Home Search Emissions Pollutants About the Database


CITGO Petroleum (1250), Lake Charles

Releases of Nitrogen Oxide

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date
Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
92861

2006-12-27
Unicracker Unit
Cause: Leak on a split tee connection on a stopple on the E-1 Debutanizer Tower reflux line that caused the shutdown of Unicracker Unit

Followup: No

Notes: Claims emission was below RQ
92761

2006-12-19
B-11 Flare
Cause: loss of a water seal on the blowdown system at the Coker 2 Unit

Followup: No

Notes: Claims emission was below RQ
92251

2006-11-26
B-5 Flare
Cause: upset of the E1 Tower at the C-Topper Unit

Followup: No

Notes: Claims emission was below RQ
91874

2006-11-05
Flare - unplanned shutdowns of 3 catalytic cracking units, 2 reformers, 2 hydrotreaters and a fractionation unit, 4 satellite amine contactors
Cause: occurred in the power feeder cable due to upstream electrical equipment malfunction/substation malfunction

Followup: Yes

Notes: Sulfur Dioxide reported emissions is 34,339 ABOVE PERMITTED LIMIT which is not stated. Claims other emissions are below RQ. Formal Root Cause analysis to be done within 45 days of incide
101736

2007-12-16
B-7 Flare
Cause: see notes

Followup: No

Notes: High second stage discharge temperature trip of the JC-36 topper tail gas compressor
101551

2007-12-07
B-11 Flare
Cause: SEAL or GASKET - loss of a water seal on the blowdown system at the Coker 2 Unit

Followup: No

Notes: VERY COMMON INCIDENT: See notes to 07-04399
101229

2007-11-24
JC-36 Topper Tail Gas Compressor
Cause: flaring sour tail gas during unexpected shut down of JC-

Followup: No

Notes: CITGO letter states that no RQ's were exceeded
101177

2007-11-20
Cooling Towers 1 and 2
Cause: tube leak in E-12 overhead condenser, C-175D at the C-4 Recovery Un

Followup: No

Notes: The backpressure controller set point was changed from 217 to 210 PSIG. The alarm settings will be changed to a lower setting to prevent Operations from running the tower at such an elevated pressure.
43.0 pounds
100672

2007-10-31
A-Topper Unit at the B-7 Flare ; Feed Prep Unit at the B-6 Flare
B-6 Flare ; B-1 Furnace
Cause: see not

Followup: No

Notes: emissions result from flaring of residual materials in preparation for planned turnarounds
100672

2007-10-31
A-Topper Unit at the B-7 Flare ; Feed Prep Unit at the B-6 Flare
B-6 Flare ; B-1 Furnace
Cause: see not

Followup: No

Notes: emissions result from flaring of residual materials in preparation for planned turnarounds
98928

2007-08-25
B-11 Flare
Cause: SEAL or GASKET - loss of a water seal on the blowdown system at the Coker 2 Unit

Followup: No

Notes: VERY COMMON INCIDENT: See notes to 07-04399
98774

2007-08-17
Lube Plant Flare
Cause: Vacuum II Un

Followup: No

Notes: Fire caused by mechanical seal failure at the Lube Plant Flare resulating from shutdown of Vacuum II Unit
98659

2007-08-14
B-11 Flare
Cause: SEAL or GASKET - loss of a water seal on the blowdown system at the Coker 2 Unit

Followup: No

Notes: VERY COMMON INCIDENT: See notes to 07-04399
98548

2007-08-09
B-7 Flare ; B-8 Flare
Cause:

Followup: No

Notes: B-7 flaring stems from shutdown of the JC-51 Compressor at the FCCUs; B-8 flaring stems from upset at C4 Recovery Unit
98367

2007-08-03
B-11 Flare
Cause: SEAL or GASKET - loss of a water seal on the blowdown system at the Coker 2 Unit

Followup: No

Notes: Same incident cause as 07-04040 of 07/19/2007 and 07-02449 of 5/12/2007 and 07-02284 of 05/05/2007
98028

2007-07-21
B-5 Flare
Cause: see notes

Followup: No

Notes: Light hydrocarbon/ water mixture generated at Straight Run Fractionation Unit was steamed out of the B-5 Flare knock-out drum to the flare located at the Mfg. Complex
97961

2007-07-19
B-11 Flare
Cause: SEAL or GASKET - loss of a water seal on the blowdown system at the Coker 2 Unit

Followup: No

Notes: CITGO reports emissions as below RQ
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
96739

2007-06-03
B-7 Flare
Cause:

Followup: No

Notes: Flaring occurred during shut down of the B-Topper Unit
96337

2007-05-17
B-9 Flare
Cause: No information given

Followup: No

Notes: Emission through B-9 Flare resulted from depressuring contents of a sour gas line from Coker 2 to the flare. No reason for this depressuring is cited.
96170

