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Marathon Ashland Petroleum (3165), Garyville
Releases of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
| LDEQ Accident Number Accident Date |
Point Source(s) | Notes | Amount of Release |
| 88512 2006-06-10 | Flaring from Unit 21 Absorber and North Flare (EQI No. 83-74/EQT 162) flaring from fuel gas mix drum | Cause: Shell, Norco, had an unexpected shutdown of one of their units which processes Marathon Petroleum Company off gas, MPC had to flare excess off-gas/ fuel gas during this time. Followup: Notes: BELOW REPORTABLE QUANTITY. | 2,352.5 pounds |
| 88512 2006-06-10 | Flaring from Unit 21 Absorber and North Flare (EQI No. 83-74/EQT 162) flaring from fuel gas mix drum | Cause: Shell, Norco, had an unexpected shutdown of one of their units which processes Marathon Petroleum Company off gas, MPC had to flare excess off-gas/ fuel gas during this time. Followup: Notes: BELOW REPORTABLE QUANTITY. | 14.5 pounds |
| 85091 2006-01-11 | The North Flare (EIQ No. 83-74/EQT 162) | Cause: The uninterpretable power supply failed, causing a shutdown of the FCC unit. Followup: No Notes: | 251.5 pounds |
| 84997 2006-01-06 | Flange near the Crude Bottoms Pump in the Crude Unit Flange near the Crude Bottoms Pump in the Crude Unity | Cause: While preparing the Crude Unit for Turnaround activities a fire occurred. It is assumed that the bolts on the flange of a crude pump opened and products was released. The exact cause is still under investigation, but it is assumed that one of the isolation valves were leaking. Followup: No Notes: MPC assumed the entire amount of the sulfur present was combusted even though there was substantial product left on the cement of the unit. | 121.0 pounds |
| 98775 2007-08-18 | North Flare | Cause: The Crude Overhead Compressor overpressured and was relieved to the North Flare Followup: No Notes: Claims emission was below RQ. Installing pressure indicators on the first stages of both overhead compressors which will be routed to the control room for iproved monitoring. | |
| 98487 2007-08-07 | FCCO Cooling Tower and the North Flare | Cause: The PGC Aftercooler trim cooler was found leaking hydrocarbons into the FCCO cooling tower. Followup: No Notes: Claims emission was below RQ. | 309.5 pounds |
| 96496 2007-05-23 | North Flare | Cause: HS Alkylation Unit Depropanizer bottoms relief valve opened. Failure of 3 way valve. Followup: No Notes: Claims emission was below RQ. Emission contained iso butane and propane. A design and engineering package has been approved for a pressure indication device upstream of the three way control valve to be installed in 2008. 80 | 82.0 pounds |
| 96397 2007-05-18 | North Flare | Cause: Alky Butane Splitter/Chill Water Condesnser had a tube leak. Followup: No Notes: Claims emission was below RQ. Emission contained iso butane and propane. | 142.5 pounds |
| No LDEQ Reported 2007-02-27 | Marine Dock 1 | Cause: The piping on a newly installed liquid separation vessel was incorrectly piped Followup: Yes Notes: Root Cause Analysis is being performed. DEQ Field Interview Report states that the facility failed to have control device in place to ensure that the newly installed piping was correctly piped prior to loading. | 439.8 pounds |
| 94400 2007-02-27 | Marine Dock 1 | Cause: The piping on a newly installed liquid separation vessel was incorrectly piped Followup: Yes Notes: Root Cause Analysis is being performed. DEQ Field Interview Report states that the facility failed to have control device in place to ensure that the newly installed piping was correctly piped prior to loading. | 439.8 pounds |
| 93979 2007-02-14 | North Flare and Heater/Boiler CAP | Cause: Recycle compressors shutdown in the Gasoline Desulfurization Unit Followup: Yes Notes: Stopped hydrocarbon carryover to Amine Scrubber which reduced pressure in the Amine Flash Drum. | 35.0 pounds |
| 110398 2008-10-27 | Refrigerated Butane Storage Tank 250-2 (EIQ 2-88/ EQT 46) | Cause: During the annual emission monitoring of the RBS tank relief valve it was observed that the valve was intermittently releasing to the atmosphere. Followup: No Notes: Operations and maintenance personnel started checking the regulators to determine why the relief valve was opening. | 963.0 pounds |
| 108823 2008-09-10 | North Flare (EQT162 / EIQ 83-70) | Cause: Hatch on the bank of an Enterprise Propane Tanker was leaking. Followup: No Notes: Majority of the product from the leaking tanker was transferred to another tanker | 79.0 pounds |
| 108044 2008-08-14 | Piperack at Unit 14 | Cause: Inlet flange on a relief valve leaked to the atmosphere. Followup: No Notes: A relief valve was blocked to isolate leak | 22.0 pounds |
| 107688 2008-08-01 | North Flare (EQT162 / EIQ 83-70) ) | Cause: FCCU shutdown due to an unknown failure in the unit's Wet Gas Compressor. Followup: No Notes: Motor associated with the WGC was replaced. | 80.0 pounds |
| 107208 2008-07-15 | FCCU Tubing | Cause: Tubing from a flow orifice plate broke off and released LPG. Followup: No Notes: Unit start-up was aborted, all fired sources were extinguished and a fire monitor was opened. | 4,199.7 pounds |
| 107159 2008-07-13 | North Flare (EQT162 / EIQ 83-70) | Cause: Wiring issue in Wet Gas Compressor causes FCCU shutdown. Followup: No Notes: Report states that shutdown is permitted twice annually, so all emission are permitted. No info on which pollutants were released or the amounts. | |
| 105748 2008-05-20 | Unit 63 piperack Hydrogen line | Cause: A pinhole leak was discovered in the H2 piping in the Unit 63 pipeway near Unit 19. Followup: Notes: Blocked in line and depressurized to atmosphere. | 21.0 pounds |
| 104869 2008-04-18 | Flange on Asphaltene Pumparound Exchanger, 07-1312 | Cause: Change in temperature following flushing caused metal to contract and flange to leak. Small fire started. Followup: Notes: Small fire immediately put out. Air Monitoring Team dispatched to monitor the fence line. Maintenance called out to build a scaffold in order to hot bolt the exchanger. Steam lances put on the flanges to heat the metal and seal the leak. | 172.0 pounds |
| 103887 2008-03-12 | North Flare (EQT162 / EIQ 83-70) | Cause: During start up of the FCC Unit, excess fuel gas was produced and a small amount had to be flared from the Unit 43 Fuel Gas Mix Drum. Followup: No Notes: Marathon also flared non-olefinic fuel gas to minimize flaring. | 31.6 pounds |
| 103090 2008-02-15 | North Flare (EQT162 / EIQ 83-70) | Cause: A partial refinery-wide power failure occurred. This caused several units to shutdown and relieve to flare. A small exchanger fire also occurred. Followup: No Notes: Once maintenance personnel secured the power supply, Operations began bringing units back on line. Follow up report with same DEQ incident number lists different emission amounts. | 488.1 pounds |
| 102284 2008-01-15 | Unit 46 - Deethanizer Reboiler Unit 59 - North Flare Unit 66 - RBS Flare 7 h 22 m | Cause: Shell's off gas compressor tripped causing the fuel gas pressure to increase and relieve to flare Followup: No Notes: FCCU Reactor Temperature was cut back to reduce off-gas production | 52.1 pounds |
| 115595 2009-06-11 | Hydrocarbon feed exchanger | Cause: While cleaning the exchanger a piece of tubing blew out causing a release of naptha to the exchanger pad. Followup: Yes Notes: Residual naphtha was washed into the oily sewer. The exchanger was isolated. | 414.0 pounds |
| 115394 2009-06-01 | Unit 15 HGO hydrotreater | Cause: Pin-hole leak in unit 15's hot separator overhead fin fan. Followup: Yes Notes: Fin fan was blocked in and tube isolated. | 24.0 pounds |
| 115023 2009-05-16 | Platformer Debutanizer Trim Cooler, #1 Cooling Tower EQI: 61a-74 | Cause: A high LEL was found at the #1 cooling tower, operations started checking for leaks and found that the debutanizer overhead trim cooler, 12-1309, was leaking hydrocarbons into the cooling water. Leak caused by under deposit corrosion. Followup: Yes Notes: The debutanizer trim cooler was isolated and leaking tubing plugged. | 1,779.5 pounds |
| 112890 2009-01-23 | south flare flare | Cause: A valve misalignment on the iso-butane pump allowed iso-butane to be routed to the flare for approximately six hours before being discovered.
