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Chalmette Refining (1376), Chalmette
Releases of Xylene
| LDEQ Accident Number Accident Date |
Point Source(s) | Notes | Amount of Release |
| 80549 2005-07-14 | closed cooling water tower | Cause: Leaking heat exchanger. Contamination of closed water cooling system by hydrocarbon, released via evaporation through cooling tower Followup: No Notes: E1288 isolated as the source of the hydrocarbon, repaired or replaced before returned to service. | 1,307.0 pounds |
| 76040 2005-01-07 | D-6305 | Cause: During a transfer of gasoline to tank 6303 (D-6303), gasoline was observed leaking from the side of tank 6305 (D-6305). Tank 6305 later was determined to have been unintentionally filled past capacity, causing overflow to leak through tank side vent. 123,836 pounds of gasoline released to the ground. Report documents amounts volatilized. However, total amounts released to environment in report attached do not add up to 123,836. States 123,836 lbs of flammable organic liquid 'including' the benzene, xylene, and VOCs. Followup: Yes Notes: Contained liquid in tank area and recovered via vacuum truck. Water and foam applied to minimize volatilization and migration into soil. Note that report attached to letter contains information about other compounds released to the environment. Air monitoring report and soil sampling report were requested and provided by letters dated 1/18/05 and 2/28/05, which are attached to the report file. Field interview form states that 582 bbls of gasoline were released, but everything else states 481 bbls. The quantities of pollutants listed in this report were the portion that Chalmette Refinery claims were volatilized; under the Reportability of Liquid Product and Chemical Spills, the Notification Instructions lists that the quantities released were 123,836 lbs of oil (gas), 2748 lbs flammable gases, 980.8 lbs benzene, 8173.2 lbs xylenes. Further in report it is declared that 2747.7 lbs of pollutants were released offsite. Accutest Lab summary of soil testing adds Toluene and TPH-GRO to pollutant list. | 181.0 pounds |
| 89056 2006-07-05 | No information given | Cause: leak occurred during feed composition change on #1 Pretreater Followup: No Notes: DEQ report with no corresponding letter from CRLLC. Channel bolts tightened. The exchanger gasket surface will be repaired in August during the next schedule pretreater catalyst change-out. | 55.0 pounds |
| 88541 2006-06-12 | Feed/Effluent Exchanger (E7502 A-f) | Cause: automatic shutdown due to interruption in electrical current, water leak following thunderstorms. Followup: No Notes: Feed to the #1 Pretreater was shut off, steam was applied to the channel head, and water was used to flush naphtha to the refinery oily water system | 122.0 pounds |
| 99113 2007-09-01 | Tank D-0036 | Cause: cause of leak in Tank is corrosion between new floor and existing walls of the tank. Followup: No Notes: Spill became visible after heavy rain. CRLLC is in the process of emptying, cleaning, and preparing the tank for inspection. CRLLC added an additional corrosion prevention lining to the floor of the Tank prior to putting it back in service. CRLLC has also verified that all other tanks in the same service have lined floors. | 124.0 pounds |
| 96571 2007-05-27 | Naphtha Storage Tank #36 | Cause: see notes. Small hole develops in floating roof of tank permitting vapors to escape. Followup: No Notes: Letter written to rescind notification of 5/27 concerning release of VOCs, Benzene, Xylene | |
| 110661 2008-11-07 | No information given | Cause: a 5 gallon bucket used to catch leaks of released liquids from threads in piping blew over. Followup: No Notes: Letter states that emissions were BRQ. | 2.0 pounds |
| 106153 2008-06-04 | Chemical loading rack | Cause: sump at chemical loading rack has a crack Followup: No Notes: Upon discovery, released liquids were recovered via vacuum truck for appropriate reprocessing. Liquids recovered for reprocessing. Soil impacted removed for proper disposal. | 6.0 pounds |
| 105733 2008-05-19 | Transfer run down line | Cause: Transfer run down line from xylene unit to tank leaked Followup: No Notes: Letter states that emissions were BRQ. | 58.0 pounds |
| 118252 2009-09-28 | tank M3 | Cause: Tank M3 leaking at base. Followup: No Notes: RQ not exceeded. Vacuum truck to clean up leak. Pan placed under leak. | |
| 123040 2010-04-27 | flare #1 | Cause: Compressor inadvertently tripped while executing Emergency Block Valve Prevention Maintenance Program procedure on it--sent material to flare. Followup: No Notes: Operations team secured the unit and started up the compressor, full evaluation and troubleshooting will be addressed during next shutdown. Will not perform EBV maintenance program in the meantime. | |
| 134390 2011-10-07 | Tank 71 Floating roof Tank 403 Cam Lock fiting | Cause: Oil was initially discovered on the roof of Tank 71 on August 9, 2011. The emissions were determined to be less than reportable quantities, so no notifications were required. To mitigate leak potential and offsite impacts, the oil was removed daily to prevent accumulation and emissions potential until repair investigation efforts could be completed.