2007-05-13
B-5 flare
Cause: depressuring a propane condensate line to the flare from the Oil Movement Area

Followup: No

Notes: propane transfer line removed for repair causes incident; De-pressuring to on-site refinery flare. Remedial action, if any, unclea
96145

2007-05-12
B-11 Flare
Cause: SEAL or GASKET - loss of a water seal on the blowdown system at the Coker 2 Unit

Followup: No

Notes: Verbal report states that loop seal had blown but not been reported by prior shift at the time of the seal failure. Relieved pressure on the drum causing it to reseal.
95932

2007-05-05
JC-2 Recycle Compressor
Cause: unexpected trip of the JC-2 Recycle Compressor caused the shutdown of the Unicracker Unit

Followup: Yes

Notes: Since Unicracker unit was shut down as result of this incident, CITGO will keep case no. open until unit is returned to servic
95938

2007-05-05
B-11 Flare
Cause: SEAL or GASKET - loss of a water seal on the blowdown system at the Coker 2 Unit

Followup: No

Notes: Conflict between letter and incident report: letter indicates that all emissions were BRQ; report says SO2 was >1000lbs. No offsite protective action despite emission of material offsite.
95491

2007-04-19
B-Topper Unit, B-7 Flare
Cause:

Followup: No

Notes:
94896

2007-03-26
Coker 1 Unit; F201A Drum; B5 Flare
Cause: Unit upset and the flaring of process gas

Followup: No

Notes:
94517

2007-03-09
E-10 debutanizer tower
Cause: startup of debutanizer tower in c4 Light Ends Recovery Uni

Followup: No

Notes: Verbal report indicates that there was a grass fire on the Equistar property across from the BLCOH Control Room. This incident involved three separate flares, lasting a total of 1 h 41 mins. The flares resulted from multiple causes, each of which was related to the malfunction of the E-10 debutanizer tower. The two separate grass fires burned for a total of 2 h 54 m. The letter of 3/16/07 from Citgo states that the emissions limits were not exceeded; however, the DEQ incident report indicates NOxemissions totaled 122 lbs, exceeding the 24 hour limit of 10 lb
122.0 pounds
93978

2007-02-15
B-12 Flare pilot - Unicracker unit
Cause: pump seal fire and flare pilot outage at the Unicracker Unit

Followup: No

Notes:
93789

2007-02-07
Coker 1 Unit
Cause: Unit upset and the flaring of process gas

Followup: No

Notes:
93277

2007-01-14
flange on C-4 recovery unit
Cause: flange leak during a blind installation for a planned turnaround of the C-4 Recovery Unit

Followup: No

Notes: No information given
93243

2007-01-12
B-7 Flare
Cause: shut down for planned turnaround of York System and parts of the C-4 Recovery Uni

Followup: No

Notes:
110403

2008-10-27
B-5 flare
Cause: routine shutdown of the Coker 1 Uni

Followup: No

Notes: CITGO letter states that emissions were BRQ. No further information given regarding shutdown
109022

2008-09-13
B-11 Flare, B-12 Flare, Sulften Stack, C-Cat Scrubber,
Cause: Hurricane Ike

Followup: Yes

Notes: Power Failure causes release of huge amount of S02. Loss of Pecan Grove substation caused the loss of power to equipment in the SRU, Central Amine, cid Plant, Sour Water Stripper, Unicracker, Wastewater Treating and Coker II Units. Combustion efficiencyof 99% was used to calculate S02 emissions - is that an appropriate figure? Follow-up report on 10/27/2008 discusses emissions from B-11 Flare only REMEDIAL ACTIONS - perform feasability study of reliable power supply for acid block ; Install nsary equipment to start up JC-201 Compressor with less than RQ Flare Emissio
108247

2008-08-21
Refinery
Cause: see notes

Followup: No

Notes: Power Failure
107166

2008-07-13
CVEP Unit
Cause: No information given

Followup: No

Notes: Fire in the CVEP Unit
105367

2008-05-05
B-5 Flare, B-11 Flare
Cause: see notes

Followup: No

Notes: Release results from depressuring of a propane line to the flares
104545

2008-04-07
B-7 Flare
Cause: combusting excess treated refinery fuel

Followup: No

Notes: CITGO letter states that emissions were BRQ
103985

2008-03-15
B-5 Flare
Cause: start up of Coker 1 Un

Followup: No

Notes: Letter states that emissions did not exceed permitted limits by an RQ amount - does not specify how much was emitted though, or if the amount exceeded the permitted limit
103360

2008-02-22
B-6 Flare
Cause: shutdown of Topper Tail Gas Compressor JC36 for maintenan

