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Phillips 66 (2538), Lake Charles

Releases in 2010

LDEQ Accident Number
Accident Date		 Point Source/Release CauseNotes
128363

2010-12-29
Point Source(s):
T-6020 wastewater degas tank

Pollutant(s):
Wastewater - 0
Cause of Problem: Weather

HEAVY RAIN. Leaking partially treated wastewater tank in the process of being taken out of service was overwhelmed due to heavy rains--formerly controlled outflow that was moving leaked material back into the treatment system overflowed into a solids settling pond. "Water quality impact is minimal due to this incident because the solids will settle into the pond before discharge."		Leak was ongoing at time of report at a rate of about 33 gal/min. "Once the rainfall slows down, all surface water will be contained and treated in the primary waste water treatment system." Release was ongoing at time of report. LDEQ report only. No refinery letter.
128016

2010-12-07
Point Source(s):
amine gas feed line to #1 ECC

Pollutant(s):
Hydrogen Sulfide - 1,050 pounds
Sulfur Dioxide - 1,050 pounds
Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

Leak on the amine gas feed line pipe at the #1 ECC #1 sulfur recovery unit. LDEQ report states that "leak was originally discovered when an internal H2S monitor picked-up an unknown quantity from inside the refinery."		Feed taken out of the line and nitrogen introduced to purge amine gas; #1 SRU unit shut down; line replaced.
127251

2010-10-25
Point Source(s):
Sulfur Recovery Unit (SRU)

Pollutant(s):
Sulfur Dioxide - BRQ
Sulfur Trioxide - BRQ
Cause of Problem: Process Upset

Upset in the sulfur recover unit; the "tail gas unit experienced a foaming incident," which allowed SO2 and SO3 to escape into the atmosphere.		No information given
126826

2010-10-02
Point Source(s):
West flare EQT330

Pollutant(s):
Sulfur Dioxide - 949 pounds
Cause of Problem: Process Upset

"During start-up of the HDC [hydrocracker] unit, the amine contactor foamed leading to amine carryover and a high liquid level in the knockout drum which shutdown the recycle hydrogen compressor and triggered depressurizing of the unit to the flare." SO2 release above permitted amounts of 500lbs/hr but below RQs Flame carryover from flaring resulted in a "small" grass fire along the right-of-way of PPG Drive which was extinguished by the Westlake Fire Dept.		"Amine flow to the contactor has been reduced from typical to prevent recurrence."
126513

2010-09-21
Point Source(s):
no information given

Pollutant(s):
No Information Given - 0
Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

Sheen on river -- loading paraffin at dock and had used nitrogen to clear a line, some material leaked through a valve and escaped to the water.		No information given. LDEQ report only. No refinery letter.
126343

2010-09-10
Point Source(s):
piping on Pump P-20038

Pollutant(s):
Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil - 2,562 gallons
Hydrogen Sulfide - BRQ
Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

Failure of piping network around the HGVO Product Pumb (P-20038) due to high vibration. Refinery states that offsite impact investigation concluded that .6 to 1/2 barrels of HVGO aerosolized and dispersed into the air.		RQ: The amount of HGVO released exceeded reportable quantities. The diameter of the discharge piping will be increased to recommended engineering standards and a program will be developed to identify and maintain settings on the spring cans. Second follow-up letter was dated 12/22/10.
125356

2010-08-03
Point Source(s):
Outfall 004

Pollutant(s):
Firewater - 0
Hydrostatic Test Dye - 0
Cause of Problem: No Information Given

Hydrostatic test dye used to test a tank started draining from the tank via a ditch into the firewater pond and overflowed the levee through Outfall 004.		Source isolated, but no details given. SPOC and LDEQ report only. No refinery letter.
125333

2010-08-01
Point Source(s):
D-2302 sight glass

Pollutant(s):
Propane/Propylene Mix - 4,365 pounds
Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure

Sight glass covering a drain ruptured while operator was draining water off of vessel [D-2302] in Tank Farm [Area D], glass rupture caused release of propane-propylene (VOCs).		"Replacing sight glass with spool piece on D-2302. All propane-propylene bullet sight glasses will be replaced with spool pieces"
125265

2010-07-30
Point Source(s):
No Information Given

Pollutant(s):
Gas Oil - 1 gallons
Cause of Problem: Human Factors

Faulty pipe line-up using demo line while preparing to transfer product into a process unit, resulting in a spill out of a valve. State Police report states that an estimated 1 gallon of gas oil went into water. Visible sheen on Bayou Verdine, approximately 10 x 10 feet. Refinery letter states that sheen might have been from a faulty line or related to an earlier sheen on 7/28/10; source not confirmed and sheen was gone when environmental personnel & Coast Guard inspected the site.		State Police [SPOC] report states that boom was placed in water on 7/30/10. No report available for incident referenced on 7/28/10.
124771

