LA Bucket Brigade : Refinery Accident Database

Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC, Garyville

Releases in 2012

LDEQ Incident Number Incident Date	Point Source/Release	Notes
138219 2012-03-22	Point Source(s): Unit 20 Thermal Oxidizer, Unit 34 Thermal Oxidizer, Unit 45 Thermal Oxidizer, Unit 220 Thermal Oxidizer, Unit 234 Thermal Oxidizer, and all process heaters that combust refinery fuel gas. Pollutant(s): Sulfur Dioxide - 73,200 pounds	Cause: Chain of Events: While placing amine filters in service, an upset occurred in the Unit 247 Amine Regeneration Unit Overhead Receiver. A high liquid level in the Receiver caused liquid to be sent to the Sulfur Plants. The Unit 220 and 234 Sulfur Plants shut down due to high knockout drum levels. This caused an elevated flow to the remaining operational sulfur plants. The Unit 34 Sulfur Plant then shutdown due to low boiler feed water level in the Reaction Furnace. Unit 247's lean amine became saturated as a result of the high acid gas header pressure, resulting in less than adequate hydrogen sulfide absorption in RFG producing units, causing both Refinery Fuel Gas Mix Drums to experience high levels of hydrogen sulfide. This fuel gas was then combusted in all the refinery's heaters that were operating on refinery fuel gas. Summary: An upset in the Unit 247 Amine Regeneration Unit caused an opacity exceedance and sulfur dioxide reportable quantity exceedance in the Sulfur Plants and at all the process heaters, which combust refinery fuel gas. MPC originally reported that the upset began in the Coker Unit, but, after further investigation, stated that the Coker Unit was not involved in the incident. Followup: No Notes: Process unit charge rates were reduced in accordance with the refinery's sulfur shedding plan. Sulfur plants were re-started as soon as possible in order to convert more hydrogen sulfide to sulfur. The refinery dispatched 3 Air Monitoring Teams, and no pollutants were detected at the fenceline. The Air Monitoring Team data is attached to the report. The incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. Mobile SO2 meter was post calibration expiration. (AreaRAE #240)
No LDEQ Number Available 2012-02-22	Point Source(s): Unit 46, Propylene Splitter Pollutant(s): Propylene - 65 pounds Propane - 3 pounds	Cause: A fire occurred when residual material in a line was ignited during the removal of a valve. Vented into atmosphere and fire associated. NO LDEQ Incident #, no LDEQ report. Agent reached was Rachel Mroch and no # assigned. Propane not included in the output values and the date on the second attachment precedes the event. Followup: No Notes: Personnel in the area used fire extinguishers to put out the fire. Blinds were installed on the line to contain the material leaking by the block valve. There is no SPOC report and no LDEQ report attached to this file.
137197 2012-02-15	Point Source(s): Unit 59 South Flare Pollutant(s): Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) - BRQ Nitrogen Dioxide - BRQ Carbon Monoxide - 5 pounds Particulate Matter 10 - BRQ Particulate Matter 2.5 - BRQ Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds - BRQ	Cause: A compressor in Unit 12 (Platformer) experienced a loss of power which caused the compressor to shut down and pressure up. A pressure relief valve opened on the compressor and caused hydrogen to be routed to the South Flare. Followup: No Notes: Operations restarted the compressor and returned to normal operations. The incident investigation will result in recommendation items designed to prevent the recurrence of this event. There were no known off-site impacts.
137050 2012-02-07	Point Source(s): Unit 63 Tank Farm Pollutant(s): Crude Oil - 42 gallons Crude Oil - 252 gallons	Cause: The product inside the Unit 210 Crude Charge Pump caught fire due to a seal failure. While extinguishing the fire with fire water, some product spilled to the concrete containment around the tank. An incident investigation is being conducted to determine the root cause of the incident. 6-10 bbl of crude oil burned in the tank in addition to one bbl of oil released. Followup: No Notes: The pump suction and discharge were blocked in to stop the flow. The Shift Emergency Response Team (SERT) responded and extinguished the fire. A vacuum truck removed the spilled product. The oil was to be reprocessed, and the water would be treated in the waste water treatment plant. The incident investigation will result in recommendation items to prevent the recurrence of this event. There was no medical attention necessary for the exposed individuals.
136661 2012-01-24	Point Source(s): Truck Loading Rack Flare Knock Out Drum Pump-out Line Pollutant(s): Gas Oil - BRQ	Cause: There was a release of gas oil from two leaks on a pipe rack west of the cat unit cooling towers. These pipes are part of the Truck Loading Rack Flare Knock Out Drum Pump-out Line. The leak was from the pipe rack west of the cat unit cooling towers, and it was releasing to the ground. Followup: Notes: The spill was contained onsite. Vacuum trucks were on the site and in operation. Booms and absorbent pads were being laid out, and the baffle pond was closed to prevent offsite release.
136618 2012-01-20	Point Source(s): Upper level of Coker Unit Pollutant(s): Distillate - 3,081 pounds	Cause: A tube had a circumferential crack that propagated halfway around one tube in the Distillate Product Fin Fan, 205-1351. Unit 205 GME Delayed Coker (FUG 0053). Followup: No Notes: The unit was shutdown to minimize and stop the leak. Water monitors were aimed at the leak to suppress vapors. Air monitoring occurred. A vacuum truck, boom, and absorbent pads were used to remove light sheen found in the rain water ditch on the east side of Marathon Avenue adjacent to the unit.