LA Bucket Brigade : Refinery Accident Database

Motiva Enterprises, LLC, Norco

Releases of Benzene

LDEQ Incident Number Incident Date	Point Source(s)	Notes	Amount of Release
84593 2005-12-15	St. Rose Flare	Cause: on 12 15, the flare pilot regulator failed, and the pilot fuel gas dropped below normal; during the failure, the pilot went out due to high winds; the flare continued to remain lit with the continuous sweep gas flow and was visibl Followup: No Notes: Follow up to a verbal notification on 12 15 05. Motiva claims that this was not preventable because of an unexpected equiParticulate Matterent failure.	0
83975 2005-11-18	GO-1 Processing Unit	Cause: No information given Followup: Yes Notes: following up from a verbal notification on 11 18 05
83055 2005-10-13	Catalytic Reformer #1 Unit	Cause: during excavation activities with the construction of a new flare knockout pot at the CR-1 unit, liquid hydrocarbons were observed seeping into the excavatio Followup: No Notes: the area in question was previously investigated and it was determined that there was a single concentration of Benzene that exceeded the RECAP screening standard but fell below the MO-1 standard; there was a conference on 10 18 05 between Oliver Boyd and someone from the LDEQ division and it was agreed that since the area was being managed under the approved east site groundwater management program, no further assessment or action is warranted
82376 2005-09-22	Coker Unit	Cause: Relief valve on the coker drum opened venting pollutant to atmosphere Followup: No Notes: Release occurred at 0418 hours. No information given concerning causes, pollutants released, et	27.0 pounds
81720 2005-08-28	General facility Refinery Wastewater Treatment System (RWTS), LPDES Outfall 006; Wastewater treatment facility	Cause: hurricane Katrine caused unanticipated bypasses of water Followup: Yes Notes: waiting for situation to stabilize and operations to return to normal
81376 2005-08-16	Tank A-410 (EPN 1021-95)	Cause: DU5 was starting up and the HGO routing to A-410 was changed from off-spec to the HGO treaters; during this time the bypass valve had been left in the open position causing heavy gas oil to overflow Followup: Yes Notes: remedial actions included stopping flow to the A-410 immediately; level pumped down; Soil excavation performed; also performed Soil testing and concluded that the levels didn't exceed any limits and no further action was recommended.
81012 2005-08-04	RCCU Flare (EPN #8-84), West Operations Ground Flare (WOGF- EPN 9-84)	Cause: maintenance was turning a blind when contents from the line started spraying; flaring occurred following the event Followup: Yes Notes: Under further investigation; no flare smoking occurred during this incident; remedial measures: vacuum trucks were deployed to try to capture the Oil in the RCCU drainage system, additional adjustments made to minimize the forward flow into the main fractionator column while isolations were made to the slurry system	0
81012 2005-08-04	RCCU Flare (EPN #8-84), West Operations Ground Flare (WOGF- EPN 9-84)	Cause: maintenance was turning a blind when contents from the line started spraying; flaring occurred following the event Followup: Yes Notes: Under further investigation; no flare smoking occurred during this incident; remedial measures: vacuum trucks were deployed to try to capture the Oil in the RCCU drainage system, additional adjustments made to minimize the forward flow into the main fractionator column while isolations were made to the slurry system	0
80785 2005-07-25	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN #9-84)	Cause: indicators of the status of operations were out of service for maintenance and inspection; production of off specification product led to flaring Followup: No Notes: called in by telephone on 07 25 by Shell Chemical. Remedial actions: Material was flared at the West Ops Ground flare. Motiva maintains they were not in control of the incident and that a follow up letter was sent by Shell Chemical	8.0 pounds
80320 2005-07-06	Coker, HCU, West Op Ground flares	Cause: power failures due to weather (Tropical Storm Cindy) caused various releases from Motiva sources; led to total loss of electrical instrument air compressors and the loss of several steam Boilers that caused the shutdown of the HCU and RCCU process units. A voltage sag caused the Coker processor to shut down which resulted in a flaring event Followup: No Notes: Motiva claims that this was not preventable because of the unforeseeable weather conditions.	3.0 pounds
76388 2005-01-23	Hydrocracker unit	Cause: causes flameout at flare that allowed VOC to be released Followup: No Notes: following up from verbal notification on 01 23 05; data gathering to perform calculations
05-BB012-3403 2005-01-03	Tank w-406 (EPN #1086-95)	Cause: No information given Followup: Yes Notes: data gathering and calculations. Follow-up letter promised but never issued.
