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CITGO Petroleum (1250), Lake Charles

Causal Factor: Power Failure

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date
Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
96768

2007-06-04
B-7 Flare 3(IX)33 ; Sulften absorber vent at Sulfur Recovery Unit 3(XX-H)1 ; TGII Absorber Vent at Sulfur Recovery Unit 3(XX-J)5 ; furnaces and boilers ; sweet crude oil pipeline to Tank 101
Cause: short duration rain event; swirling winds 60mph+, hail and lightning - see notes - see not

Followup: Yes

Notes: The storm caused a loss of power at Substation 21 and power blips on lines from Entergy impacting the Sulfur Recovery Plant. CITGO believes water entered the Substation via a the joint b/w the roof and the side wall causing a fused switch failure. Loss of power resulted in higher pressure and increase in liquid levels causing flaring at B-7. Loss of amine flow and hydrogen sulfide absorption generated heavy smoking from some of the boiler stacks and upset the Sulfur Recovery Plant. Operations pnnel inadvertently overloaded the Central Amine Unit causing high SO2 emissions throughout the Refinery. The crude oil leak was caused by internal corrosion. Limited offsite impact from soot from smoking boilers. REMEDIAL ACTIONS --> A Root Cau
Sulfur Dioxide: 237,471.0 pounds
Hydrogen Sulfide: 1,649.0 pounds




Crude Oil: 1,677.0 pounds
120457

2009-12-19
Acid plant
Cause: Power failure in acid plant area.

Followup: No

Notes: No RQs were exceeded, so no information was given.




112389

2009-01-29
B-Topper unit
Cause: B-Topper unit shut down, flaring of hydrocarbons and smoking furnaces as a result of the failure of a 13.8kV underground feeder cable.

Followup: No

Notes: Release of carbonyl sulfide occurred on 01-29-09, 01-30-09, 02-05-09. Release of hydrogen sulfide occurred on 01-30-09, 02-05-09.Efforts were made to shut down the B-Topper unit and affected electrical equipment was tripped off.
Carbonyl Sulfide: 162.9 pounds
Carbonyl Sulfide: 162.9 pounds
Carbonyl Sulfide: 244.8 pounds
Hydrogen Sulfide: 3.1 pounds
Hydrogen Sulfide: 4.7 pounds
122816

2010-04-15
no information given
Cause: Power surge tripped equipment in acid plant when Entergy lost a transformer.

Followup: No

Notes: BRQ. Refinery letter states that no reportable quantities were exceeded. Stabilized plant but still having problems. No additional information given.



131653

2011-06-05
Unicracker unit
Cause: LDEQ report states that power was lost to the Unicracker unit resulting in a flare.

Followup: No

Notes: BRQ: Quantities of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide were below reportable quantities. No further information on remedial actions was given.


136319

2012-01-05
FLARE: Multiple flares coming from UNI Cracker, Coker 2, Acid Plant, and SRU

Cause: There was a total plant power failure. The UNI Cracker, Coker 2, Acid Plant, and SRU are all flaring.

Followup: No

Notes: The electrical problem was corrected and air monitoring took place.


160197

2014-11-23
Crude Vacuum Unit (CV-1)
Cause: Release of sulfur dioxide (SO2) due to a flaring event at CITGO's Crude Vacuum Unit (CV-1). The incident occurred due to a brief power outage at an electrical substation for the unit. The duration of the flaring event was 13 minutes.

Followup: No

Notes: No information provided on remedial actions taken