Community Corner

Public Meeting Friday Will Feature Latest Findings on Chevron Refinery Fire

The hearing will be held by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.

-By Bay City News

Community members in Richmond will hear from U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigators on Friday about elements that led to a disastrous fire at Chevron's local refinery last August and proposed recommendations to avoid a future catastrophe.

The CSB is holding a public hearing on Friday evening to present its draft interim report detailing the results of the federal investigation into the Aug. 6 refinery fire and safety recommendations to Chevron.

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The meeting will include a detailed presentation from CSB staff, a computer-animated video recreation of the incident and a panel discussion on the refinery fire. The blaze sent a plume of toxic smoke into the air, seriously endangered 19 Chevron workers and sent more than 15,000 area residents to hospitals with respiratory problems.

The public will also will have the chance to comment on the report's findings on the fire and can weigh in on the CSB's safety recommendations during Friday's meeting. "The CSB's public hearing will provide an opportunity for the public to hear the interim findings and formal safety recommendations resulting from the board's investigation into the 2012 accident -- the issues presented at this meeting will be applicable to refineries across the country," CSB Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso said in a statement.

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The CSB's latest investigative report on the fire, released earlier this week, slammed Chevron for missing opportunities to follow it's own policy calling for the use of an inherently safer pipe design in the crude oil unit where a corroded oil pipe ruptured, sparking the massive blaze.

Federal and state investigators determined early on that thinning of a pipe in the crude oil unit due to corrosion from sulfides led to the Aug. 6 explosion and fire.

However, even as Chevron began rebuilding the crude oil unit damaged in the blaze, the oil company opted not to install the most corrosion-resistant material available in the unit, according to the CSB report. "Although the sulfidation corrosion hazard is well known throughout the industry and at Chevron, the company unfortunately overlooked multiple warnings including other accidents and its own internal recommendations to replace the pipe with an inherently safer alloy that could endure the corrosive process conditions," Moure-Eraso said.

"Among other recommendations, we will be voting Friday to urge regulators to require the application of inherently safer design principles at multiple points during the process life cycle, which will drive major accident risk to as low as reasonably practicable," he said.

In addition, Contra Costa County and Richmond both have industrial safety ordinances that urge local refineries to use inherently safer refining processes and materials but do not require it, the report found. The report stresses the need for more communication between refineries and their surrounding communities regarding chemical safety and safety risks as well as greater accountability to those communities.

The oil company released new findings about its own investigation into the August fire earlier this month. In the report, Chevron officials admit that corroded pipe material led to the leak that sparked the blaze. "We have identified what went wrong and are taking steps to prevent a similar incident in the future," said Nigel Hearne, general manager of the Richmond refinery. "The causes of the incident were multi-faceted. The refinery's management and our entire workforce are implementing actions to address the issues underlying the August incident and as part of our commitment to continuous improvement."

Friday's public meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium and Convention Center at 403 Civic Center Plaza. Members of the public who plan to attend the meeting are encouraged to pre-register by emailing csbmeeting@csb.gov.

Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


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