BP refinery unit had previous leaks, safety board says

27 October 2005 20:47  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Prior to the deadly 23 March explosions and fire at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, there were four other serious flammable material releases at the same unit which exploded, the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) said on Thursday.

 

Between 1995 and 23 March, there were four releases from the isomerisation unit blowdown drum and stack that led to ground level vapours, the CSB said. None of the vapour clouds ignited in the previous incidents. BP evaluated connecting the raffinate splitter of the isomerisation unit to a flare system which could have prevented the 23 March blast but failed to do so, said CSB lead investigator Don Holmstrom.

 

The 23 March explosions and fire at the isomerisation unit killed 15 contract workers and injured 170 others.

 

In 16 previous raffinate splitter start ups prior to 23 March, CSB investigators found eight start ups with tower pressures of at least double the normal value and 13 start ups with excess liquid levels. BP failed to investigate the abnormal start ups, Holmstrom said.

 

On 23 March, “Proper working order of key process instrumentation was not checked as required by the start up procedure,” Holmstrom said. “Managers turned away technicians and signed off on the instrument tests as if they had been done.”

 

The 23 March explosion occurred when flammable vapours spilled out of the raffinate splitter’s blowdown drum. The CSB added that in 1992, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) cited a similar blowdown drum and stack at the Texas City refinery as unsafe because it vented flammable material directly to the atmosphere, but the citation was dropped and the drum was not connected to a flare system. Holmstrom said the CSB has been trying for eight weeks to interview the Osha investigators in the 1992 citation but Osha has not made the investigators available.

 

A final public report of the CSB investigation is expected in 2006. “The investigation will continue with further equipment testing, witness interviews and the analysis of root causes,” said CSB chairman Carolyn Merritt. The CSB will hold a public meeting on its findings tonight in Texas City.

By: Brian Ford
+1 713 525 2653

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