92470 2006-12-07	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: shut down and start up of GO-1 Process Unit to repair a leaking heat exchanger Followup: No Notes: Letter states that emissions were BRQ
92393 2006-12-02	RGHT Unit	Cause: release due to leaking flange on exchanger E-8110B Followup: No Notes: Letter states that emissions were BRQ
92253 2006-11-25	No information given	Cause: No information given Followup: No Notes: Under investigation
91490 2006-10-18	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: unexpected shut down of a steam boiler Followup: No Notes: No remedial actions, the incident was not under the control of Motiva	2.0 pounds
91094 2006-10-03	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: upset at GO-1 process unit Followup: No Notes: No remedial actions, the incident was not under the control of Motiva	1.0 pounds
91050 2006-10-02	No information given	Cause: It was reported that a pump was leaking due to the fact that a pipe had been broken. It was the casue of this broken pipe that resulted in the several compounds being released Followup: Yes Notes: Root cause failure analysis underway. It was further stated that maintenance people were working to fix the broken pipe. Notes: according to the followup report provided it stated another report would be provided as soon as data analysis was complete.
90114 2006-08-20	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: upset at GO-1 process unit. Unit experiences exchanger leak Followup: No Notes: No remedial actions, the incident was not under the control of Motiva	151.0 pounds
90100 2006-08-19	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: upset at GO-1 process unit Followup: No Notes: Letter states that no RQ's were exceeded. Little info given re: cause, preventability.	2.0 pounds
89783 2006-08-06	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: upset at GO-1 process unit Followup: No Notes: No remedial actions, the incident was not under the control of Motiva	1.0 pounds
89388 2006-07-19	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: upset at GO-1 process unit caused by a STORM Followup: No Notes: Lightning strike caused several instruments to malfunction leading to upset	1.0 pounds
88879 2006-06-24	Subsurface pipeline	Cause: a 1/2 Followup: No Notes: n/a	10.0 pounds
88507 2006-06-10	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: unexpected shutdown of process gas compressor Followup: No Notes: No remedial actions, the incident was not under the control of Motiva	12.0 pounds
88170 2006-05-26	GO-1 Process Unit ; West Ops Ground Flare (EPN 9-84)	Cause: pipe leak on line at the base of a process vessel Followup: No Notes: Measures adopted by Shell will be addresssed in a Shell letter	14.0 pounds
87231 2006-04-17	West Ops Ground Flare (EPN# 9-84)	Cause: upset at GO-1 process unit due to a power outage Followup: No Notes: No remedial actions, the incident was not under the control of Motiva	2.0 pounds
87192 2006-04-14	Unspecified light olefin line	Cause: a bleeder valve was left open permitting hydrocarbons to escape to the soil Followup: No Notes: investigation findings dispersed throughout operations via shift mtgs. Operator found to be at fault was individually met with and reprimanded
86806 2006-03-28	Hydrocracker Unit	Cause: see notes Followup: Yes Notes: Power outage at Hydrocracker unit causes release
101464 2007-12-05	tank water draw from North propery dewater system to Tank 476	Cause: Leak in pipeline--slop oil header at a point of external corrosion. Followup: Yes Notes:	0.2 pounds
100426 2007-10-23	tank F-493	Cause: Heavy rains caused excessive rainwater weight on roof of tank F-493, causing naphtha to leak out via the roof drains into diked area around the tank. Adjacent tank F-509, which shares the containment dike with F-493, had to have its tank dike valve opened to prevent flooding, causing surface water to contact area around F-493 and then escape to the effluent conveyance system. Facility was forced to bypass the stormwater impoundment basin to avoid flooding of the site and the released naphtha then migrated offsite through outfall 006. Material then ended up in stilling basin upstream from St. Charles Parish Bayou Trepagnier Pump station. DEQ interview form states area could not be entered on the first day because of high benzene levels. Reportable quantities exceeded. Reportable quantities exceeded considerably. Followup: Yes Notes: closed roof drain valve of tank F-493, fenceline monitoring, vacuum trucks and absorbent pads used to clean, waste pads disposed of offsite at Phillips Reclamation Facility, offsite release cleaned up using absorbent material and pads external roof pump installed on the roof of tank F-493, roof drain will be up-sized, "tank dike draining procedures were reinforced with operations via shift meetings"	151.1 pounds
