause except that this was an underground crude feed charge line. Report dated Jan 2013 still did not have root cause analysis for this leak.

Followup: Yes

Notes: This event is related to Hurricane Isaac recovery activities. During start up of Chalmette Refinery discovered 4.72 barrels of crude oil (3 reports on this, original (September 11, 2012) reported <1 barrel, 2nd (November 9, 2012) reported 50-75 barrels and 3rd (January 9, 2013) went back down to 4.72 barrels) leaking from the crude feed charge line to the #1 Crude unit. Once identified, the pumps were turned off and the line was isolated to stop the leak source. Vacuum trucks are being utilized to contain and recover the loss of crude oil from the isolated section of the charge piping. The isolated section of piping contains approximately 50-75 bbls which will be actively collected via vacuum trucks to minimize spill potential. Air monitoring was initiated at the spill site and has demonstrated no affect in the clean-up area. Offsite monitoring was conducted and all readings were below detection limits. No emergency conditions or offsite impacts resulted from this release. An investigation is ongoing to identify the root cause of why the leak occurred and will be addressed in a 60-day follow-up letter. Refinery has utilized alternative piping to provide crude feed. The underground line will be cleared of hydrocarbon material, isolated, and taken out of service.
Crude Oil: 198.2 gallons
No LDEQ Reported

2012-03-16
Outfall 012
Cause: a visible sheen was observed through cooling water outfall 012. The source of the material is believed to have been residual oil remaining from the lube oil release reported initially on February 19.

Followup: Yes

Notes: United States Environmental Services deployed containment boom at approximately 1600 hours.

159929

2014-11-08
#2 Coker Wet Gas Compressor
Cause: On Wednesday, November 8, 2014, at approximately 13:27 hours the #2 Coker Wet Gas Compressor K-8101 tripped on an electrical outage and routed all gas to the flare gas recovery (FGR) system. The FGR system was unable to handle the excess gas and flaring occurred intermittently for 277 minutes until K-8101 could be restarted. Duration is listed as 4h 36m, however calculated duration from incident start time and incident end time is 11h 59m. An investigation into the root cause of the event is still ongoing and results will be provided in a 60-day followup letter.

Followup:

Notes: #2 Coker rates were reduced to minimize the amount of excess gas being routed to the flare gas recovery system. An investigation into the cause of the trip started and was determined to be a tripped fuse. The fuse was replaced and the compressor was restarted as soon as possible. Chalmette refining is conducting a failure analysis of K-8101 to determine the cause of the failure and preventability determinations.
Sulfur Dioxide: 7,480.0 pounds
159885

2014-11-05
#2 Coker Wet Gas Compressor
Cause: On November 5, 2014 at approximately 04:25 hours, the #2 Coker Wet Gas Compressor K-8101 tripped on an electrical outage and routed all gas to the flare gas recovery (FGR) system. The FGR system was not able to handle the excess gas and the flaring occurred intermittently for 364 minutes until K-8101 could be restarted. During this time, only one of the three flare gas compressor was available due to mechanical failures were down for repairs. With two flare gas compressors offline for repairs there was not sufficient capacity to recover all of the excess gas. An investigation into the root cause of the event is still ongoing and results will be provided in a 60-day follow up letter.

Followup: No

Notes: # 2 Coker rates were reduced to minimize the amount of excess gas being routed to the flare gas recovery system. An investigation into the cause of the trip started immediately and was determined to be a tripped fuse. The fuse was replaced and the compressor was restarted as soon as possible. Chalmette Refining is conducting a failure analysis of K-8101 to determine the cause fo the failure and preventability determinations. Results will be provided in a 60-day follow up letter.
Sulfur Dioxide: 21,700.0 pounds
156620

2014-06-09
Emergency Block Valve at the Crude #2 unit
Cause: A spill of crude vacuum tower bottoms occurred at the Crude #2 unit. While preparing the vacuum tower bottoms (VTB) pump for maintenance, the emergency block valve (EBV) inadvertently opened, releasing crude VTB through the flange opening on the pump. CRLLC is conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the EBV opening and measures to prevent recurrence.

Followup: Yes

Notes: The issue was resolved by isolating the EBV.
Crude Oil: 210.0 gallons


156412

2014-06-03
Tank 61
Cause: Personnel observed a material leaking at Tank 61 from the roof drain area in the dike area. Upon identification, personnel mobilized and safely blocked in the roof drain and dike valve in the containment area. Due to heavy rains the roof drain and dike valve were open for draining the area per normal work practice. CRLLC personnel noticed some hydrocarbon had entered the concrete drain ditch, where it was contained. While blocking in the roof drain, personnel noted that hydrocarbons and water partially covered the north side of the tank roof. The tank immediately began to be pumped down to empty the contents. The tank was pumped down to a level that completely exposed the tank roof. After identification of the issue, the area was foamed to minimize emissions, and cleanup began immediately. CRLLC is conducting a failure analysis of the tank roof to determine the cause of the failure.

Followup: Yes

Notes: After isolating the leak, operators used foam to minimize volatilization and vacuum trucks were utilized to clean up the area. All material in Tank 61 was transferred to Tank 60 to allow operators to address the Tank 61 floating roof.
Naphtha: 281.4 gallons
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): 3,775.0 pounds
Benzene: 22.0 pounds
Xylene: 133.0 pounds
153953

2014-02-16
Tank farm, Tank 405
Cause: On Sunday, February 16, 2014 at approximately 16:30 hours, unit operator identified a spill of ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) in the vicinity of Tank 405 at the sump. The operator obtained the proper protective equipment and at approximately 17:30 hours identified the spill to be beyond the sump area. All contents were fully contained within the tank dyke area. Air monitoring was conducted in the area add lower explosive limit (LEL) readings were all non-detect. An investigation to determine the root cause analysis is ongoing and results will be provided in a 60-day follow up report.

Followup: No

Notes: Upon discovery, notifications were made to shift supervision and the area was barricaded off to restrict access. The appropriate agencies were notified and crews were mobilized to commence clean-up activities. The root cause of the spill is under investigation. Based on the results of the investigation, measures to minimize the likelihood of recurrence will be identified and implemented as appropriate.
Diesel Fuel: 800.1 gallons