While troubleshooting the flaring incident, operations found the relief valve on th DHT unit's recycle gas scrubber "chatter" to the flare. during the investigation it was discovered that the newly installed valve had malfunctioned Followup: Yes Notes: none, the releases went unnoticed until later. | 386.0 pounds |
| 112890 2009-01-23 | south flare flare | Cause: A valve misalignment on the iso-butane pump allowed iso-butane to be routed to the flare for approximately six hours before being discovered.
While troubleshooting the flaring incident, operations found the relief valve on th DHT unit's recycle gas scrubber "chatter" to the flare. during the investigation it was discovered that the newly installed valve had malfunctioned Followup: Yes Notes: none, the releases went unnoticed until later. | 748.0 pounds |
| 111750 2009-01-04 | Tank 55-5 (Deasphalted Oil Storage Tank) | Cause: During a Rose Unit shutdown, the Rose Unit Deasphalted Oil (DAO) battery limits block valve was open and caused a chain reaction of butane leakage and water flashes. 1,726lbs of butane were released. Followup: No Notes: the event was "over before any corrective action could be taken." and the event is currently "under investigation". | 1,726.0 pounds |
| 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. | 3.4 pounds |
| 127916 2010-11-29 | FLARE: Unit 59 South Flare | Cause: Refinery letter states that an unexpected change in the feed composition caused an over-pressurization of the high pressure stripper column. This resulted in the opening of the process safety valve to relieve pressure within the column. FLARE. Followup: No Notes: RQ. Reportable quantities for sulfur dioxide were exceeded. Changes were made in Unit 15 to compensate for the increase in pressure in the high pressure column. | 85.7 pounds |
| 126299 2010-09-11 | FLARE - North [EQT282] & South Ground Flare [EQT160] | Cause: "Due to a power failure, the Shell off-gas compressors shutdown causing Marathon to have an over abundance of fuel gas which required flaring as a safety precaution." FLARE. Followup: Yes Notes: BRQ. Refinery letter states that no reportable quantities were exceeded; detailed emissions report included. No LDEQ report. Refinery follow-up report only; follow-up letter states that original written report was submitted to LDEQ on 9/17/2010, but this is not included in the file. | 336.6 pounds |
| 125901 2010-08-22 | North Ground Flare | Cause: Incident was the result of an electrical problem for the new production unit. A triplicated Triconex level indicator on the 1st stage suction drum malfunctioned, filled with liquid and tripped the wet gas compressor. Drum over-pressured which caused 205-PC-1511-V1 and V2 to open to the North Ground Flare. Released to air. Followup: No Notes: Reportable quantities for sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and HRVOCs were exceeded. Remedial actions: The unit 205-delated coker reduced charge rate to minimize the release. | 3,855.1 pounds |
| 123579 2010-05-18 | FLARE: Unit 59 North (EQT #0162 EIQ #83-74) & South Flares (EQT #0160 EIQ #69-74) | Cause: Refinery letter states that liquid material from the refinery's FCCU carried over into the fuel gas system, causing incomplete combustion in the refinery's process heater and flares. Followup: No Notes: The source of the liquid stream was identified and isolated from the fuel gas system. The remaining liquid was drained from the process units' knockout drums. The process heaters were then restarted. Steps to prevent a recurrence of the incident will be taken once the root cause analysis is completed. NOTES: Nitrogen Oxides were released. | 413.0 pounds |
| 123330 2010-05-07 | Truck loading rack [EIQ #1497] | Cause: Relief valve on transport truck opened at a pressure below what was supposed to open it during offloading. Followup: No Notes: BRQ. Refinery letter states that reportable quantities were not exceeded, but detailed emissions report included. "The truck was offloaded to process to relieve [sic] the pressure and stop the event." | 13.6 pounds |
| 122736 2010-04-13 | Main Fractionator relief valve inlet | Cause: "A small pinhole leak was noticed on the Main Fractionator relief valve inlet piping between the tower and a block valve in the HF Alkylation Unit." Followup: No Notes: BRQ. Refinery letter states that no reportable quantities were exceeded, but detailed emissions report included. The installation of a temporary clamp was attempted, but when the leak could not be secured, the unit was shut down to repair the leak [welded]." | 55.4 pounds |
| 121884 2010-03-03 | Gas pipe in Unit 43 Fuel Gas System | Cause: Condensate gas was leaking through a pin hole in a piping nipple in the Unit 43 Fuel Gas System. Gas was released to air. Followup: Notes: BRQ. Report states the line was isolated and the line depressurized so that leak could be repaired. This spill did not reach a reportable quantity. A clamp was installed around the pipe nipple to prevent future release at the site. Original report identifies release as compressed flammable gas. Later reports break down release into - HRVOCs, VOCs, Ethane, Methane, and H2. | 50.6 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. | 31.7 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. | 290.8 pounds |
| 121186 2010-01-31 | 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: Brief power outage caused multiple operating units to briefly shut down including sulfur plants. FLARE. Followup: No Notes: BRQ. No reportable quantities were exceeded. Units brought back online quickly, and had to flare. | 7.6 pounds |
| 120846 2010-01-16 | FLARE - Refrigerated Butane Storage Emergency Flare Station | Cause: Refrigerated Butane Storage unit malfunctioned during maintenance activities, had to flare to release pressure.
