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Valero (1238), Meraux

Releases of Oil

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date		 Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
81927

2005-09-03		Tank 250-2
Cause: STORM: The water pushed the tank from its foundation. Refinery report states that 17,962 barrels of oil were recovered from the spilled tank, with approximately 7,031 barrels lost to atmosphere via evaporation.

Followup: No

Notes: RQ. Refinery letter states that all "visibly impacted" soil was removed for off-site disposal. "Murphy Oil continues to clean all neighboring properties, as determined by EPA-monitored sampling activities."		1,049,706.0 gallons
05-BB013-3722

2005-07-11		Outfall 003
Cause: Loss of sump pumps in the wastewater treatment plant cooling tower and piping system problems. Opened Outfall 003 (Emergency Stormwater Outfall) to the 20 Arpent Canal. Wastewater storage capacity was not available due to prior storm events.

Followup: No

Notes: Murphy Oil set up temporary lines and pumps to bypass the plugged wastewater treatment plant biororeactor charge lines reworked sump pumps and returned lines and pumps to service. Chemicals in discharged stormwater and process water included ammonia, sulfides, phenol, oil and grease in undisclosed quanitities.		see above
05-BB013-3687

2005-02-07		Loading line on Mississippi River dock
Cause: Valve in a loading line released the oil.

Followup: No

Notes: BELOW REPORTABLE QUANTITIES. They tightened down on the packing of the valve and it seemed to solve the problem.		2.0 gallons
05-BB013-3686

2005-02-02		Outfall 003
Cause: During a heavy rain, the refinery ran out of stormwater storage capacity.

Followup: No

Notes: BELOW REPORTABLE QUANTITIES. The oil went into the 20 Arpent Canal. They deployed containment booms and closed Outfall 003.		1.0 gallons
06-BB013-3753

2006-07-07		Tank 200-2
Cause: under investigation some evidence suggests that it was related to a lightning strike fire on 7/3/2006.

Followup: Yes

Notes: SERC incident # 06-04245. gasoline leaked onto the external floating roof of Tank 200-2
07-BB013-3835

2007-10-22		MOUSA - 20 Arpent Canal
Cause: the sheen was a result of approximately 6-8 of heavy rainfa

Followup: No Information Provided

Notes: The spill may have been less than 3 gallons because in Murphy's report they say it was 2-3 gallons of oil. The spill was located in the 20 Arpent Canal, west of the Meraux Canal. The offsite impact was below reportable quantities. Murphy deployed containment booms across the 20 Arpent Canal and recovered the free liquids with vacuum trucks. Murphy also notified the National Response Center and the U.S. Coast Guard on 10/22/2007 (NRC # 852-35		3.0 gallons
127859

2010-11-25		Labratory Sump
Cause: LDEQ report states that hydrocarbon mixture (oil/water/hydrocarbon) discharged into ditch along Colonial Pipeline, south of Jacob drive. Release occurred due to a crack in a sump discharge pipe fitting causing the suction problems with the two pumps that drain the sump. This resulted in sump fluids leaking from the sump vent pipe and possibly the cracked fitting.

Followup: No

Notes: LDEQ report states that refinery flushed storm drain, removed contaminated water in ditch and sent to facility's waste water treatment plant, removed contaminated soil and sent to River Birch for disposal. Installed alarm system on lab sump and and extended sump vent pipe 8 feet in air to prevent reoccurrance.
126668

2010-09-27		Pipeline
Cause: Release from a crude oil pipeline that transfers crude oil from barges to the Murphy Oil refinery. The pipe is buried near the Mississippi River levee. Report states that date/time/duration of release is unknown, but was discovered on 9/27/10. Report submitted.

Followup: No

Notes: LDEQ reports states: "The pipe was repaired on 9/27/10. Contaminated soil has been profiled as oily dirt and will be disposed of at Woodside Landfill in Walker, LA...On 4/7/11, it was learned that the remediation work has been halted because of the high level of the Mississippi River. She also stated that the ground water was impacted by the oil. A referral to the Remediation Division will be made." FOLLOW-UP: Remediation action plan submitted to LDEQ, but as of September 2011 report does not include amount of oil released.
150383

2013-08-14
Cause: On August 14, 2013, while assessing conditions following a heavy rainstorm, Valero personnel discovered a light sheen on the storm water within a drainage ditch located along the south side of St. Bernard Highway. Cause may be an underground pipe.

Followup: No

Notes: Adsorbent boom was laid in the ditch and a vacuum truck was dispatched to remove as much of the sheen from the water surface as possible. The mixture picked up by the vacuum truck was transferred to the refinery for separation and treatment. There were no known leaks or spills in the area during this period. Subsequent inspections, conducted during both dry and wet weather conditions, revealed no new sheen in the ditch. It is unknown whether the sheen originated from Valero property, other nearby properties, or the adjacent highway. Another letter from Valero was sent on August 21, 2013 wishing to rescind the notification for the incident due to none of the reporting criteria of LAC 33:I. 3915-3939 are applicable to this case.		0.1 gallons