Incident Report

Subject:              OSHA uncovers slew of refinery violations       

Date of Email:   Mon 10/03/200

Report Detail:

Inspectors find 146 at 17 sites in what is only the start of a nationwide study

OSHA inspectors conducting an unprecedented national audit of U.S. refineries have found 146 violations — many described as potentially life-threatening — after reviewing just 17 refineries in a dozen states. Even though only 17 of 81 targeted U.S. refineries have been reviewed so far, those preliminary results are disturbing, Rich Fairfax, OSHA's director of enforcement, told the Houston Chronicle.  "Based on the data we're finding and the number of violations, (the) program will continue," Fairfax said. "I have no intention of ending it after two years based on what we're finding." In fact, Fairfax said he wants it expanded to include chemical plants.The nationwide audit was launched last year in response to decades of U.S. refinery deaths, including the massive explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170 others at BP's Texas City refinery in March 2005. The Chronicle reported last month that at least 29 people have died in U.S. refinery accidents from 2005 to 2008, including 18 in four separate accidents at BP Texas City alone. The National Emphasis Program aims to cover 64 more refineries in the next two years. So far, they have uncovered 11 proposed violations at Total Petrochemicals USA's refinery in Port Arthur; 45 at a refinery in Canton, Ohio; and 19 at a Kansas refinery, among others. In eight months, inspectors have proposed $896,300 in penalties, according to information OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, compiled for this report.  Several cases remain open, including one involving Total's Port Arthur plant. Most of the penalties made public relate to cases against four refineries in the Midwest, according to interviews and OSHA press releases.

'Willful violation'

On Dec. 19, OSHA proposed levying a $153,500 fine against a Kansas refinery for 19 violations. OSHA has alleged that Frontier El Dorado Refining Co. had committed one "willful violation" by locating a permanently occupied structure in a high hazard zone among refinery processing units. OSHA also alleged that Frontier El Dorado Refining Co. failed to address fire, explosion and chemical hazards. Many of those killed in March 2005 at BP Texas City were in offices dangerously near a processing unit.  In OSHA lingo, a willful violation is among the worst. It involves an alleged blatant disregard of or indifference to an obvious safety hazard.  The Kansas refinery is owned by Houston-based Frontier Oil Corp., an independent oil refining and marketing company. The company is contesting the fines and violations, according to Doug Aron, a company spokesman.  Three more companies in Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois already have agreed to pay more than $600,000 in fines and to correct the unsafe conditions and practices, OSHA said. In Ohio, OSHA inspectors found that, among other defects, piping was inadequately protected from corrosion at a Marathon Petroleum Co. refinery. Marathon agreed to pay $321,500 in penalties in December — the biggest penalty levied under the program so far. "We appreciate OSHA's diligence in improving safety throughout the refining industry," said Angelia Graves, a spokesman for Marathon. In Illinois, Citgo agreed to pay $155,250 on Feb. 1 in response to safety problems found at its Lemont refinery, including potential fire hazards and inadequate training. Houston-based Citgo said it agreed to the penalty "solely for the purpose of settling this matter economically and amicably and has already initiated corrective actions." In Wisconsin, refinery manager Dave Podratz hadn't seen OSHA inspectors in 10 years when an inspection team showed up in August at the Murphy Oil USA facility on the shores of Lake Superior. Inspectors found that safety alarms had been deactivated at the state's only refinery. That and other problems led to a $179,100 agreed penalty. Podratz said the alarms had been viewed as a nuisance because they went off when doors to various control rooms were opened. Podratz said the alarms should have been modified rather than disconnected. But alarm malfunctions that failed to alert operators of dangerous conditions were among several problems uncovered in the aftermath of the BP Texas City disaster in 2005. Though no business is thrilled to see OSHA inspectors come knocking, Podratz said he views the OSHA refinery program as positive. "This is a program they're rolling out nationally, and there's not a lot you can do about it, but ultimately some good is going to come out of it, " he said. When the refinery program was launched last June, OSHA leaders said they aimed to reduce preventable deaths at refineries, one of the nation's most dangerous industries. Its directive said 52 employees have died in the past 15 years. Yet OSHA's own data undercounts refinery deaths because OSHA and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics don't classify deaths of contract workers as "refinery fatalities." Instead, such deaths typically get counted as construction — or even janitorial — accidents.  Two BP refineries, in Texas City and Washington, account for 20 of the 29 deaths at U.S. refineries from 2005 to 2008, according to the Chronicle's review of government documents and other data. Nine others die at refineries of different companies in Texas, California, Minnesota, Delaware and Louisiana. BP's five U.S. refineries, deemed employers with repeated and persistent violations of federal safety rules, remain under OSHA's stepped-up "Enhanced Enforcement Program." BP was the first major energy company to be included in the so-called EEP, created in 2003 for companies found to have willful violations of workplace safety laws. But other major refiners have been cited more recently for alleged willful violations, including Frontier El Dorado, partly because of the national refinery program, according to OSHA documents and e-mails.

Not all refineries included

Despite the widespread problems, about 60 refineries, however, are exempt from the ongoing audit, in part because of their companies' past participation in other OSHA programs. Only about half of Texas' refineries will be included.  Kim Nibarger, a health and safety specialist for United Steelworkers, the union that represents many refinery workers nationwide, said he believes no refineries should be excluded. But he also wonders whether the program isn't already stretching OSHA too thin. "How can they do all this without adding additional inspectors?" he asked. OSHA has few inspectors nationwide who specialize in refinery safety. In recent months, more than 300 inspectors have received crash courses of one to two weeks to assist with the National Emphasis Program.When Wisconsin's Murphy Oil refinery was inspected last summer, several of the OSHA officials involved had never been inside a refinery. Yet the inspectors offered "fresh eyes" and made suggestions that Podratz, the refinery manager, said will help. "Now we have names and faces and a relationship to build on," he said.