2010-07-12
Point Source(s):
Valve Stem-Natural Gas

Pollutant(s):
Natural Gas - 164,571 gallons
Cause of Problem: Maintenance/Procedures

There was a controlled blow down for pipeline maintenance.		No corrective action taken. There is no LDEQ report and no SPOC report attached to the file
124631

2010-07-02
Point Source(s):
Tote tank

Pollutant(s):
Sodium Hydrochlorite - 60 gallons
Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure

Leaking valve on tote tank containing sodium hypochlorite (bleach)--spilled into stormwater pond.		Spilled material treated in the wastewater treatment system prior to discharge, vacuum truck used to remove remaining material from tank to prevent further leakage. LDEQ verbal and field report only. No refinery letter.
124056

2010-06-08
Point Source(s):
unspecified pipeline

Pollutant(s):
Diesel Fuel - 168 gallons
Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

Pipeline developed leak inside the refinery, some of diesel released got into Bayou Verdine and created a sheen adjacent to Outfall 004.		Absorbent materials and booms used to clean up. LDEQ report only. No refinery letter.
123594

2010-05-19
Point Source(s):
no information given

Pollutant(s):
Kerosene - 76 gallons
Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

"Kerosene released in a containment area when loading a railcar at the refinery--control valve was shut and the pump did not shut off when loading was in progress and caused a relief valved to release the kerosene."		"Area was flushed with fresh water and padded up with absorbent materials." LDEQ report only. No refinery letter.
122272

2010-03-21
Point Source(s):
A4X45003--sump relief valve

Pollutant(s):
Sulfur Dioxide - 1,300 pounds
Cause of Problem: Equipment Failure

API sump relief valve (A4X45003) leaked, allowing gases high in H2S to bypass the scrubber on the Area B - API flare, allowing for elevated H2S levels released from the flare.		Verified elevated emissions
121788

2010-02-26
Point Source(s):
FLARE: West flare

Pollutant(s):
Sulfur Dioxide - 152 pounds
Cause of Problem: Process Upset

Foaming event in hydrocracker amine contactor (W-11001) resulted in liquid carryover into the knock-out drum of a compressor, which caused the compressor to shut down, opening the dump valve to flare. FLARE.		BRQ. Liquids drained from knock-out drum and compressor was restarted.
121726

2010-02-24
Point Source(s):
pipe in heater process area

Pollutant(s):
Gas Oil - 63 gallons
Cause of Problem: Human Factors

Gas oil released when mechanics removed a pipe elbow on a pipe that had been capped.		RQ. Spill was in the refinery on a concrete floor, cleaned up with vacuum truck and floor dry granules. LDEQ report only, which states "...informed [refinery] that notification of unauthorized discharge was required." No refinery notification letter.
121733

2010-02-24
Point Source(s):
diesel line near tank 378

Pollutant(s):
Diesel Fuel - 42 gallons
Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

Leak in diesel line near Tank 378 resulted diesel fuel being released.		Release was inside diked wall area--picked up with vacuum truck & absorbent materials. LDEQ Verbal report only. No refinery letter.
121668

2010-02-21
Point Source(s):
inside dike wall T-398

Pollutant(s):
Diesel Fuel - 63 gallons
Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

"Pinhole leak" in diesel pipeline inside dike wall.		RQ. Line depressurized & permanently clamped off, area cleaned up.
121481

2010-02-15
Point Source(s):
electric heated exchanger

Pollutant(s):
Ethane - BRQ
Cause of Problem: Piping or Tubing

Fuel gas (ethane), after leaking from electric heat exchanger, was ignited by electric heat system. "Combustion resulted in less than reportable quantity [RQ]." FIRE.		BRQ. Line was depressurized,fire extinguished, and unit was shut down.
120673

2010-01-09
Point Source(s):
pipe between Tk-65 and Tk-25

Pollutant(s):
Slop Oil - 420 gallons
Cause of Problem: Weather

COLD WEATHER. Incident report states, "a 2" slop oil line opened up at a union and spilled about 10 barrels of slop oil." Line failure was caused by freezing conditions. Dead leg section of piper ruptured adn released heavy oil between tanks of T-65 and T-24.		RQ. The amount of slop oil released was above reportable quantities. According to the incident report, "ES&H performed cleanup and remediation. The piping is blocked in and repairs are underway to put the piping back together. All oil was recovered during cleanup."