LA Bucket Brigade : Refinery Accident Database

About the Database

Calumet Lubricants 8 (1214), Shreveport

Releases in 2005

LDEQ Accident Number Accident Date	Point Source/Release	Cause	Notes
84419 2005-12-09	Point Source(s): Deaerator Pollutant(s): Hydrogen - BRQ	Cause of Problem: Instrument Failure The hydrogen plant went down and they sent the hydrogen to the flare. The plant went down due to a frozen level control on the deareator. This caused a bright orange 20 ft. flare. No hydrocarbons were released.	Strong odor, numerous community complaints. Calumet will followup on the amount of hydrogen that was lost.
83566 2005-11-01	Point Source(s): Slop water tank at Brown Station Pollutant(s): Crude Paraffinic - 462 gallons	Cause of Problem: Human Factors Slop water tank at Brown station overflowed with crude and water spilling to the ground. Cause: Air bleeder valve left open - presumed to be a human factor since a valve was left open.	Closed bleeder valve, put out absorbent pads and booms to contain spill, plan was to vac truck oil to recycle tank, excavate soil and remove to landfill.
83301 2005-10-20	Point Source(s): Sewer system - east separator pump Pollutant(s): Mixed Oil Products - 1,260 gallons	Cause of Problem: Human Factors Discharge pumps were not turned on when oil level got high.	Started the sump pumps, boomed ditch and vac trucked oil to recycle tank. Soil was removed and disposed.
82252 2005-09-15	Point Source(s): Platformer Pollutant(s): Hydrogen - 10 pounds Fuel - 246 pounds	Cause of Problem: Seal or Gasket Exchanger head gasket failed. Platformer feed effluent exchanger was the unit the leak developed on. Burned hydrogen and flammable hydrocarbons as they were released to the atmosphere.	Personnel extinguished fire with water, dry chemical and depressured the operating un
80881 2005-07-29	Point Source(s): #4 Vac Unit - Distillation Unit 300-350 Pollutant(s): Lubricating Oil - BRQ Smoke - BRQ	Cause of Problem: Seal or Gasket Pump seal failure on a viscosity distillate pump for the vacuum distillation unit 300-350. Hot oil sprayed out and flashed (smoke burn). #4 vacuum unit.	No Information Given
80869 2005-07-28	Point Source(s): Sulfur Recovery Unit v-f Pollutant(s): Sulfur Dioxide - 3,745 pounds	Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure Catalyst problems in the SRU (Sulfur recovery unit). discharging above the 37.1#/hr for SO2 permit on the unit. Three hour rolling 1300 ppm SO2 is exceeded. 1560 lbs excess S)2 discharged OVER the RQ in the last 96 Hours. 4 days, 890lbs/day = 3560lbs emitted.	Emissions detail noted release of 890 lbs per day. Immediate corrective action notes that a variance was submitted to the state to change the catalyst.
80723 2005-07-22	Point Source(s): Tank 105 Pollutant(s): Lubricating Oil - 420 gallons	Cause of Problem: Instrument Failure T-105 was overfilled and released P-80 in a diked area. Tank gauge stuck earlier in the day.	Stopped the flow into the tank and vac trucked the oil to recycle tank/remediation of soil. Some went into the process sewer system; reported 100+ barrels spilled on the ground, not sure how much went into the process sewer system.
80245 2005-06-30	Point Source(s): Sulfur Recovery Unit Incinerator Pollutant(s): Sulfur Dioxide - 620 pounds	Cause of Problem: Under Investigation Speculation that there is a faulty air valve. No follow up on the report to determine the exact cause.	A manufacturer representative will visit the site to determine the equipment's accuracy. September letter says flow meter was malfunctioning and the amounts released are lower.
80104 2005-06-26	Point Source(s): Sulfur Recovery Unit Incinerator - Emission point Vf Pollutant(s): Sulfur Dioxide - 815 pounds	Cause of Problem: Under Investigation The SRU was regenerating catalyst and during the recovery process, the material was released. Suspected that the stack flew meter is measuring high but until confirmed there may be a catalyst regeneration issue in the SRU.	The reports give three different dates for the upset: 6.25, 6.26 and 6.27. The notes said there was an off site impact. Report says a manufacturer representative was scheduled to visit the refinery in the near future to determine the equipment's accuracy.
