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Marathon Ashland Petroleum (3165), Garyville

Releases of Nitric Oxide

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date
Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
128080

2010-12-09
FCC Unit 205
Cause: Due to an unexpected loss of power to the control system of the Unit 25 FCCU. FCCU shut down as designed which resulted in less gas feed to the Unit 205 Coker. This decreased in feed caused the Coker Wet Gas Compressor Suction Drum to briefly exceed the maximum safe operating pressure of the drum which resulted in the Coker Wet Gas relieving tot he ground flare. There was no known offsite impacts resulting from this incident. The emissions from the FCCU shut down are permitted as part of the overall North Flare. Compressor spillback opened rapidly to compensate and a high pressure was reached on the suction drum. Pressure control valve opened to flare once pressure reached 21 psig.

Followup: No

Notes: The FCCU was safely shut down and all other related unit feed rates were adjusted per the FCCU shutdown plan. The Coker Unit Wet Gas Compressor control system compensated for the increased suction pressure by increasing the compressor speed. All aspects of this incident are currently under investigation.
4.0 pounds
121645

2010-02-22
FLARE: coke drum overhead line; 205-PC-1511-V2; north flare
Cause: Water from the offline coke drum overhead line was inadvertently sent to the Main Fractionator, vaporized and overpressured the wet gas compressor suction drum causing 205-PC-1511-V2 to open to the North Ground Flare. Released into air. FLARE.

Followup: No

Notes: RQ. 2548 lbs of Sulfur Dioxide, 15 lbs of Nitrogen Oxides, 6.8 lbs of Hydrogen Sulfide, 21.5 lbs of Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (HRVOCs), and 31.7 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). LDEQ report states that "this incident is an area of concern with regards to LAC 33:III.905." Remedial Actions: Cut charge on 205 Coker due to Fractionator pressuring problem and removed ROSE Pitch from unit. Put ROSE unit on internal circulation. Relieved to flare.
15.0 pounds
121187

2010-02-01
FLARE - North & South Ground Flares; Thermal Oxidizers #1, #2, #3; GME Thermal Oxidizer #1, #2
FLARE - North & South Ground Flares; Thermal Oxidizers #1, #2, #3; GME Thermal Oxidizer #1, #217m
Cause: A transformer breaker tripped causing multiple operating units to shut down, including sulfur plants. FLARE.

Followup: No

Notes: RQ. Reportable Quantities were exceeded for sulfur dioxide during this incident. Detailed emissions report included. Refinery's Air Monitoring Team dispatched. "The breaker was reset and the units were quickly brought back on line." LDEQ report date is 2/18/2011.
154.2 pounds
133997

2011-09-16
Unit 259 North Ground Flare
Cause: On 9/16/11, level transmitted 205-LC-2050 failed which resulted in the filling of the Unit 205 C3/C4 Overhead Drum. This caused a pressure increase in the C3/C4 Splitter that led to the opening of the relief valve, 205-PSV-7077. This valve is routed to the flare header and the North Ground Flare.

Followup: No

Notes: The unit vessel levels were manually adjusted to stop the over-pressure condition. The level transmitter, 205-LC-2050, was repaired. An incident investigation is ongoing. C3/C4 Splitter Overhead leaked for 20 min. Report says the leak lasted 10 min but the release lasted 20 min.
176.7 pounds
143319

2012-09-23
Emissions from Flare
emissions from flare and Unit 45 Thermal Oxidizer
Cause: Marathon experienced a partial power outage caused by a malfunctioning substation in the refinery resulted in multiple pieces of equipment in the refinery losing power. Low pressure stripper Offgas flared in the South Flare due to partial power outage. Enterprise incident due to a plant farther downstream that had uncharacteristically ceased operation due to an upset condition. The pressure safety valve, as designed, released discharging natural gas to atmosphere due to high pressure on the pipeline caused by the upset condition farther down the line. Emission points involved were the Unit 59 North Flare and the Unit 45 Thermal Oxidizer.

