Incident Report

Subject:                         Tank 15 Sunoco West Deptford

Date of Email reporting Incident:   Thu 12/07/2007

Report Detail:

A lightning strike sparked a massive blaze in a chemical tank here Wednesday, sending flames high above a refinery and a plume of dark smoke far across South Jersey. No injuries were reported from the fire, which erupted around 4:30 p.m. at Sunoco Inc.'s Eagle Point Refinery between Route 130 and the Delaware River. The blaze was extinguished about 8 p.m. after Sunoco fire-fighters covered the top of the tank with "fire-suppression foam," said Joe McGinn, a Sunoco spokesman. Officials said smoke that billowed from the tank, which held 36,000 barrels of xylene, posed no immediate hazard. They reported no evacuations of people living near the refinery.
"Air monitoring is being done," said Elaine Makatura, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "There has not been any impact (from the smoke plume) or any spraying of toxics throughout the area."
Xylene is a highly flammable solvent pulled from petroleum and processed at the plant, said Carol Sloan, public affairs coordinator for Philadelphia-based Sunoco. She said smoke from the fire could be an irritant, but that it was high enough in the air that it would not bother local residents.  Sunoco personnel were visiting neighborhoods near the refinery Wednesday evening to assess any concerns in those areas, the company said.

The fire occurred in Tank No. 15, part of a field of storage facilities at the sprawling facility. "It is not a place where people are working constantly," said Sloan. Sunoco crews sprayed surrounding tanks with a coolant to keep the blaze from spreading, she said.  The crews initially had trouble reaching the burning tank, which has a capacity of 55,200 barrels, said Sloan. She noted each tank is surrounded by an earthen berm that can hold its contents in case of a fire or spill. The workers eventually were able to apply the foam which, when mixed with water, covers flames "like a blanket," said McGinn.

The refinery tanks are grounded to prevent these types of fires and an investigation into the fire will be conducted, said Sloan. Several fire departments from surrounding towns were called to assist with the fire, which caused road closings that snarled traffic in the area.  Sunoco acquired Eagle Point in 1994 from Texas-based El Paso Corp. for more than $111 million. The refinery has a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day.