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Phillips 66 (2418), Belle Chasse

Releases of Crude Oil

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date
Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
110898

2008-11-19
308F-D-1 (Low Pressure Flare); 308F-D-2 (High Pressure Flare); 191-FF (191-PSV-009A); 191-FF (191-PSV-011)
Cause: On 11/19/09, the refinery "experienced an unexpected internal electrical power phase to ground fault." This fault caused a power interruption from internal Substation 5D to the Crude Unit 191 and resulted in the loss of most of the Crude Unit's pumps and several fin fans causing a major unit upset and emergency shutdown. These upset operations subsequently caused the Atmospheric Tower's pressure relief valve (191-PSV-009A) to open to protect the upper section of the Atmospheric Tower. An attempt to circulate the liquid inventory in the Vacuum Tower (VT) back to the Crude Tanks caused as unexpected high liquid level and the VT pressure relief valve (191-PSV-011) opened up to protect the upper section of the VT. This relief valve relieved vapors, liquid hydrocarbons, and crude oil from a vent at the top of the VT. The loss of the Crude Unit forced most of the refinery's process units to shutdown resulting in intermittent flaring. Following the shutdown and the re-establishment of power to substation 5D, the process of restarting several refinery units was initiated. The Coker Unit's Compressor (891-K-1) motor amp limit controller (PJC-404) unexpectedly opened the flare valve (PPC-998) due to a very high motor amperage surge at its initial start. Flares smoked intermittently throughout shutdown and startup events. Fenceline monitoring indicated "no offsite impact." Fenceline monitoring

Followup: No

Notes: Immediate: Units were shut down until electrical supply was repaired. After a formal investigation, the cause of the incident was determined to be a loose connection between the bus and runback rod that put enough electrical load on the connecting bolt to melt it thus creating the ground fault. Connecting bolts are now inspected and replaced as necessary, COP electricians are being further trained, and a QC checklist and testing procedures to verify proper electrical connections have been implemented. Discharge classified as "Extremely Hazardous Substance" Regulated by OSHA HazCom
4,805.0 pounds
No LDEQ Reported

2008-08-31
308F-D-1 Low Pressure FLARE, 308F-D-2 High Pressure FLARE
Cause: Shut down and evacuation in preparation for Hurricane Gustav and Ike.

Followup: No

Notes: Flaring and venting occurred but emissons did not exceed permit quanitities. Oily water sewers overflowed due to pump failure from power outages. Oil spilled to ground, water and pavement. Estimated 80 barrels recovered in cleanup. This incident will be critiqued and lessons learned will be used to update refinery's hurricane plan.
420.0 gallons
116589

2009-07-17
No Information Given
Cause: Lebeouf Bros. Towing, LLC. was transferring oil from the Conoco Refinery to the Gonsulin 104 Oil Barge and a leak developed in a transfer line which resulted in approximately 1 barrel of product being released onto the barge. *Report filed by ES&H Consulting Group (contracted by LeBouf Bros. Towing, LLC). ** This incident is NOT listed on the master list.

Followup: No

Notes: Upon discovery of the leak, the transfer operation was immediately terminated. All released product was contained on the oil barge. In site personnel initiated cleanup with absorbents, and an ES&H OSRO crew was dispatched to assist. After further investigation, the released quantity was determined to be 10 gallons. A large amount of rain water was present on the deck which was initially mistaken for product. No offsite impact reported.
76.9 pounds
143540

2012-09-06
Pinhole leaks on roof of Tank 100-T-003
Cause: A routine inspection on Sept 6, 2012 of tank 100-T-003 revealed that the roof of this tank had been damaged and that the roof developed pinhole leaks.

Followup: No

Notes: Approx 10% of roof deck has product and water present. Product is seeping from previous repairs. 2 in. primary gap on west side of tank 15 ft in length. The regulations require that there be no liquid on the floating roof. The product stored in the tank is crude oil and a small amount of the product was on the floating roof of the tank. Notifications were submitted to the Department and tank was repaired. The tanks seal and roof pinholes will be repaired in conjunction with the requirements stipulated for the deviation discovery.
158583

2014-09-05
South tankfield oily water sewer system
Cause: During the early hours of September 5th an oil spill was discovered coming from the south tankfield oily water sewer system. An initial assessment of the 308-L-113 pump located at the south tankfield oily water sewer sump indicated that its automatic level control mechanism failed preventing the sump pump from starting to lower the sump's liquid level. Letters submitted by Phillips 66 on 10/17/14 and 2/4/15 state that the investigation is ongoing.

Followup: Yes

Notes: The spill was contained in the grassy area east of the waste water treatment plant on refinery property. Initial spill clean-up began immediately after sunrise and continued throughout the week. Upon discovery of the pump's failure to automatically start, the pump was started manually and all water draining into the sewer system pumped was stopped. Actions were taken to prevent oil transport into the segregated stormwater system. Oil spill clean-up resources were mobilized and commenced vacuuming accumulated oil. A letter dated October 17th indicates that an investigation is ongoing. That investigation will include corrective actions to be taken.
252.0 gallons
158222

2014-08-21
South end of the Refinery Sewer System
Cause: An oil spill was discovered in the morning of August 21, 2014 in the south tankfield area of the refinery from an oily water sewer overflow. The spill was contained in the grassy area east of the crude oil tanks. A Root Cause Analysis (RCA) investigation was completed and revealed that there were blockages on the downstream side of two nearby sumps. It is suspected that dewatering of a crude tank prior to the event had filled the sumps to their maximum capacity and caused them to overflow. A malfunctioned roof drain system on another crude oil tank may have contributed to the incident since the roof drain is routing crude oil into the oily water sewers on a routine basis.

Followup: No

Notes: Actions were taken to prevent oil transport into the segregated stormwater system. Oil spill clean up resources were mobilized and commenced vacuuming accumulated oil. The spill clean up was completed on 8/24/14. The corrective actions that were identified through the RCA and will be implemented are the following: 1) Develop a preventative maintenance process to periodically monitor oily water sewers for blockages, 2) Modify tank water draining procedures to include safeguards for draining into a closed system, 3) Repair crude oil tank roof drain to reduce crude oil draining into the oily water sewer
714.0 gallons