100173 2007-10-14	pipe in dewatering system	Cause: Underground pipeline leaked in Delta Crude dewatering system, oil originating from either Tank A-413 or A-414 Followup: Yes Notes: Shut off dewatering draw system, corroded area of pipe clamped, removed free phase crude oil with vacuum trucks, excavated impacted soil, making plans to discontinue existing pipeline & replace with one above ground.	8.7 pounds
97930 2007-07-17	heat exchanger piping on DU-5 unit	Cause: "off-spec" section of piping failed and leaked while putting heat exchanger into service on DU-5 unit no reportable quantities exceeded Followup: Yes Notes: no information given
85967 2007-07-05	DU-5 Unit	Cause: piping failure on the crude column overhead line results in leak Followup: No Notes: Overhead piping will be replaced during next unit turnaround in October 2006	1,532.0 pounds
93241 2007-01-12	Hydrocracker Unit	Cause: see notes Followup: Yes Notes: Release due to RV release to the atmospheric vent
103758 2008-03-08	Tank F-455 rundown line	Cause: leaking flange on the rundown line of tank F-455 Followup: Yes Notes: Each tank w/in Logistics will be evaluated to determine the need to excavate rundown lines. Work scope of tank turnaround process will be revised to include excavation and inspection of all flanges and to include flange make-up requirments that ensure an adequate seal is maintained at the flange interface	26.0 pounds
102827 2008-02-04	Tank F0458 floating roof	Cause: An air bubble trapped in feed line from a recent line flushing caused the materials to escape through the seal on the floating roof Followup: No Notes: Lines feeding the tank were shut down and the material was pumped into the tank for recovery
119992 2009-12-08	compressor	Cause: The chemicals Benzene, H2S, Volatile organic compounds and Nitrogen Oxides were released after two compressors tripped due to an electrical breaker trip. no information given on amounts. Followup: No Notes: No remedial action was provided as to how the electrical breaker was fixed and release of chemicals were stopped. Verbal report only, no written report from the refinery.
115844 2009-06-20	Coker Flare	Cause: There was an operational upset with the wet gas compressor at the Coker Fractionator that resulted in the opening of the unit's pressure control valve. The opening of this valve allowed emissions to be sent to the Coker Flare thus allow several compound to be released into the air. Followup: Yes Notes: after immediate response the problem was troubleshooted. In the end, the high level increase in the overhead accumulator of the Coke Incinerator was corrected and operations returned to normal conditions
115263 2009-05-27	Cat Cracker debutanizer column	Cause: States that there was a problem with the Cat Cracker Debutanizer column. Propylene, butylene, Benzene, SO2, and H2S were released...there was no cause listed as to how these chemicals were released Followup: No Notes: There were no remedial actions listed as to how the problem was corrected with the Cat Cracker and no mention as to how the release of these chemicals were stopped. Verbal report only, no letter from the refinery.
114879 2009-05-12	plug from a line	Cause: during a maintenance operations a plug was blown from its line due to high water pressure levels. This in turn caused the plug to break free and allow the sour water (containing benzene) to be released Followup: No Notes: There was not an official verification of what was carried out to remediate the problem. It was noted that vacuum trucks might have been able to handle the spill and that a new valve would be inserted to close off the line and stop the leak. Because the release spilled onto the concrete containment where the PPI separator is, that unit was blocked off.
