The explosion also rained ash on cars and homes nearby as well as damaged plant equipment.
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The California agency that investigates workplace accidents has cited and fined ExxonMobil more than $560,000 for workplace safety and health violations following a probe into February’s explosion at a Los Angeles-area refinery. “This investigation revealed severe lapses in Exxon’s safety protocols”.
The United Steelworkers union at the time of the explosion said the Torrance incident served a reminder of the lopsided policies in the downstream energy industry.
ExxonMobil says they’re reviewing the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s findings but didn’t have any further comment. Eight workers were decontaminated after the incident, and four were sent to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries.
“We have been working closely with the South Coast Air Quality Management District on a potential plan to restart the fluid catalytic cracking unit with refurbished electrostatic precipitators”, Spitler said in an email.
An Exxon spokesman said the company, which has 15 days to appeal the citations, was reviewing the citations and would take the appropriate legal and administrative steps to address the problems. Regulators noted that the plant’s fluid catalytic cracker had not been working properly for as long as nine years prior to the blast.
Not until after the explosion did CAL/OSHA order ExxonMobil not to use that unit. Even on knowing that the electrostatic precipitator could explode in case of a flammable vapor leakage the management team failed to do anything. There was no functional pressure transmitter and as a result, ExxonMobil was unable to monitor hydrocarbon pressure buildup in the unit. The California-OSHA also found that Exxon did not keep any written procedures for putting the unit in “hot standby” mode. On March 29, 2011, a refinery operator was working on the FCC unit, attempting to shut down a failed pump when a motor in the pump suffered mechanical failure and exploded.
The seriousness of the blast is comparable to the August. 6, 2012 Chevron refinery fire in Richmond, Trombettas said.
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The explosions have led to proposed changes in the regulation of petroleum refineries.