One part of report notes a power outage, unclear if this was purposeful as part of maintenance or not. FLARE. Followup: No Notes: BRQ. No reportable quantities were exceeded, but detailed emissions report included. Maintenance work began; incident is still "under investigation," but no follow-up report included. | 23.7 pounds |
| 120638 2010-01-09 | FLARE: south flare | Cause: COLD WEATHER. "Freeze-related issue": eocene interstage drum filled with liquid due to a frozen drain line, tripped compressors, relief valve on the crude vacuum overhead opened to flare.
Emissions table in report dark and hard to read. Followup: No Notes: Air monitoring team dispatched, crude vacuum gas to flare closed off and re-routed, bypass valve opened but did not drop level in time, steam hose hooked up to the controller to clear line. Refinery Letter states that reportable quantities were not exceeded [BRQ]. Detailed emissions report included. | 31.7 pounds |
| 136157 2011-12-27 | 205 Coker Unit to Unit 259 North Ground Flare | Cause: The incident occurred when the facility was switching from the online drum to the blowdown drum. During the switch, the Wet Gas Compressor surge controller attempted to open the second stage spillback valve. The valve hesitated to open, causing a spillback to trip open. This caused the frac and blowdown to pressure up and the compressor to send the product to the flare until the operations pressure returned to normal.
At the time of the written notification, the incident was still being investigated to determine the cause of the overpressure condition. Followup: No Notes: The unit pressure levels were automatically corrected by the wet gas compressor surge control system. | 8.5 pounds |
| 132261 2011-07-07 | Unit 259 South Ground Flare (EQT 286) | Cause: A heat exchanger in the Hydrocracker Unit (Unit 215) began to leak as the unit was starting up and achieving normal operating conditions. Some material was depressured to the flare so that maintenance on the exchanger could be performed.
An incident investigation is being conducted to determine why the incident occurred. Followup: No Notes: The equipment was allowed to depressure to the flare until repairs could be made. At the time of the police report, all had been secured. An incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. | 188.0 pounds |
| 128662 2011-01-18 | Unit 233 Sour Water Tank | Cause: DEQ/ADQ Emergency Occurrence Notification Form states that no root cause is known and is undergoing investigation. However, fuel gas was discovered to be venting through the Sour Water Tank in Unit 233, the sour water stripper. Followup: No Notes: A perimeter was established around the tank. Personnel were kept out of the cordoned-off area. When it was determined that a gas stream was lined up to the tank, the line was closed. Future recurrence of the event will be prevented after analyzing the root cause investigation. | 11,844.0 pounds |
| 145377 2012-12-15 | South Flare Unit 59 South Flare | Cause: A tube leaked on the Unit 15 Hot Separator Overhead Fin Fans at 17:52 hours. At 18:00, the unit was undergoing emergency shutdown procedures and the U15 dump valve was opened to the flare. The incident was a Gas Oil leak in the Unit 15 Hot separator Overhead Fin Fan Exchangers.
This leak caused a vapor release of hydrocarbons and hydrogen in addition to a small amount of hydrogen sulfide. Followup: Yes Notes: PDF was too large to upload. Unit 15 was depressurized to the South Flare to safely isolate the leaking Overhead Fin Fan. Once the unit pressure was sufficiently low in the unit, the Fin Fans were isolated and the leak stopped. An incident investigation will result in recommendations to prevent recurrence. The reportable quantities for hydrogen sulfide, compressed flammable gas, and compressed flammable liquid were exceeded during this event. A report on October 9, 2013, removed greenhouse gas emissions and revised the estimate of VOC emissions. | 1,573.5 pounds |
| 144322 2012-10-30 | Unit 59 South Flare | Cause: On October 30, 2012, at 15:20 hours, a propylene rail car was lined up to the flare during unloading process. A Root Cause Analysis is being conducted to determine the exact cause of this incident. Followup: No Notes: Products Control personnel closed flare line leading from propylene unloading racks to the flare header system. Incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent recurrence. The reportable quantity for Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (HRVOCs) was exceeded during the 24 hour period. An incident investigation was conducted to determine the cause or causes of the incident. Per this investigation, the root cause was identified as the procedures were followed incorrectly. The SGS operator misaligned the valve line-up and allowed propylene to offload to the flare. The two recommendations (actions) from the investigation were 1) review and reinforce to personnel the importance of following Operating Guidelines while performing all shift duties- completed 2/18/13; and 2) add proper valve alignment to railcar checklist- completed on 2/20/13. | 127.0 pounds |
| 143781 2012-10-12 | Unit 59 North Flare | Cause: The initiating incident was a pump seal fire in the Gasoline Desulfurization Unit (Unit 55). The fire was fueled by a leaking seal on the pump. Extinguishing the fire was delayed by inability to close an EIV on the suction side of the pump. This resulted in emergency shutdown of the unit. Two other events also occurred on this day including an upset in Sulfur Plant Unit 234 and a flame-out of the North Flare. Due to the fire and emergency shutdown of the Gasoline Desulfurization Unit, the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit cut feed, sending vent gas to the North Flare. Process vent gas was sent to the North Flare which increased the steam to the flare suddenly, snuffing the flare out. Followup: Yes Notes: PDF too large to upload (109 pages) To re-light the North Flare, steam was gradually decreased and natural gas was added to the flare gas to allow the two available igniters to relight the North Flare. Parts to repair the North Flare pilot system were already on order when this incident occurred. The North Flare was taken out of service when the parts were received and repaired on October 31, 2012. Spare pilot and igniter assemblies are now in stock so that repairs can be made in a timely fashion if an incident like this is to occur again. Total amount of pollutants released was 59438.44 lbs, but 90% was claimed to be efficiently burned off, resulting in 5943.59 lbs that were actually released. The reportable quantity for Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (HRVOCs) (100 pounds) was exceeded during the 24 hour period. | 5,133.2 pounds |
| 143781 2012-10-12 | Unit 59 North Flare | Cause: The initiating incident was a pump seal fire in the Gasoline Desulfurization Unit (Unit 55). The fire was fueled by a leaking seal on the pump. Extinguishing the fire was delayed by inability to close an EIV on the suction side of the pump. This resulted in emergency shutdown of the unit. Two other events also occurred on this day including an upset in Sulfur Plant Unit 234 and a flame-out of the North Flare. Due to the fire and emergency shutdown of the Gasoline Desulfurization Unit, the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit cut feed, sending vent gas to the North Flare. Process vent gas was sent to the North Flare which increased the steam to the flare suddenly, snuffing the flare out. Followup: Yes Notes: PDF too large to upload (109 pages) To re-light the North Flare, steam was gradually decreased and natural gas was added to the flare gas to allow the two available igniters to relight the North Flare. Parts to repair the North Flare pilot system were already on order when this incident occurred. The North Flare was taken out of service when the parts were received and repaired on October 31, 2012. Spare pilot and igniter assemblies are now in stock so that repairs can be made in a timely fashion if an incident like this is to occur again. Total amount of pollutants released was 59438.44 lbs, but 90% was claimed to be efficiently burned off, resulting in 5943.59 lbs that were actually released. The reportable quantity for Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (HRVOCs) (100 pounds) was exceeded during the 24 hour period. | 2,223.2 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. | 1.4 pounds |
| 142430-142532 2012-08-28 | flare outfall 002 | Cause: There were multiple units that experienced upsets during the shutdown and startup activities surrounding Hurricane Isaac:
In preparation for Hurricane Isaac, the refinery units were at minimum rates anticipating a shutdown condition. As a result of these abnormal conditions, the refinery 150 PSIG steam header pressure was significantly low. The U205 Delayed Coker unit uses steam to purge resid and coke from the switch valve and ball valves on the coke drum structure. the low steam pressure ultimately led to the valve failing due to coke build up on the valve. On 8/28/2012 the unit was forced to go on bypass and internal circulation due to inability to switch feed to the offline drum. After the unit was on bypass the Wet Gas Compressor tripped three times. These trips resulted in releases to the flare. This resulted in a small amount of hydrocarbon material to be routed to the ground flare.