113913 2009-04-02	3-inch de-watering hose line	Cause: After de-watering a RU gasoline take (F-456) and 2 crude oil tanks (A-413 and A-416) it was noticed that there was a leak coming from a 3 inch de-watering hose. This leak was linked to a corrosion in that 3-inch de-watering line. As a result of the incident, both crude oil and benzene vapor were released Followup: Yes Notes: the corroding line was isolated and clamped while booms were put in the ditch as a way to prevent further migration of the released material. A pumper truck was used to recover the compounds released, and these compounds were discharged into the refineries slop oil system. contaminated soil was disposed of sent to an on-site landfill. Waste water that was contaminated received full treatment before being discharged
128035 2010-12-08	FLARE: Coker WGC (K-2178), Coker Flare (EPN 2-84)	Cause: Refinery letter states that Motiva experienced a flaring release caused by an unexpected shutdown of the Coker Wet Gas compressor due to power loss. Power loss is attributed to fault in MCC breaker and 4160V buss. Followup: No Notes: RQ. Coker Unit shutdown and restarted when flaring stopped. Re-evaluated relay settings and adjusted as needed to reduce potential for future trips.	3.5 pounds
127976 2010-12-03	FLARE: S-2 & S-3 Sulfur units; Coker flare (FE-401), Shell Go-1 & OL-5 Flares FLARE:Shell Go-1 & OL-5 Flares	Cause: Motiva's S-2 and S-3 sulfur plants tripped offline while analyzer FI-3677 was being calibrated. During analyzer calibration, air flow was reduced, initiating shutdown of S-2. Acid gas was diverted through to S-3 and pushed into gas knock out drum resulting in shut down of S-3. Acid gas was routed to Coker Flare and Shell's Go-1 flare. Shared incident with SHELL CHEMICAL LP. Emissions included flaring from both facilities. Followup: Yes Notes: RQ. Sulfur plants were restarted, operating procedures for safely calibrating instruments will be developed and included in operations training program, training conducted for personnel. Calculations provided confirm that the reportable quantity for sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter was exceeded.	0.1 pounds
127866 2010-11-27	FLARE: West Ops Ground Flare [EPN 9-84]	Cause: Refinery letter states that "Shell Chemical's GO-1 Process unit experienced an upset when the feed to the unit furnaces was unexpectantly shut off. This process led to flaring at the Motiva's West Operations Ground Flare." SHARED INCIDENT WITH SHELL CHEMICAL PLANT. Separate report will be filed for Shell LP Norco Chemical Plant-East Site will be submitted. FLARE. Followup: Yes Notes: BRQ. Follow-up reports states that no reportable quantities or permit limits were exceeded. No Information Given regarding remedial actions. Refinery letter states that this information will be included in the Shell Chemical incident report.
125564 2010-08-10	DU-5 Naptha Stripper Reboiler [E-1004]	Cause: A leak in the weld of a pipping elbow of the DU-5 Naptha Stripper Reboiler caused by internal corrosion on the reboiler. Followup: Yes Notes: RQ. Reportable quantities were exceeded for 8 chemicals including Ethane, Methane, Toulene, and n-Hexane. Refinery report states that "immediately following discovery of the leak, the site's emergency response team was activated and the naphtha stripper was blocked in and depressurized."	3.3 pounds
125532 2010-08-09	FLARE: HCU elevated flare (EPN 4-84)	Cause: The HCU elevated flare (EPN 4-84) released Benzene, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, toluene, and VOC due to a faulty regulator and an orifice tee which was incorrectly installed by the manufacturer and also a faulty nitrogen regulator supplying the system. SECONDARY CAUSE: noted as equipment failure. FLARE. Followup: No Notes: RQ. Refinery later states that reportable quantities were exceeded for benzene. Both the relief valve and the nitrogen regulator were removed from service and repaired. When repaired, they were reinstalled and returned to service.	0.3 pounds
124892 2010-07-16	FLARE: Hydrocracker Unit - relief valve	Cause: Report states that a relief valve on the hydrocracker unit failed causing the release. Valve was found to be improperly assembled by the manufacturer... Followup: No Notes: BRQ. Report states that "the valve was repaired on site by Motiva technicians and put back in service. No reportable quantities were exceeded as a result of this release."
124186 2010-06-15	Wharf Berth 1: high sulfur light product line	Cause: LDEQ report states, "Motiva reported a leaking high sulfur light product line at the wharf that released approximately six barrels of naptha to the Mississippi River. Leak was caused by external corrosion, and two contributing factors were identified. First, the line was found to be in contact with the insulation of adjacent piping, causing water accumulation between the lines. Additionally, inadequate coating was discovered on the blistered section of piping." A total of 1,748 pounds of chemicals were released to the air. Followup: No Notes: RQ. LDEQ report states that "Motiva took the following measures to prevent reoccurrence of this incident: the blistered section of piping will be replaced so it does not contact near-by equipment and the new line will be adequately coated to protect from external corrosion. Motiva has determined that the release was preventable. This incident is an area of concern with regards to LAC 33:III.905 and LAC 33:IX.501.D."	59.0 pounds
123327 2010-05-08	FLARE: HCU elevated Flare (EPN-4-84)	Cause: "Motiva CR-2 recycle gas compressor (K-2057) tripped due to an expected high level in the CR-2 product separator vessel, which subsequently tripped the CR-2 process unit. A sudden increase in the level in the CR-2 product separator occurred while Motiva operators were placing exchangers (E-1243/44/45) back in service." This subsequently caused the HCU elevated Flare (EPN-4-84) to release naphtha-cyclohexane, ethylbenzene, napthalene,hydrotreated heavy naphtha, hexane, toluene, xylene. FLARE. Followup: Yes Notes: BRQ. The refinery letter states that no reportable quantities were exceeded during this incident.