Followup: No

Notes: CITGO letter states that the emissions were BRQ
103287

2008-02-21
B-12 Flare
Cause: loss of JP3 Feed Pump Motor at the Unicracker Unit

Followup: No

Notes: CITGO letter states that the emissions were BRQ
102969

2008-02-10
B-5 Flare
D-SRP, A-SRP, C-SRP
B-7 Flare
B-9 Flare
B-12 Flare
B-6 Flare
Cause: power outage

Followup: Yes

Notes: Partial power outage: Powerhouse System feeder cable 444-PH-FR13004 faulted in a Y-splice in manhole 26. bad cable resulted in loss of interconnection of Powerhouse generators and Entergy utility power. Caused collapse of electric and steam generation systems. Protective relay miscoordination is another cause. Root Cause Failure Analysis submitted 3/25/2008 indicates that startup of three Sulfur Recovery Units results in large emissions of sulfur dioxide. REMEDIAL ACTIONS: Revise Construction Inspen QA/QC procedure for PILC cable/splice installation to include additional clarification of detail; Repair 444-PH-FR13004 ; Perform a complete reevaluation of of protective relay coordination for all breakers assoc'd with Powerhouse main buses; I
102967

2008-02-09
Propane railcar
Cause: pressure safety valve release from a loaded propane railcar and depressuring of contents of car

Followup: No

Notes: CITGO letter states that the emissions were BRQ
102799

2008-02-04
Sour C3 Mix Pipeline
Cause: leak in the Sour C3 Mix Pipeline and the blowdown of the pipeline to the flare

Followup: Yes

Notes: According to first letter, RQ for flammable gas likely exceeded and RQ for Sulfur Dioxide possibly exceeded. Follow-up says all was B
102040

2008-01-01
B-7 Flare
Cause: trip of the JC-101 compressor at the C4 Recovery Unit

Followup: No

Notes: CITGO letter states that the emissions were BRQ
120411

2009-12-24
B-16 flare
Cause: No RQs were exceeded, so no information was given.

Followup: No

Notes: Flaring of sour gas from the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Hydrotreating unit's flare. No RQs were exceeded, so no information was given.
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.
119256

2009-11-04
B-4 Flare
Cause: No RQs were exceeded, so no information was given. Release related to loss of flare flame on the B-4 flare.

Followup: No

Notes: No RQs were exceeded, so no information was given.
112786

2009-02-16
B-16 flare in Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Unit
B-16 flare at Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Unit
Cause: Sour Gas flare from the B-16 flare caused by the lifting of a pressure relief valve in the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel unit at CITGO Lake Charles Manufacturing plant.

Followup:

Notes: No information given.
123188

2010-05-02
B12 flare
Cause: The JC 1C Compressor over-pressurized causing relief valve to open to B-12 flare.

Followup: No

Notes: No information given
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.
122547

2010-04-03
#7 flare
#7
Cause: smoke coming out of flare from unknown source--no more details given--no RQs exceeded

Followup: No

Notes: no information given
122168

2010-03-17
B-12 flare
Cause: Swapping out compressors, overloaded system, valve released to flare

Followup: No

Notes: no information given
121160

2010-01-30
FLARE: B12 flare
Cause: unicracker unit shut down--high temperature on a D3 reactor resulted in a 100lb system opening up causing materials to be released to flare File contains no DEQ report, only refinery letter with no details of incident indicating it is ongoing and under investigation. Specific calculations promised in follow-up letter to be sent by 2/28/10.

Followup: No

Notes: air monitoring inside & outside perimeter
129671

2011-03-06
FLARE: B11 and B12 Flare
Cause: FLARE. State police reports states that fill pressure of the flared gas recovery system was exceeded and resulted in flaring from the B11 and B12 flares. No root cause is known. Material went off-site through the flare and then air.

Followup: No

Notes: BRQ. No Information Given. Refinery letter and SPOC report only. No LDEQ report.
144156

2012-08-07
B-11 Flare
Cause: The Coker II unit gas compressor (JC-201) shutdown. Shutdown resulted in unit gas relieving to the B-11 flare. Specific cause of shutdown was under investigation until September 21, 2012.

Followup: No

Notes: Half of Coker II unit was shut down and unit feed rate reduced to minimum rate (feed rate reduced by two thirds). In addition, immediate repair was begun on the JC-201 compressor. Compressor JC-201 was repaired and compressor was restarted. Investigation team was assembled to conduct a root cause investigation of shutdown. Release calculations indicate that reportable quantities of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were exceeded during this flaring event.
139848

2012-05-21
Acid Plant
Cause: While neutralizing a tank located in the acid plant, residual nitrosylfuric acid reacted with water and caustic, releasing nitrogen oxides into the ambient air. Nitrosylfuric acid is formed as a result of combustion in the sulfuric acid furnaces and accumulates inside equipment and lines.

Followup: Yes

Notes: The refinery continued to dilute the contents of the tank with water until the reactions stopped. The water knocked down the gases and kept them in the tank. Material left site (NRC report)