Propane Flaring: Due to atypical operating conditions and the shutdown of our third-party propane pipeline, MPC flared propane starting on August 31 at 06:52 AM intermittently until September 1 at 02:45 AM. The flaring of propane was required to balance refinery operations.
No reportable quantities were exceeded. The release calculations are provided in Attachment 4.
North Stick Flare Flame Outage: On September 1, the North Stick Flare flame was snuffed out with steam for a total of five minutes. This occurred while decreasing the amount of propane flaring mentioned above. No reportable quantities were exceeded. This event was reported verbally on September 1st and a follow-up written report was submitted on September 7, 2012 (see Attachment 5).
North Stick Flare Damage: The North Stick Flare was observed to have some abnormal flame patterns prior to Hurricane Isaac. However, during the hurricane it was noticed that one side of the flare tip had more significant flames. After the hurricane on September 11 th an inspection, via a remote helicopter, observed that a natural gas supply line to the pilots had a broken union.
This was causing natural gas to burn just below the flare tip. It is believed that the high winds experienced during the hurricane caused the union to completely break apart. A repair plan is being formulated to correct this issue.
Wastewater Discharge:
MPC discharged untreated process area stormwater via Outfall 002 to the Lake Maurepas drainage system beginning on August 30, 2012 at 07:00 hrs intermittently until September 3, 2012 at 13:00 hrs. The amount of wastewater discharged is estimated to be 300,000 bbls (which is 12,600,000 gallons). Samples were collected prior to the discharge and after the start of discharge to verify that the water being discharged was sufficient quality to ensure no harm to environment. The discharge was monitored to ensure that there was no sheen on the water discharged off-site. It should be noted that prior to discharging the untreated process area stormwater, MPC had reached the on-site WWTP storage capacity of 619,995 bbls of water. In addition, MPC placed an out of service crude oil tank (500-2) back into service prior to the hurricane specifically to be used for wastewater and slop oil storage as needed. This tank was used for excess water storage prior to any wastewater being discharged off-site. Followup: No Notes: This report is linked to two LDEQ incident numbers: 142430 and 142532. Unit 205 Coker sent to the North Ground Flare. The release was identified at approximately 06:35 hours on August 29. 2012 and lasted for approximately 1944 minutes (1d 8h 24m). The compound of concern was Propylene. Totals of 76.54 lbs and 86.15 lbs were released during the 2 24-hour periods involved. MPC considers these emissions to be covered under the temporary variance issued on August 27 of 2012. That variance authorized the temporary permit for the emissions: Sulfur Dioxide 13.3 tons; Nitrogen Oxide 0.9 tons; Carbon Monoxide 7.03 tons; Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) 8.51 tons; Hydrogen Sulfide 0.73 tons. There was also a variance for 3,750 long tons(8,400,000lbs) of sulfur to be stored on a "sulfur pad". These variances were considered the maximum allowed during that period, therefore they are not included in LABB pollutant totals in this report. As soon as conditions allowed, the compressor was restarted. Missed Monitoring/Repair/Inspections Due to the hurricane, personnel were not available to complete several regulatory required tasks, such as weekly inspections, PMs, monitoring, and repairs. The programs and the specific missed requirements are listed below: LDAR Program 5-day first attempt at repair requirement (five components) 15-day final repair requirement (twelve components) Waste Program Weekly satellite collection area inspection (two locations) Weekly hazardous waste storage area inspection Weekly non-hazardous waste storage area inspection Weekly universal waste area inspection Weekly used oil storage area inspection Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program Weekly refinery inspection Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasures Program Weekly inspection of the Contractor Village area MACT II - NSPS Subpart UUU Weekly PM for the pH meter used for compliance demonstration Benzene Waste Operation NESHAP Carbon Canister monitoring for breakthrough (eight events) 15-day repair requirement (four sumps) There is a separate report on this database for the sinking of the "Big Tuna" response boat. Response Boat Fuel Loss: The oil spill response boat became submerged in the Mississippi River on August 29th, due to a surge in the river level which resulted in the loss of ten gallons of gasoline. The reportable quantity for oil was exceeded. This event was reported verbally on August 31 and a written follow-up report was submitted on September 7, 2012 (See Attachment 3). (Attachment 3 was deleted from this file, and added to the report for this event) | 6,842.7 pounds |
| 141908 2012-08-08 | RBS Flare | Cause: False reading on the 66LT0511 level controller caused the two NC4 compressors to trip. The high pressure on the receiver, due to high liquid level, caused the 66PC0507 valve on the receiver to open the RBS flare. Approximately 6.67 lbs of VOCs were released as a result. Followup: No Notes: The operator blew down transmitter 66LT0511 and opened the bypass valve on the receiver to send the liquid back to the RBS tank. The faulty level transmitter was taken out of service and repaired. | 6.7 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. | 10.3 pounds |
| 138329 2012-03-25 | RBS Flare | Cause: The pressure safety valve for Tank 250-2 had opened, so the operator blocked in the PSV. Followup: No Notes: No offsite impact was associated with the event. | 139.3 pounds |
| 137197 2012-02-15 | Unit 59 South Flare | Cause: A compressor in Unit 12 (Platformer) experienced a loss of power which caused the compressor to shut down and pressure up. A pressure relief valve opened on the compressor and caused hydrogen to be routed to the South Flare. Followup: No Notes: Operations restarted the compressor and returned to normal operations. The incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. There were no known off-site impacts. | 4.8 pounds |
| 137057 2012-02-08 | Unit 59 North Flare | Cause: A root cause analysis is being conducted to determine why this incident occurred.