123043 2010-04-25	FLARE - HCU elevated flare	Cause: FLARE. FIRE. Power failure caused rapid shutdown of Hydrocracking Unit due to a valve failure. Moisture had accumulated causing corrosion on the wiring and connections. During troubleshooting, hydroprocessing exchanger E-1057 bottom head caught fire. Fire extinguished with water, no injuries. Followup: No Notes: BRQ. No RQs exceeded but did exceed max lb per hour permit limit for SO2. Process unit restarted and conditions returned to normal. Wiring, connector block, and seal repaired to prevent moisture from causing further corrosion.
122119 2010-03-13	HCU absorber surge drum PV-829 HCU oil absorber surge drum PV-829	Cause: Operator on rounds discovered stain on nozzle bottle of vessel of hydrocracking unit. Plug missing, visible vapors, and there is a quarter inch hole leaking. Followup: No Notes: BRQ. Refinery letter states that "final calculations confirm that no reportable quantities were exceeded." Steam lanced the leak initially, then got advice from piping inspectors for leak repair. Repaired with nipple and isolation valve with cap.
121815 2010-03-01	FLARE - Shell's GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN 1-90)	Cause: LDEQ report states, "cat cracker tripped due to main air blower problems." Refinery letter states there was an unexpected shutdown of Motiva's RCCU Process Unit; had to flare dry gas being fed to Shell's GO-1 Process Unity to meet specifications to prevent further contamination to GO-1 and need for additional flaring. FLARE. Followup: No Notes: RQ. Reportable quantities exceeded. File includes letters from both Motiva and Shell Chemical. Motiva letter dated 3/8/2010 references submitting a follow-up within 60 day and Shell letter references "a separate letter from Motiva dated 4/28/10," but follow-up letter from Motiva is not included in file.
121572 2010-02-17	FLARE - HCU Elevated Flare [EPN4-84], Relief Valve [RV1178 & RV1204]	Cause: Loss of electrical breaker powering most of the large motors in the hydrocracking unit caused two columns to "release to atmosphere;" RV-1178 on the Rectified Absorber Column for 30secs, RV-1204 on the Caustic Water Wash column "momentarily." FLARE. Followup: Yes Notes: BRQ. Refinery Follow-up Letter states "final calculations confirm that no reportable quantities were exceeded as a result of this release." Breaker loss discovered & repaired, operations returned to normal.