On October 7, 2011, at approximately 1040 hours, while cleaning the tank roof to allow for additional inspection, roof scale was dislodged, and a roof leak developed, eventually covering the entire surface area of the tank roof with oil. Foam was applied to the tank roof at 1540 hours, mitigating odors and emissions. Oil was removed from the tank roof October 9, 2011. Though ongoing emissions following removal of the oil are estimated to be below reportable quantities, the tank roof is not floating on the product, thus incident response efforts are still considered in progress, as repairs are completed.
At approximately 0915 hours on October 11, 2011 a separate incident at a different tank resulted in hydrocarbon and benzene emissions for approximately 1 hour. Followup: Yes Notes: Mitigation efforts to reduce emissions potential commenced promptly, as tank level was reduced, however, the product could not be removed from the tank roof. Foam was applied to the tank roof at 1540 hours,greatly reducing emissions from the event. The tank roof was landed Sunday, October 9, and the oil was able to be removed from the floating roof. Additionally, the tank contents were drained and water was introduced into the tank, however, a thin oil layer remained present as repairs were progressed. Repairs were completed October 14, 2011. Repairs were completed on areas where thickness readings determined necessary on October 14, 2011. | 361.0 pounds |
| 133679 2011-09-06 | Tank Roof Leak | Cause: Emission values included in the later report of 134390. All values in notes for this report. On August 9, 2011, at approximately 0930 hours, oil was discovered on the roof of Tank 71. The roof was cleaned and visually inspected, and though no leaks were discovered, it was determined that additional inspection was required, including mechanical thickness readings. Additional cleaning was necessary for this to occur. Concurrently, it was determined that the source of the oil was likely a failed check valve on the tank roof drain. This drain was plugged to ensure no oil could back up onto tank roof.
On Friday, October 7, 2011 at approximately 1040 hours, while cleaning the roof of Tank 71 to allow the inspection group to access the roof for mechanical thickness reading, scale was removed and a hole developed in the roof. Cleaning was stopped at that point and personnel exited the roof and notified Refinery personnel. The initial leak estimate determined it to be potentially in excess of 1000 lbs of hydrocarbon and 10 lbs of benzene. Prompt notifications to the agencies were made upon discovery.
In a separate event at 0915 hours on October 11, 2011, approximately 20 gallons of gasoline were released to the soil when a cam lock fitting did not seal properly at Tank 403. The emissions associated with this event were approximately 116 lbs hydrocarbon and 1 lb of benzene. In combination with the above incident, the RQ for benzene was exceeded. Followup: No Notes: Mitigation efforts to reduce emissions potential commenced promptly, as tank level was reduced, however, the product could not be removed from the tank roof. Foam was applied to the tank roof at 1540 hours, greatly reducing the emissions from the event. The tank roof was landed Sunday, October 9, and the oil was able to be removed from the floating roof. Additionally, the tank contents were drained and water was introduced into the tank, however a thin oil layer is still present as repairs progressed. There were multiple complaints associated with this incident; a. Terrible odor coming from the direction of the river where there is a barge parked, and several facilities in that direction as well. t134349 b. Terrible odor coming from the direction of the river making several people in area sick. Vomiting, headache, and child exposure. t133866 c. Barge that has been tied up at the docks for 2 days is producing terrible odors. No tempo # d. Incredibly strong and foul odor coming from the direction of the river. No Tempo # | |
| 136734 2012-01-25 | Vessel in #7 crystallizer unit | Cause: A small hole and crack were discovered in the shell of the vessel of the #7 crystallizer (E4302), causing the vessel to fail internally and form a hole through the outside shell, allowing the product to escape. Followup: No Notes: The vessel was isolated and was being pumped down, depressurized, and the contents were being displaced with Nitrogen. The spilled product was isolated to the concrete slab which leads to the storm water containment area. All product being released was eventually recovered at the sump and diverted to a slop tank. Air monitoring occurred and levels were only detected within the 50x50 blocked off area. Atmospheric Venting. Highly Flammable. | 10.8 pounds |
| 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. | 133.0 pounds |
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