The Louisiana Refining Division's Investigative Summary Report states that the initiating event was the troubleshooting common alarm on the Bently Nevada radial vibration proximitor card to include a module self-test for diagnostic information. Followup: Yes Notes: Operations restarted the Wet Gas Compressor. The root cause analysis will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. The refinery stated that lessons learned included: On a Bently Nevada 3500 system, a module self-test or replacement will cause the output signal to go to 0ma. If the output signal is wired to a Triconex system, it will report the transmitter as being an unreliable signal (bad transmitter of bad pv). VOC chemical breakdown is provided. Only the RQ for SO2 was exceeded during this release. | 82.2 pounds |
| 136541 2012-01-14 | Unit 59 South Flare, Unit 45 Thermal Oxidizer, Unit 220 Thermal Oxidizer, Unit 234 Thermal Oxidizer, and Unit 33 Sour Water Tank | Cause: Chain of Events:
1/14/12: Hydrocarbon carryover from the Unit 19 Sour Water Stripper caused Unit 220 (sulfur unit) and Unit 45 Thermal Oxidizer to trip. As a result, a sulfur dioxide plume was released from the Unit 45 Thermal Oxidizer. During the release, hydrocarbons from the ammonia acid gas header were steamed out to the flare. Units were then shut down to limit environmental impact.
1/15/12: A similar incident took place approximately four hours after Unit 220 startup. During this incident, the flare valve on the fuel gas absorber knockout drum opened to flare to relieve pressure on the drum. Hydrocarbon from the carryover was also sent to the sour water storage tank, which resulted in the tank venting to the atmosphere.
1/16/12: The flare valve from the fuel gas absorber knockout drum was closed at approximately 9:30, and the incident was then determined to be secure.
The entire incident is under investigation.
Follow up report issued 2/26/2013 summarizes results of internal Marathon investigation. Followup: Yes Notes: During the initial upset (1/14/12), Cargill was notified of the plume. All work with the Marathon refinery was put on hold, and the plant's Air Monitoring Team (AMT) was dispatched. The data that they collected is attached to the report. The contents of the Unit 19 Sour Water Storage Tank and ammonia acid gas header were then purged to eliminate existing hydrocarbons. Similar actions were taken to mitigate emissions from the second incident (1/15/12). Units were shut down, the AMT was activated, and fire water was introduced to limit emissions from the sour water tank. This incident was determined to be secured (1/16/12) when the flare valve from the fuel gas absorber knockout drum was closed to the South Flare. An incident investigation was conducted to determine the cause or causes of the incident. Per this investigation, the root cause was identified as Equipment Difficulty-Problem Not Anticipated. The recommendation from this investigation was to review disposition of Fuel Gas Absorber knock-out drum liquid. Report states this action was completed 6/27/12. Only states that SO2 emissions were above reportable quantities. | 1,428.4 pounds |
| 152677 2013-12-04 | Pipe leak at a pump in Unit 10 Crude unit | Cause: On December 4 at approximately 8:00 hours, there was a pinhole leak in 2 inch insulated piping. Corrosion caused the pinhole.
Report states that none of the emitted pollutants are above reportable quantity levels. However, the RQ level for Flammable Liquids was exceeded during this event. Followup: No Notes: The unit was shut down to repair the leak as the piping could not be isolated. This piping will be routinely inspected and an upstream block valve was added to enable the isolation of this line. The material released was crude oil. It was entirely contained within the unit and routed to the Oily Water Sewer system. | 711.0 pounds |
| 152421 2013-11-18 | Unit 10 Naphtha Splitter | Cause: On November 18 during startup of the Naptha Splitter, a leak was found in the vessel shell. As soon as the leak was discovered, the vessel was deinventoried and all liquid feeds were blocked in. The source of the leak was from a hole the side of a pencil, the cause of which is under investigation. Followup: Yes Notes: As soon as the leak was discovered, the vessel was deinventoried and all liquid feeds were blocked in. An incident investigation will determine the cause and recommendations to prevent future occurrences will be made. | 127.0 pounds |
| 152171 2013-11-06 | North Ground Flare, Heaters on Unit 243, Unit 43, and Unit 59 North Ground Flare | Cause: According to the the 60-day report, the Triconix safety control system inadvertently tripped the Unit 247 Amine Unit Lean Amine Pumps. The pump shutdown caused lean amine to stop circulating to the Fuel Gas Treaters which caused high H2S-laden fuel gas to be sent to the Unit 243 Fuel Gas Drum. In addition, untreated fuel gas was sent to the Unit 43 Fuel Gas Mix Drum. The Fuel Fuel Gas Mix Drums were supplying fuel ga to 26 different process heaters and boilers with the refinery during the incident. As a result, each heater and boiler experienced an increase in SO2 emissions above the maximum allowable permitted lbs/hr rate. In addition, the Unit 247 Flash Drum overfilled into the vapor line to the Unit 210 Compressor Suction Drum, thus causing the compressor to temporarily shut down which resulted in venting to the North Ground Flare. Followup: Yes Notes: The refinery Air Monitoring Team was dispatched inside and outside the refinery fenceline. All SO2 and H2S readings were non-detect except for one 4ppm SO2 reading on Marathon Avenue in the refinery. No elevated ambient air monitoring readings from MPCs four ambient air monitoring stations were detected during the event. Operations re-started the Unit 247 lean amine pumps and re-established amine circulation to the Amine Treaters. This recirculation brought the H2S amounts in the fuel down to acceptable levels. The reportable quantity for sulfur dioxide was exceeded during the event. In addition, the permitted SO2 and the NSPS Subpart J/Ja SO2 limit for the emission sources was exceeded for multiple hours. The opacity limits for the above listed heaters and boilers were exceeded. Report was unable to be uploaded. Recommendations made for the Root cause were:1) Human Performance- Revise the Unit 19 Start up procedure with more detailing events on when to the internal lean circulation line while starting up Unit 25 with the appropriate line terminology, label lines accordingly, and retrain operators with the revision. 2) Equitment Difficulty- Evaluate the design of the existing steam tracing for the analyzer, and recommend proper mitigation. | 51.9 pounds |
| 150862 2013-09-07 | Unit 222 Liquid feed pump (222-1501-02) | Cause: The emission point involved was a pinhole leak on the pump casing of 222-1501-02.