121003 2010-01-22	DU5 Unit	Cause: LDEQ field report states that incident involved a fire and heavy gas oil leak in the DU5 Unit. Resulted in shut down of DU5, SATS, and DIH units. FIRE. LDEQ report states that "facility failed to perform operating procedures to prevent or reduce air pollution as required by LAC 33:III:905 A. Followup: Yes Notes: RQ. Reportable quantity for particulate matter and CO were exceeded. LDEQ field report states that according to facility personnel perimeter air monitoring at time of fire was conducted and indicated no off-site impact. As of 1/23/10 approximately 12,000 gallons of skimmed material [oil & water] had been collected. FOLLOW-UP: Resulted in emergency condition. Fire was extinguished. Vacuum trucks and boom deployed to contain spill and firefighting fluid. Soil excavated and transported to landfill.	5.0 pounds
134290 2011-09-29	Coker Flare FE-401	Cause: While starting the Coker Jet Pump on 9/29/11 at 6:45pm, the electrical breaker at Motiva's Coking Unit tripped de-energizing the Motor Control Center. Consequently, the Coker Wet Gas Compressor tripped offline therefore resulting in unit flaring and operating in hot circulation mode. Hot circulation mode is an operating mode in which the unit recycles feed at high temperatures. This mode of operation lessens the amount of flaring in comparison to a complete unit shutdown. The initial inspection of the Jet Pump revealed that the auto-transformer serving as a soft start for this pump had failed causing the electrical breaker to trip open. Once repairs were completed, the Coker Unit was safely re-started and flaring stopped. Followup: No Notes: Immediately, Operations placed the furnace F-125 in hot steam standby and brought the Coker Unit into hot circulation mode to prevent additional flaring of non treated gas. Norco maintenance personnel were called out to troubleshoot the trip of the Coker Wet Gas Compressor and related equipment. The auto-transformer was removed from the circuit. Relay coordination was modified in order to protect the new circuit. After troubleshooting, maintenance personnel determined that operations could safely re-start the Coker Process Unit. During this time the Coker Wet Gas Compressor was restarted and flaring stopped. By 12/31/11 a study will be completed to determine whether the auto-transformer can be permanently removed from the system. After this study is completed, a strategy will be created to address the required changes. This action will be completed by 3/31/12. Calculations confirm that the reportable quantity for sulfur dioxide was exceeded as well as the permitted maximum pound per hour emission limits for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, VOC's, 1,3 butadiene, and benzene as a result of the release.	4.4 pounds
133050 2011-08-05	Hydrocrakcer unit	Cause: The Hydrocracker unit shutdown due to an electrical failure of the motor on P-1940, the charge pump of the 2nd stage of the Hydrocracker Unit. EPN 4-84 and FE-301 Followup: Yes Notes: Operations shutdown and secured the 1st and 2nd stages of the Hydrocracker. A temporary onsite replacement motor for P-1940 was used to restore power to the motor control center to support HCU restart.	17.1 pounds
132917 2011-08-05	GO-1 Process Unit to West Ops Ground Flare (EPN 9-84)	Cause: The GO-1 Process Unit experienced a unit upset due to the over-pressuring of a column. This process upset led to flaring at Motiva's West Operations Ground Flare. Followup: No Notes: There were no remedial actions listed in the report.
132873 2011-08-03	Cat Cracker	Cause: While restarting the cat cracker until, materials flared Followup: Notes: No refinery letter.
132264 2011-07-08	9-84 (West Operations Ground Flare, FG-201)	Cause: On July 8, 2011 Shell Chemical's GO-1 Process Unit experienced a unit upset due to issues with re-boilers. This process upset led to flaring at the Motiva's West Operations Ground Flare (EPN 9-84). Followup: No Notes: The Go-1 Process unit was safely returned to normal operating conditions. Corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence will be addressed in a separate letter from Shell Chemical.	31.6 pounds
130906 2011-04-28	HCU Elevated Flare (EPN 4-84)	Cause: On April 28, 2011 at 0717, Motiva's Hydrogen Unit experienced a release to the atmosphere from a loss of pilot flame at HCU Elevated Flare (EPN 4-84). Prior to the release, Motiva's Hydrogen Unit was in the process of restarting the unit after a planned maintenance activity. As part of the unit re-start procedure, operators are required to purge process vessels with steam and nitrogen to the HCU flare header in order to remove any excess oxygen that may have been entrained in the process vessels and/or piping as a result of maintenance activities. Following an investigation of this incident, Motiva has determined that steam was introduced into the Hydrogen plant process too quickly, causing a spike in nitrogen to the HCU flare which extinguished the flare pilots for approximately 6 minutes. Followup: No Notes: Operations responded immediately to the pilot loss alarm by reducing the steam rate to the flare header and re-lighting the flare pilots. In order to prevent a similar incident in the future, a step will be added to the unit startup procedure to slowly increase the steam purge rate in 50lb increments and hold each rate constant for 30 minutes before increasing to the next flow rate.
