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Valero (1238), Meraux

Releases of NOx

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date		 Point Source(s) Notes Amount of Release
138647

2012-04-10		North Flare & South Flare
North Flare, South Flare, #2 SRU Incinerator, #3 SRU Incinerator
Cause: The root cause of the event was found to be equipment failure at the Entergy substation adjacent to the refinery. Due to a total power interruption at the refinery, units underwent safety shutdowns, which included venting high rates of gases to the North Flare and the South Flare. There were periods of excess opacity at both flares, as there was no controlling steam available. The boilers were also affected by the power outage. As startups proceeded, the refinery experienced some noise from relief valves and some additional sulfur dioxide emissions at the North Flare. Entergy reported that the power interruption was caused by a severe electrical fault at a 13.8 kV tie breaker at the Meraux Substation. Entergy found no evidence to support a definitive root cause. There was some evidence of bird nesting in the immediate area of the fault.

Followup: Yes

Notes: The refinery shut down all units, per written procedures. Once power was restored to the refiner, the refinery assessed and methodically restarted each unit. The refinery received one citizen complaint for odor during this event.