Sour LPG leaked to the atmosphere causing the unit fixed monitor 222-AI-0019 to go in and out of alarm. Operators donned SCBA's to investigate and discovered a leak in the weld for the seal flush piping at the pump casing of 222-1501-02. The 222-1505-02 Liguid Feed Pump was out of service, leaving no spare. Emergency Shutdown of Unit 222 Sats Gas Plant (SGP) was activated. Followup: No Notes: Unit 222 Sats Gas Plant was shutdown when the emergency shutdown EIV-1 was closed from a remote location by the Shift Emergency Response Team (SERT). The pump was kept on until all liquid could be diverted to Unit 222 (Sats Gas Plant). The pump was then isolated for maintenance. Once the investigation is complete, recommendations will be implemented. | 96.6 pounds |
| No LDEQ Reported 2013-07-24 | Unit 250 North Ground Flare | Cause: On July 24, 2013, the Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor shut down at 16:11 hours and was restarted at 16:26 hours. A second shutdown occurred at 16:48 hours and was restarted at 17:02 hours. A third shutdown occurred at 17:25 hours and was re-started at 17:56 hours. The duration of Unit 210 venting to the North Ground Flare was 60 minutes.
Approximately 613 pounds of sulfur dioxide were released (over the reportable quantity of 500 pounds). Followup: No Notes: Liquid was drained from the Unit 210 Compressor Suction Drum. The Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor was re-started. A very similar event occurred on March 25, 2013 with emissions from the same point source. This report retrieved from EDMS was labeled with the LDEQ number corresponding to the March 25, 2013 incident (LDEQ # 147603). The March 25th event also involved multiple shutdowns of the Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor, and the report labeled that event as preventable. It is interesting to note that a similar event labeled preventable occurred less than four months later. | 350.2 pounds |
| No LDEQ Reported 2013-07-21 | Crude Unit Overhead Accumulator | Cause: On July 21, 2013, an overpressure condition in the Crude Unit Overhead Accumulator due to the shutdown of the Sats Gas Unit. Followup: Yes Notes: An initial report for this incident, which included details on what happened and what pollutants were emitted in what quantities, was submitted to LDEQ on July 26, 2013. This follow-up report corrects emissions data submitted by Marathon which originally included greenhouse gas emissions in the incident calculations. | 247.1 pounds |
| 149704 2013-07-15 | Unit 259 North Ground Flare | Cause: ON July 15, 2013, an upset in Crude Unit 210 caused the Crude Compressor Suction Drum to vent to the North Ground Flare for approximately one minute.
The first incident was due to a crude oil switch causing the Unit 22 Sats Gas Plant Compressor to shutdown on high level. The second incident was due to an upset in the Unit 210 Crude Unit that cause the Unit 210 Crude Compressor Suction Drum to vent to the North Ground Flare. Followup: Yes Notes: Operating personnel made operating changes to the unit to bring it out of upset conditions. October 23, 2013 additional follow-up report corrects emissions data submitted by MPC. MPC erroneously included greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the incident calculation. GHGs are not permitted pollutant and are not required to be evaluated for reportable quantities. | 99.7 pounds |
| 149651 2013-07-15 | Unit 259 North Ground Flare | Cause: On July 15, 2013, due to a crude oil switch, a high level occurred in the Unit 222 Sats Gas Plant (SGP) Compressor Suction Drum which caused the Sats Gas PLant Compressor to temporarily shutdown. This resulted in some flaring of the overhead gas to the North Ground Flare for about 55 minutes.
The first incident began at 09:05 hours on July 15, 2013, and was secured by 10:00 hours. The second incident began at 19:32 hours on July 15, 2013, and was secured by 19:33 hours. Followup: No Notes: For Incident 1, the level in the Sats Gas Plant Compressor Suction Drum was lowered and the Sats Gas Plant Compressor was re-started. For Incident 2, operating personnel made operating changes to the unit to bring it out of upset conditions. These incidents will be investigated and an action plan to prevent recurrence will be generated. Follow up report submitted 10/23/13 states that original report included Greenhouse Gas emissions, however these emissions are not required to be evaluated for reportable quantity because they are not permitted pollutants. The report updates the calculations without greenhouse gases included. | 99.7 pounds |
| 149428 2013-06-29 | flange on process line in U212 Platformer Unit | Cause: On June 29, a small leak and hydrogen fire was observed on the 48" flange on the process piping going from Cell 2 of the Unit 212 Charge Heater to Reactor #2. The leak was hair line sized in width and no larger than 1" around the circumference of the flange. Followup: No Notes: Steam was applied to the flange to extinguish the flame and the flange was hot bolted to secure the leak. Once investigation is complete, recommendations will be implemented. There were no known offsite impacts. | 8.6 pounds |
| 149432 2013-06-29 | leak from process line in U263 piperack | Cause: On June 29, a pinhole leak was discovered in the LPG feedline from U212 to U222. Followup: No Notes: The line was purged with nitrogen and isolated for repairs. The Shift Emergency Response Team was activated and fire monitors were put on the leak to suppress any vapors. Reduced the U212 charge rate to minimize the leak. The line was isolated at battery limits in U222 and U212 to stop the leak. Once the investigation is complete, recommendations will be implemented. | 839.1 pounds |
| 149069 2013-06-11 | Heat Exchanger 215-1304-02 | Cause: On June 11, 2013, a small vapor leak developed on Heat Exchanger 215-1304-02. There were no offsite impacts. Followup: Notes: The area was cordoned-off. The exchanger head was hot bolted to secure the leak. No specific action is recommended for this incident. | 71.3 pounds |
| 148974 2013-05-31 | North Stick Flare (EQT 162/EIQ 83-74) | Cause: On May 31, 2013, while discharging a propylene tank truck, the operator noticed that the propylene unloading drum was leaking to the North Stick Flare. There were no known offsite impacts. Followup: Yes Notes: Shutdown the unloading of the tank truck and blocked in the propylene drum to prevent any additional product into the drum. To reduce pressure, the liquid in the drum was pumped down from 50% to 20% and routed to the spheres. Both the truck and rail racks were shutdown. The bypass valve will be replaced An additional followup on 10/23/13 corrected the initial followup report's emissions data regarding greenhouse gas releases. | 1.1 pounds |
| 148876 2013-05-22 | U212 Platformer unit | Cause: On May 22, a small leak and hydrogen fire was observed on the 48" flange on the process piping going from cell 1 of the Unit 212 Charge Heater to Reactor #1. The leak was pinhole sized in width and no larger than 1" around the circumference of the flange.
The emission point involved was a flange on a process line in the U212 Platformer unit. Followup: Yes Notes: Steam was applied to the flange to extinguish the flame and the flange was hot bolted to secure the leak. Once the investigation is complete, recommendations will be implemented. An additional followup on 10/23/13 corrected the initial followup report's emissions data regarding greenhouse gas releases. | 0.7 pounds |
| 148240 2013-04-20 | Unit 259 North Ground Flare | Cause: On April 20, 2013 the Unit 210 Crude Unit experienced an upset due to a change in the incoming crude state. The flaring in U210 and U222 associated with the upset started at 7:12 AM on April 20, 2013 and was complete at 8:35 AM on April 20, 2013. The duration of Unit 210 and 222 venting to the North Ground Flare was 83 minutes. Approximately 75 pounds of sulfur dioxide were released.