79672 2005-05-20	Point Source(s): Tank 185 Pollutant(s): Diesel Fuel - 210 gallons	Cause of Problem: No Information Given Spill of diesel inside dike wall at Tank 185, cause unknown.	Notice of the problem was not received until June 7th; the remedial action taken was to get the vac truck there - can't see how that will prevent the occurrence in future. The letter from the Refinery is dated June 8th, the stamps are on June 6th and 7th but the call wasn't made until June 8th.
78459 2005-04-21	Point Source(s): Sulfur Recovery Unit, valve SO 5-1288 Pollutant(s): Sulfur Dioxide - 0	Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure Valve failure; air monitoring found an excess of 1300 ppm for 3 hours Repeat incident of 78390. Date and report date are different but the details of the incident are the same.	SO2 release in excess of 1300 ppm.
78390 2005-04-19	Point Source(s): Sulfur Recovery Unit Pollutant(s): Sulfur Dioxide - 455 pounds	Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure A valve failure at the SRU forced a unit failure. Light liquids made air demand controls hard to adjust. Average PPM of SO2 was 1450 (Reg Limit was 1300ppm).	Repairs ongoing but no specific remedial action taken to prevent recurrence.
78375 2005-04-19	Point Source(s): SRU #1 Pollutant(s): Smoke - 0 pounds	Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing Air demand lines for the SRU were plugged and caused the unit to shut down. SRU tripped, incinerator smoking for 20 minutes; permit exceeded (permit allows for maximum of six minutes)	Workers have cleared the line and the unit is back on line; there is no reportable level of sulfur dioxide released
78362 2005-04-18	Point Source(s): Tank 32 Pollutant(s): Naptha (Crude) - 1,260 gallons	Cause of Problem: No Information Given For an unknown reason, the tank overfilled and spilled Naptha into diked area around tank; 30 barrels were spill	Personel stopped filling tank and cleaned up the spill; a Vac was used for the oil and attempts to remediate the soil were employed.
77327 2005-03-03	Point Source(s): No information given Pollutant(s): Hydrogen - 0	Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure A charge pump went down, flow was lost and a flange cooled and separated, the separation allowed oxygen to meet the heated product (diesel/hydrogen) which resulted in a fire	Calumnet employees extinguished the fire. All parameters tested were below their respected action levels. No further action taken.
76500 2005-01-27	Point Source(s): Tank 181 Pollutant(s): Paraffinic Lube P-80 Crude - 1,050 gallons	Cause of Problem: Instrument Failure Tank 181 was over run and released 25 barrels of P-80 to the ground. It was contained within the tank berm.	The cause notes said that operational procedure was not followed, making it appear to be human error. Upon closer reading, the report notes that the person should have known that the guage on that particular tank sticks and should have paid more attention. Remedial action stated that the facility began and finished vacuuming the product for recycle.
76443 2005-01-25	Point Source(s): Tank Farm Pollutant(s): Atmospheric Tower Bottoms (Crude Oil) - 210 gallons	Cause of Problem: Seal or Gasket Flange failure. A flange in the pipe rack located northwest of T-98 failed, releasing about 5 barrels to the surrounding ground. It was contained in the tank ber	Directed vac truck to vac the spill up and recycle the product back into the refinery. No specific remedial action planned to prevent recurrence. Flange failures not common cause of spills.
76133 2005-01-11	Point Source(s): Tank 43 Pollutant(s): Naphthenic Crude - 1,260 gallons	Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure Tank 43 was over-filled, releasing about 30 barrels inside the berm wall. Operations was just about to hand gauge it when the spill was discovered.	Stopped the flow and blocked both tanks in. Start with vac clean up.