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Valero (26003), Norco

Causal Factor: No Information Given

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date
Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
83027

2005-10-12
Sulfuric Acid Alkylation Unit
Cause: No Information Given

Followup: No

Notes: Courtesy notice

No LDEQ Reported

2005-03-13
No Information Given
Cause: No Information Given

Followup: Yes

Notes: verbal report complaint from resident that Valero keeps spraying oil and coke dust into the air and it gets on his car.

89015

2006-07-02
Flare 1, flare 2
Cause: No information given

Followup: Not Applicable

Notes:
Sulfur Dioxide: 800.0 pounds
88077

2006-05-23
None Reported
Cause: No information given

Followup: No

Notes: St. Charles refinery worker notices odor and calls in incident.
100504

2007-10-24
Bypass valve on Oil tank
Cause: No information given.

Followup: Yes

Notes: On Oct 24, 2007, an operator found that the wastewater pond had oily material floating on the surface. The source was a partially opened bypass valve. Refinery personnel used absorbent boom to contain the oil. They also had mobilized oil spill responsepersonnel to assist in recovering and containing the oil. The oil was contained in the ponds and was not discharged off-site and/or through any outfall. The cause of the open valve is under investigaiton.
Crude Oil/Oily material: 210.0 gallons
100018

2007-10-07
Gasoline storage tank
Cause: No information given.

Followup: Yes

Notes: The spilled gas was contained on site and was vacuumed into a tank. Gas contaminated soil was excavated for disposal. Permittee reported a 5 bbl. Gasoline spill located at a storage tank on site. The gas seeped out of the tank onto the roof; 1 bbl remained on the roof and was cleaned with absorbants and 4 bbls ran off the roof into the drainage sditch on Valero property: Failure of roof drains on an above ground storage tankÉ
Gasoline: 210.0 gallons
No LDEQ Reported

2007-09-29
No information given.
Cause: No information given.

Followup: No

Notes: On the day of the incident, the Valero operations personnel were conducting rounds on Dock #2. During the rounds, the operator was in the process of pumping down the sump on Dock #2, when he noticed that the sump had overfilled. After surveying the area, the operator noticed that about 5 gallons of oily water went into the river. The root cause is still under investigation. Remedial actions: An absorbent boom was put in the river to remove the excess free oil. The permanent diversion boom was wipede of oil and the debris that had previously collected at the boom was removed from the area. 100% of the material was contained and removed from the area, and dumped according to state rules.
Slop Oil: 5.0 gallons
99065

2007-08-29
No information given.
Cause: No information given.

Followup: Yes

Notes: On August 29, 2007, during heavy rain at about 22:00, an operator found that the GATX pond had a layer of oily material on the surface. The source was not able to be determined. The oil in the pond has not been discharged off-site and/or through any outfall. The cause of the spill is under investigation. Refinery personnel used absorbent boom to contain the oil. Vacuum trucks were used to recover the oil from the GATX pond. About 1bbl (42 gallons) of oil was recovered from the pond. They also had lized oil spill response personnel to assist in recovering and containing the oil.
Crude Oil/Oily material: 42.0 gallons
97861

2007-07-16
No information given.
Cause: No information given.

Followup: Yes

Notes: Refinery personnel used absorbent boom to contain the oil. Vacuum trucks were immediately deployed to recover the oil from the pond and/or wastewater treatment unit. They also had mobilized oil spill response personnel to assist in recovering and containing the oil. Approximately 10 bbls, or 420 gallons, of oil have been recovered from the wastewater pond via vacuum truck. This oil is a mixture of crude oil and refined petroleum products. / During rounds in the wastewater treatment ponds vicinity, as discovered that pond #1 had a visible layer of oily material floating on the surface. The operator was unable to determine the exact source but immediately notified supervision and reported the incident. The oil was inadvertently carried over from
No information given
97588

2007-07-03
None Reported
Cause: No information given.

Followup: No

Notes: Citizen complaint received. / Caller, Ovidio Menendez, reported to Valero Refinery via phone that he was seeing the biggest cloud he'd ever seen over the plant, and believed it was due to a sulfur emission that was not in control. He used to be an analyst for the plant, but now suffers from respiratory problems, and was very disturbed. He requested that the event be investigated and that he be contacted via phone for a follow-up. No operational problems were found, according to Mr. McLaurin (shifperintendent), but that Menendez may have seen Shell Norco's brief flaring event.
95321

2007-04-12
None Reported
Cause: No information given.

Followup: No

Notes:
110214

2008-10-17
Refinery Outfall 002
Cause: Under investigaton

Followup: No

Notes: Vacuum trucks mobilized to recover material
Unknown Substance: 1,008.0 gallons
117393

2009-08-19
None Reported
Cause: Oily sheen observed on the water. Did not correlate to any discharges. Pipes were inspected but no leaks were detected. Laboratory testing identified sheen as a mixture of algae and clay. Water testing showed no signs of discharge were detected.

Followup: Yes

Notes: There was no discharge.
126927

2010-10-07
net gas compressor
Cause: Refinery letter states that they "experienced a release to the atmosphere from a net gas compressor." No additional information given.

Followup: No

Notes: BRQ. Refinery letter states that no reportable quantities were exceeded. Release initially thought to be compressed flammable gas, but follow-up determined release was inert nitrogen gas. Refinery letter only. No LDEQ report included.