The Unit 210 Crude Unit experienced an upset due to a change in the incoming crude state. The incoming crude had a greater quantity of light components as well as some water. The upset resulted in high liquid levels in vessels upstream of the crude off-gas compressors and the sals gas compressor. In order to minimize the amount of liquid sent to the compressors, which could cause a shutdown of the compressor, a portion of the liquid generated in the upset was routed to the North Ground Flare knock out drum. This action reduced the severity of the incident. Followup: Yes Notes: The crude tank line up was modified to remove the tank thought to be the cause of the water and light ends going to the Crude Unit. In addition, the crude charge rate was reduced to help manage the unit upset. The routing of liquids to the flare knock out drum was an attempt to minimize the results of the upset and prevent equipment shutdowns which would ahve resulted in a much more significant release. An additional followup on 10/23/13 corrected the initial followup report's emissions data regarding greenhouse gas releases. | 8.5 pounds |
| 147603 2013-03-25 | Unit 259 North Ground Flare | Cause: The two root causes identified were the benzene stripper lower level controller malfunctioned and the operator did not have sufficient response time.
On March 25, 2013 the Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor shut down at 18:03 hours and was restarted at 18:26 hours. A second shutdown occurred at 19:23 hours and was re-started at 19:41 hours. The duration of Unit 210 venting to the North Ground Flare was 40 minutes. Approximately 3,385 pounds of sulfur dioxide were released (above the reportable quantity of 500 pounds).
On March 25, 2013 at 17:45 hours, issues developed in the Unit 210 Desalter vessels. As a result of the event, liquid was carried over from the Desalters to downstream Unit 210 vessels. Eventually, liquid filled the Unit 210 Overhead Compressor Feed Knockout drum which shut down the Overhead Compressor. The ambient air monitoring stations located by the ground flares did not detect a significant increase in sulfur dioxide emissions. Followup: Yes Notes: Liquid was drained from the Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor Feed Knockout Drum. The Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor was re-started. While sulfur dioxide was the only chemical released above reportable quantity, NOx, monoxide, VOCs, PM10, PM2.5,HRVOCs, and hydrogen sulfide were released over the permit limit. An accident investigation was conducted to determine the cause(s) of the incident. The two root causes identified were 1. Equipment difficulty, design, problem not anticipated (Benzene stripper lower level controller malfunctioned); and 2. human engineering, non-fault tolerant system, errors not recoverable (operator did not have sufficient response time). The following recommendations will be implemented: 1. redesign or upgrade the benzene stripper level indicator 210L10197 to provide backup level indication for 210LC0187 due 12/20/13; 2. add soft stops to 210L1097 to limit flow from the 1st stage Desalter to the Benzene Stripper- complete; and 3. evaluate the hydraulics of the Benzene Stripper bottoms circuit and consider developing a project to eliminate constraints in the system- due 12/20/13. | 168.6 pounds |
| 146849 2013-02-21 | Unit 259 South Ground Flare and Unit 259 North Ground Flare | Cause: The Unit 214 Kerosene Hydrotreater experienced an emergency shutdown at 16:18 hours on February 21, 2013. The process unit vented to the South Ground Flare for 94 minutes. The Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor shutdown at 16:39 hours on February 21, 2013 was re-started at 16:58 hours on February 21, 2013. The duration of Unit 210 venting to the North Ground Flare was 19 minutes.
On February 21, 2013, at 16:18 hours, a power failure caused the Unit 214 Kerosene Hydrotreater to experience an emergency shutdown. As a result of the event, liquid was carried over from Unit 214 to the Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor system. The liquid filled the Unit 210 Overhead Compressor Feed Knockout drum which shut down the Overhead Compressor. The ambient air monitoring stations located by the ground flares did not detect a significant increase in sulfur dioxide emissions.
The main parts of this accident were the emergency shutdown of the 214 Kerosene Hydrotreater and flaring from the Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor.
The causal factor for the Unit 214 Power Failure and subsequent emergency shutdown was determined to be Equipment Difficulty/Tolerable Failure. The Causal factor for the Unit 210 flaring event was determined to be Human Performance Difficulty/Management System/SPAC Not Used/Enforcement Needs Improvement. Followup: Yes Notes: Power was restored to the Unit 214 Kerosene Hydrotreater and the unit was re-started. Liquid was drained from the Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor Feed Knockout Drum. The Unit 210 Crude Overhead Compressor was re-started. An incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. In the 60 day follow up report dated 4/22/13, the following remedial actions were listed in response to the release: Unit 214 portion of the upset: 1) Maintenance corrective actions immediately following release. Electricians and instrument Techs responded to the Satellite building. Power panel 214-PP-B01 main breaker and substation 214-MCC-B01 were reset establishing power to the first power supply. 214-HVAC-B008 was repaired and brought back online. 2) Operations corrective actions after the release. Unit 214 board operator started procedures for shutting down unit. Unit 214 valves 214FC0007 (Heavy Coker Naptha Feed Valve) and 214FC0006 (Kerosene from tankage valve) were closed 15 minutes after the start of the release. Operations awaited Maintenance's confimation that the unit was ready to restart. Unit 210 portion of the upset: 1) Unit 210 operators followed the event reponse matrix to verify the compressor suction drum (210-1202) level, the compressor suction drum valve position, and whether or not the suction drum pumps were running. Operations than began working to get the level down in the suction drum in preparation for restarting the OFFGAS compressors. For the Unit 214 portion of the incident the following recommendations were made: 1) Update the Marathon Standard Practice to require a cicuit breaker cooridination study for all 480V power panel installations for future projects - due 12/31/13; and 2) Evaluate the cicuit breaker coordination for all existing 480V power panels throughout the refinery and determine necessary solutions to achieve coordination where required - due 8/30/14 3) For the Unit 210 portion of the incident the following recommendation was made: Review and Reinforce the Emergency Shutdown Procedures for Unit 214 with the Board Operators - complete. An additional followup on 10/23/13 corrected the initial followup report's emissions data regarding greenhouse gas releases. | 89.3 pounds |
| 146481 2013-02-07 | Sulfur Recovery Unit flange | Cause: On February 7, 2013, at 10:17 hours, the LDEQ Official was contacted via the Louisiana State Police. The incident was a flange fire that began at 9:51 hours on February 7, 2013, and was secured by 10:00 hours (9 minutes). The intial reports approximates that 6 pounds of total volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were released during the flange fire. A followup on October 23, 2013, revised the VOC estimate to 0.58 pounds.
