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Motiva Enterprises (2719), Convent

Releases of Oil

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date		 Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
101944

2007-12-28		Tank 37T 301
Cause: A plugged drain line became unplugged allowing the wastewater to flow

Followup: No

Notes: DEQ report states that release was BRQ		0.2 gallons
101094

2007-11-15		Unspecified location
Cause: A truck driver encroached upon the edge of an embankment which caused the tractor-trailer rig to turn over

Followup: No

Notes: Motiva used sand to dam off the containment ditch both upstream and downstream of the spill. Motiva will widen roadway, install barricades, and improve lighting		42.0 gallons
134255

2011-09-29		No Information Given
Cause: A pinhole leak in line resulted in an oil release.

Followup: No

Notes: No information given for remedial action. Motiva states that mostly water was leaked and a RQ exceedence was not reached. LDEQ only no Refinery Letter included.
145221

2012-12-06		Sump pump
Cause: A sump located at the refinery's laboratory overflowed to the ground and then into a nearby ditch. The incident was caused by a sump overflow.

Followup: No

Notes: The free oil was contained in the on-site ditch using containment booming. A vacuum truck was then used to clean the oil from the ditch. Immediate actions were taken to reduce levels in the laboratory sump. Oil that had collected in the ditch was contained with booms and recovered using a vacuum truck. There was no free oil or sheen discharged off-site. The incident was caused by a sump overflow. The maintenance department is investigating the sump system and possible restrictions in the discharge piping, which potentially caused the high level in the sump.		50.0 gallons
149914

2013-07-24		lab sump
Cause: On July 24, Motiva reported a spill which occurred at the facility. The cause of the event that released oil and water from the lab sump to the soil and on-site ditch is still being investigated at this time.

Followup: No

Notes: No remedial actions given. The incident was initially reported as a potential exceedance of the 1 barrel RQ for oil to land. After further calculation, the total oil spilled to land was below RQ.
148316

2013-04-24		junction box
Cause: After a heavy rainstorm, approximately 24 barrels of oil from the process sewer was reported in the clean stormwater ditch along the north side of Avenue B, and approximately 3 barrels of oil to the ground from a nearby sewer hub southwest of Tank 20D-36. It was discovered that the block valves on the sewer junction box south of Avenue C East and Alabama Street were inadvertently left open. This junction box controls drainage from the tank farm and can be lined up to to go either the process sewer system or clean stormwater. The primary lineup is to have all valves closed except after rainfall events. It appears the clean stormwater block valve was left open from a previous rain event. The process sewer system swelled and filled the junction box, which then flowed into the storm ditch via the clean water side of the sewer box that had been left open.

Followup: No

Notes: The oil was contained onsite, recovered using vacuum trucks and reprocessed in the refinery's recovered oil system. Once the source of the release was identified, the block valve lineup to stormwater was immediately closed thus stopping the release. Containment boom and absorbent boom was placed at multiple locations to contain the oil that had reached the stormwater ditch. Microbe-enhanced bagasse placed after ground cleanup. To prevent recurrence: the operator accountable for the improper line-up has been coached; the Logistics Production Supervisor has reviewed this incident with the Production Team Leaders and is currently reviewing with each shift; the production supervisor has taken feedback from the shifts on how to improve verification of proper line-ups in the field; Motiva is executing a project to improve line-up visualization; and the Logistics Production Team Leads will ensure drainage junction box line-up status is accurately documented in the department end of shift reports. Most of the oil floated on the water surface in the storm ditch. Residual of oil staining remaining on the vegetation and ground surface was chopped/scraped until oil was no longer visible. Oil in contact with the ground was confined to the surface with no impact below a few inches. All oil-stained soils, PPE, and other contaminated materials were properly containerized for disposal.		1,134.0 gallons
156246

2014-05-28		LPDES Outfall 002
Cause: Heavy rains began during the early morning hours on 5/28, continuing through 5/30. This rainfall led to heavy flooding throughout the site. On 5/28 at 0716, oil was reported in the storm water ditch and notification was made to regulatory agencies of a possible release of oil exceeding 1 barrel. Additional calculation determined that the release was below RQ. At 1200, it was determined that the storm water with a "slight" oil sheen had migrated off site at two different locations: the St. James Canal and the Ascension Ditch. An overflow occurred, sending the contaminated water into the site stormwater ditch system. Oil containment and absorbent booms were deployed into the Ascension Ditch and the St. James Canal. Flooding continued across the site and storage capacity was exceeded. At 1300 on 5/28, discharge of process wastewater into the Storm Water System began to prevent the discharge of untreated process wastewater into the Mississippi River. Motiva also began to discharge from the Storm Water System via LPDES Outfall 002 to alleviate onsite flooding. On 5/30, another rainfall event affected the facility, resulting in additional flooding and the need for continuation of the emergency bypass operations. No offsite impacts. That 5/30 event also affected the facility steam system, which resulted in an upset of the Tail Gas Treating Unit No. 3 (TGTU-3). It was initially believed that this event led to exceedences for SO2, but calcuations determined that the RQ had not been exceeded.

Followup: No

Notes: Remedial actions were taken to contain and recover free oil onsite in order to minimize any potential for off-site impact. Motiva's primary Oil Spill Response Organization (ES&H) was immediately activated, along with additional support from United States Environmental Services (USES). The OSRO's worked around the clock deploying boom, recovering oil with vacuum trucks and discharging the oily water back into the refinery's slop oil system for reprocessing. "Extremely dilute" amounts of process water were discharged into the Ascension Ditch and St. James River.		5.4 gallons