122517

2010-04-01
Tank T-150-19
Cause: Routine monitoring conducted at the facility indicated a possible leak from storage tank T-150-19. Slightly elevated levels of conductivity/chlorides were found in pooled stormwater in the containment area.

Followup: No

Notes: BRQ. Report states that "the facility will continue to sample pooled fluids and increase monitoring of nearby wells to attempt to confirm a possible release, and determine any remedial actions when data has been collected."

130948

2011-05-02
Coker LPG line
Cause: Valero had blinded and de-inventoried the Coke LPG line as part of a project to elevate the Prospect Road pipe bridge that connects their East Plant and West Plant. The blinds were removed several days prior to the incident but valves in the pipe system remained closed. Valero believes that gas leaked by one of the valves and accumulated in a section of pipe after the blind had been removed on the West Plant side of the project area thus trapping gas between two closed valves. On the day of the incident, the project operator opened the downstream valve in the pipe bridge that was closest to the FCCU in order to commission a new section of pipe; the upstream valve remained. When the valve was cracked open, gas that had accumulated in the pipe leaked out into the FCCU which was undergoing construction at the time of the incident.

Followup: Yes

Notes: Coker liquified petroleum gas (LPG) which is composed mainly of butenes and propenes was released from pipe openings in the FCCU area and dispersed. Emissions were minimized by isolating the coker LPG line. Valero identified the following corrective actions and target completion dates were identified as a result of the root cause failure analysis of this incident: (1) Issue safety alert on this incident to all personnel (2) Review incident with operators and discuss need for good communications when lining up piping to units (3) Develop a battery limits blind list for the FCCU for use during future turnarounds (4) Develop a battery limits list for Complex III (Crude-Vacuum-Coker units) for use during future turnarounds
Methane: 6.1 pounds
Ethane: 146.6 pounds
Propane: 436.3 pounds
Propylene: 158.7 pounds
Isobutane: 107.1 pounds
n-Butane: 436.9 pounds
1-Butene: 140.1 pounds
Isobutylene: 104.6 pounds
trans-2-Butene: 61.0 pounds
cis-2-Butene: 41.6 pounds
3-Methyl-1-Butene: 20.7 pounds
Isopentane: 72.1 pounds
1,3-Butadiene: 4.8 pounds
n-Pentane: 122.4 pounds
1-Pentene: 14.0 pounds
2-Methyl-1 Butene: 24.9 pounds
trans-2-Pentene: 21.7 pounds
cis-2-Pentene: 62.9 pounds
2-Methyl-2-Butene: 10.7 pounds
Hexane: 80.6 pounds
Hydrogen Sulfide: 38.7 pounds
Ethylene: 8.1 pounds
148648

2013-05-13
storm water sump pump
Cause: On May 13, 2013 at approximately 1030 hrs, 1 barrel of crude oil was discovered. After further investigation, it was discovered that within our dike area of our storm water sump pump, a total of 50 gallons was spilled over a 48 hour period.

Followup: No

Notes: Oil was recovered from earthen sump using absorbent materials and a vacuum truck. Impacted soil excavated from impacted area for disposal. Some reports state 1 barrel, or 42 gallons, spilled and others state 50 gallons have been released. Notification considered a courtesy, although the RQ for crude oil is 1 barrel.
Crude Oil: 50.0 gallons
No LDEQ Reported

2013-02-06
Loading Arm No. 3
Cause: On Febraury 6, 2013 at approximately 20:25 while the dock operations contractor connected Loading Arm No. 3 to the EMS-321 barge on Dock 3, less than two gallons of Light Cycle Oil (LCO) spilled into the river. The remaining material was contained in a drip pan on the barge. Prior to initiating the connection, the loading arm had been cleared using pressurized air to another barge. However, a pocket of LCO remained in the arm and discharged while making the connection. The oil spilled to the river and dissipated. The remaining oil on the barge structure was cleaned. Waste from the clean-up will be shipped offsite to a non hazardous waste landfill.

Followup: Yes

Notes: While attaching the loading arm, a drip pan was used to contain any free oil, and we verified that all transfer lines were isolated. Absorbent pads and boom were used to capture any remaining oil. The barge company provided personnel to clean the residual oil on their deck and associated piping. No usable material was recovered. The recovered waste was disposed of properly. The following corrective measures will be implemented to prevent this recurrence: 1. Modify procedures to use alternate systems to strip the loading arms using pumps instead of pressurized air. 2. Develop a scope and cost to investigate a permanent system to strip the loading arm to the LCO transfer line. 3. Modify dock log to note loading arm stripping activities and time of activity. *The attached PDF defines itself as a 60 day written follow-up report. No LDEQ number is listed on the document. LABB could not locate the original 7-day refinery letter. The report lists LA Police incident 13-00567, NRC 1037776, but no LDEQ incident number. 4. Communicate the incident to all dock personnel.
Light Cycle Oil: 2.0 gallons
155696

2014-05-01
Treatment pond
Cause: Upon receiving an odor complaint an SPO contact found the treatment pond on the southeast side of the Valero facility had elevated levels of H2S. However, no limits were exceeded.

Followup: No

Notes: There is no information to the cause of the odor nor the duration only that the incident has been closed.