The Unit was placed on internal circulation due to the Sulfur units shutting down. The outlet flange on 56-2501 Reactor outlet developed a small leak and caught on fire and burned for approximately 9 minutes. Followup: No Notes: The flange fire was extinguished with a water hose reel station and a steam hose was placed under the insulation blanket. An incident investigation was conducted to determine the causes or causes of the incident. Per the investigation, the root cause was identified as Management System - Communication of SPAC needs improvement. 1. Evaluate the U 56 Internal Circulation Procedure to determine if any modifications can be made to mitigate or minimize the unit temperature/ pressure swings experienced. This recommendation is to be completed by May 16, 2013. 2. Investigate modifying the insulation core spec (SP-80-01) to state that all flanges are to be uninsulated. This recommendation is to be completed by July 17, 2013. 3. Coordinate the effort to verify the flanges identified which operate at temperatures above 400 degrees Fahrenheit have had their insulation removed. This recommendation is to be completed by May 31, 2013. Material did go offsite as a result of this fire. A final follow up submitted on October 23, 2013 describes greenhouse gas emissions in the original follow-up as erroneous and updates the emission estimates. | 0.6 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. | 0.8 pounds |
| 146138 2013-01-17 | Unit 259 North Ground Flare | Cause: Unit 222 Sats Gas Plant experienced an upset due to an over-pressure condition on the debutanizer column. As a result, pressure relief valves lifted, sending debutanizer overhead material to the refinery's North Ground Flare. Root cause was a faulty pressure transmitter. Followup: No Notes: The Board Operator decreased pressure on the debutanizer column. The faulty transmitter was replaced. Initial reports from January, 2013 stated no permit limits were exceeded concerning released pollutants. Final calculations from April 4, 2013 determined otherwise. | 1,138.0 pounds |
| 157829 2014-08-01 | Wet Gas Compressor | Cause: The wet gas compressor tripped due to a motor issue, which caused the overhead of the Fractionator to pressure up. The high pressure reached a safety limit and the unit shutdown. During the time that motor was undergoing repairs, fuel gas was routed into the unit to prevent excess oxygen from getting into the unit regenerator, fractionator and overhead accumulator which resulted in flaring. The unit was then started up in accordance with a written procedures. An incident investigation was conducted and identified Equipment Difficulty-Equipment/Parts Defective-Manufacturing as the Root Cause. Investigation states that the trip was initiated by the motor differential circuit detecting a differential of currency within the motor. The motor relay was initially expected to be the issue. Followup: Yes Notes: The SIS system reacted as designed to shutdown the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) due to the high pressure in the fractionator. An incident investigation was conducted and included the following recommendations: 1) Send relay to manufacturer for analysis (Complete), 2) Review findings from the manufacturer (Complete), 3) Test the differential circuit at the next available opportunity (Deadline-10/31/16) | 2,134.3 pounds |
| 156739 2014-06-10 | pipe containing crude oil in Unit 10 - Crude unit | Cause: A 3/4-inch process pipe containing crude oil connecting the desalters sheared causing loss of containment. Crude oil exited the pipe and was collected in the oily water sewer. Followup: No Notes: The piping was blocked in to eliminate the amount of crude oil leaking from the piping. All crude that leaked landed on the concrete slab in the unit and was collected by washing it into the oily water sewer. | 6,139.8 pounds |
| 15660 2014-06-07 | FCCU wet gas compressor first stage | Cause: A loose wire in a satellite building caused the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) wet gas compressor first stage spillback to open, which led to high fractionator pressure. The safety instrumented system (SIS) tripped the FCC unit on high fractionator pressure. During the FCC unit startup, the debutanizer pressured up and had to be vented to flare due to lack of heat in the upstream stripper reboiler (heating medium is BPA from the fractionator) which sent ethane to the debutanizer.
The flaring event due to the FCCU Shutdown began on June 7, 2014 at 14:37 hours and stopped on June 7, 2014 at 15.48 hours for a duration of 70 minutes. The flare event due to the FCCU startup began on June 7, 2014 at 18:21 hours and stopped on June 7, 2014 at 20:18 hours for a duration of 117 minutes. The total duration of the flaring was 187 minutes. Followup: No Notes: The SIS system reacted as designed to shutdown the FCCU due to the opening of the compressor spillback valve. During FCCU startup the operating procedure was followed to minimize emissions to the extent possible. An incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. | 40.1 pounds |
| 156198 2014-05-23 | U215 hydrocracker Tank 5000-6 | Cause: An emergency shutdown device was triggered due to an incorrect reading on the Treating Reactor Bed 3 temperature indicator in the U215 hydrocracker which depressurized the unit to the South Ground Flare. In response to the shutdown, operations utilized the refinery slop line to deinventory the unit, routing material to Tank 500-6. Natural gas was inadvertently routed through the refinery slop line where Tank 500-6 received the vapor, causing a release through the tank seals.
Human factors also played a role in the incident. Followup: Yes Notes: Root causes identified as Equipment Difficulty-Design Specs and Procedures Followed Incorrectly. At the time of the release, the emergency shutdown system was activated as designed shutdown the hydrocracker. Multiple recommendations have been identified to prevent a recurrence. The Tech Services Department at MPC has been tasked with mitigating the hazards of a single point of failure due to false temperature indication (anticipated completion 1/31/15). The operations department will develop and implement a system to verify all steps are completed and signed off when following procedures. A team will be developed to conduct a hazard analysis on the entire refinery slop system to implement necessary safeguards to prevent unwanted material from entering the slop system. | 230.6 |
| 155856 2014-05-09 | Railcar Inlet Valve | Cause: After loading a propylene railcar, the operator noticed that the inlet valve was leaking and could not be closed. The railcar was depressured to the flare so it could be disconnected and the valve repaired. Followup: No Notes: None. The contents of the railcar were vented to the North Flare Stack. The railcar was sent for repairs. | 93.1 pounds |
| 153584 2014-01-27 | Unit 59 North Flare (EQT#0162) | Cause: During propylene truck offloading activities, truck rack personnel began the normal Unit 65 process by opening a line to the flare to begin the transfer process. The line should be closed after the transfer to storage begins. However, the Unit 65 personnel failed to close the flare line and an amount of material went to the flare instead of to storage. Followup: No Notes: Upon discovery, the line that was open to the flare was closed and the procedure was reviewed with the operator to prevent reoccurrence. | 111.1 pounds |
| 153395 2014-01-16 | Unit 212 platformer, reactor 2 outlet flange | Cause: On January 16, 2014, at 02:58 hours during the Unit 212 Platformer shutdown procedure, an H2 leak developed from the Reactor 2 Outlet flange during the H2 sweep cooldown step, which resulted in a flange fire. Followup: No Notes: Steam was applied to the flange to extinguish the flame and the flange was hot bolted to secure the leak. The reactor circuit was depressured to the south ground flare, which took approximately 30 minutes. | 0.0 pounds |
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