Followup: No

Notes: Marathon power was restored and the equipment that was shutdown was restarted to minimize further releases. An incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. High sulfur dioxide from one of the thermal oxidizer stacks in Unit 45 and in addition to a small amount of Unit 15 low pressure stripper offgas was flared which contains a small amount of hydrogen sulfide which is converted to sulfur dioxide in the North Flare. Emission points involved were the Unit 59 North Flare and the Unit 45 Thermal Oxidizer. Enterprise personnel immediately began the process of taking the plant down in order to end the release event. Amount of natural gas released is above reportable quantity.
0.2 pounds
140561

2012-06-16
North Ground Flare
Flange on the Pitch Exchanger 210-1317-08
Cause: The 210-1513-01 Vacuum Bottoms Pump inboard and outboard motor bearing housings were smoking during routine observations. The 210-1513-02 Vacuum Bottoms Pump (back-up) was already out of service for repairs. The board operator was notified and started reducing Crude charge rate. The 210-1513-01 Vacuum Bottoms pump was shut down due to the outboard motor bearing igniting. The 210 Crude Unit shutdown procedure was initiated. The 210-1801-01 Offgas Compressor tripped due to a high level in the 210-1202 Compressor Suction Drum. Both pumps were already on in automatic. The outsider operator opened the bypass around the flow controller to the Product Receiver. Crude overhead gas was flared in the North Ground Flare. About 5 gallons of crude oil from a flange on the Refinery's Oily Water Sewer and processed in the WWTP.

Followup: No

Notes: The boardman cut charge rates to Crude Unit 10 and shut down Crude Unit 210. Both Compressor Suction Drum pumps were turned on, and the bypass around the flow controller was opened. The operator increased the suction drum pressure to assist the pumps in pressuring out the level to the startup compressor. The incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. Initial report states material did go offsite. Verbal report and Hazardous Materials Incident Reporting Form state that H2S was released (and incorrectly reporting that the reportable quantity for it is 500 lbs), while the refinery statement letter reports only SO2.
0.8 pounds
146471

2013-02-07
Unit 59 North Flare
Heaters on the Unit 243 Fuel Gas Mix Drum, Unit 234 Thermal Oxidizer #5, Unit 59 North Flare
Cause: On February 7, 2013, around 2:15am heavy rains caused 215-1202 Hot HP Separator to swing 8 degrees high and 215-1204 Hot LP Flash Drum causing liquid carry over to the Sour Fuel Gas header. Hydrocarbons hit Unit 243 Fuel Gas Treaters and carried through to Unit 247 Amine Regenerator. This caused high SO2 on sulfur units (U34, U220, U234) thermal oxidizer stacks and high H2S in the 243 Fuel Gas Mix Drum. In order to minimize any further upsets in the refinery, the hydrocarbons were routed to the North Stick Flare. As a result, Opacity from the Units 205, 210, 212, 214, and 215 heater stacks and the North Stick Flare were observed. Emission points involved were Unit 59 North Flare, Coker Charge Heater, Crude Heater, Naptha Hydrotreater Stripper Reboiler Heater, Platformer Heater, KHT Reactor Charge Heater, KHT STripper Reboiler Heater, HCU Train 1 Reactor Heater, HCI Train 2 Reactor Heater, HCU Fractionator Heater, Boiler #1, Thermal Oxidizer #5. A Root Cause Investigation determined the causes of the accident to be 1) Human Performance and 2) Equipment difficulty. Details about causal factor investigation are found in attached PDF.

Followup: Yes

Notes: Refinery wide, unit charge rates were reduced and hydrotreaters were placed on internal circulation where possible to reduce production of sour gas and sulfur plant feed. The amine that was contaminated with hydrocarbon was stripped to ensure hydrocarbon did not reach the sulfur plants and caused further emissions and/or unit trips. The Unit 215 Hydrocracker level instrumentations heat tracing and insulation was inspected to ensure proper operation. The Unit 247 Amine System Carbon Filter was also placed on-line after the carbon was replaced to remove any remaining trace hydrocarbon from the system. An additional followup on 10/23/13 corrected the initial followup report's emissions data regarding greenhouse gas releases.
14.5 pounds