129817 2011-03-11	GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN1-90)	Cause: Faulty Positioner ina control valve caused high levels in a suction drum. This caused the PGC to shutdown. The control valve was tested and returned to service. On March 11, 2011, the Process Gas Compressor (PGC) shutdown due to a high level indication in the fourth stage suction drum. The PGC is designed to shutdown under this condition to protect the compressor. Flaring occurred at the GO-1 Elevated Flare (EPN1-90) as a result of the PGC shutdown. Additional flaring as a result of this upset also occurred at Motiva's West Operation Ground Flare and will be addressed in a separate letter. Followup: No Notes: The PGC was checked and secured by operations. Feed reductions to the unit were made to minimize flaring while repairs to the PGC were made. After investigating the system, a faulty positioner in a control valve was identified as the cause of the high level in the suction drum that led to the PGC shutdown. Maintenance personnel replaced the positioner and the control valve was tested and placed back in service. The PGC was safely returned to normal operating conditions. Once the GO-1 Process Unit was returned to normal operating conditions the flaring was stopped. An alarm point will be installed to give operations an indication that the control valve is not functioning properly and allow for maintenance inspection prior to failure.	782.1 pounds
129562 2011-03-01	Coker Flare (EPN 2-84)	Cause: On March 1, 2011, at approximately 1003 hours, Motiva operations initiated a shutdown of the Coker process unit due to a bearing failure on the Coker Inner Stage Cooling Fans (B-2369 & B-2370). This shutdown resulted in flaring at the Coker Elevated Flare (EPN2-84). The unit was safely shut down in a controlled manner utilizing all operational and safety procedures. Additionally, dry gas vent samples were taken prior to shutting down the Coker Wet Gas Compressor (K-2178) to confirm that minimal emissions were sent to the Coker Flare (EPN2-84). Followup: Yes Notes: The unit was safely shut down in a controlled manner utilizing all operational and safety procedures. No additional information.
129239 2011-02-13	HCU relief valve (RV-1178)	Cause: Release caused by a loss of separation in the High Pressure Separator which caused a relief valve to release. HCU relief valve (RV-1178) relieved to atmosphere due to a loss of product separation in PV-816 (HCU High Pressure Seperator). Rectified Absorber Column (PV-822) pressure built and was relieved by opening to the atmosphere. Followup: Notes: BRQ. Letter is predated by several months and appears to be a form. Data is accurate to the event and signed on the 17th of february.
140882 2012-06-28	Shell Chemical's GO-1 Elevated Flare and Motiva West Operations Ground Flare	Cause: There was an unexpected loss of a boiler, causing a steam load shed, causing a unit shutdown, which caused the flaring. There was flaring at both Shell Chemical's GO-1 Elevated Flare and Motiva West Operations Ground Flare. Followup: Yes Notes: No information given.
139564 2012-05-08	Residual Catalytic Cracking Unit's elevated flare	Cause: The refinery's RCCU CO Heater was struck by lighting during a heavy rainstorm event, causing the CO Heater to shut down. Consequently, an Instrument Protective Function associated with the CO Heater's FD fans automatically tripped the system's main fuel gas burners to safely secure the heater, as per design. This incident also caused flaring at the Shell Chemical OL-5 Elevated Flare. Followup: Yes Notes: Operations worked to stabilize the RCCU process unit and assess the damages to the RCCU CO Heater resulting from the lightning strike.
138076 2012-03-18	Pressure vessel PV-122	Cause: The pressure vessel PV-122 was inadvertently overfilled during refilling, and liquid was released from the vent on top of the pressure vessel. Followup: Yes Notes: All material released was contained within the concrete containment dike. Once the release was realized, flow to the vessel was isolated, the inlet valve on the pressure vessel was closed, and the area was secured. A pumper truck was staged at the pressure vessel to remove the hydrocarbons from the containment area. Once all liquid hydrocarbons had been removed from the containment area, the area was washed with water to a pumper truck to remove residual hydrocarbons.
137083 2012-02-09	RCCU	Cause: During normal operations, there was an unexpected opening of a relief valve (RV) on the RCCU Main Fractionator, causing a release from the Residual Catalytic Cracking Unit (RCCU). The Naphtha was released to the concrete below the unit. Followup: Yes Notes: Operations responded immediately to isolate the RV, and the release was stopped. The Naphtha was cleaned immediately. The main Fractionator column pressure remained steady prior to release. After the investigation was completed, the facility took precautionary measures and reinstalled the relief valve to prevent further occurrence.
136422 2012-01-09	FLARE: HCU flare (EPN-4-84)	Cause: The HIC on the low pressure separator (PV-817) was opened to the HCU flare (EPN-4-84) because an atmospheric relief valve (RV-4297) on the rectified absorber column (PV-822) at the Hydrocracking Unit relieved prior to its set point. Hydrocracker Flaring Followup: No Notes: RV-4297 was isolated and repaired. Flaring stopped once the unit was stabilized.