Incident Report

Subject:                   Greenwich Refinery 'Crude Oil' Clean-up down to last 20,000 barrels

Date of Email report:   Tue 28/02/2012

Report Detail:

Crews on Monday had pumped out most of the crude oil that spilled late last week from a tank in the PBF Energy refinery here, better known as the Paulsboro Refinery, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said. Hajna said about 150,000 barrels had been removed by Monday from an emergency containment berm designed to hold spilled oil. The oil has been moved to other tanks. About 10,000 to 20,000 barrels remained in the berm, he added, and that was a mixture of oil, recent rain water and foam that workers had sprayed to help prevent a fire. A barrel of oil is 42 gallons.

The berms are designed to hold about 377,000 barrels. “We had a really good day yesterday and today, until the wind picked up,” PBF spokesman Mike Jarlovich said. High winds have at times disturbed the foam applied to the spilled oil. “At this point, we’re just focusing on the cleanup,” Jarlovich added. “We continue to work with government agencies and focus on cleaning up the area.” Jarlovich said his company has heard complaints from South Philadelphia about the odor that had bothered residents of South Jersey and even as far as Maryland at times since the spill. State Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D, Paulsboro) said he’s been keeping tabs on the situation. The former mayor of Paulsboro is well familiar with the plant’s impact on the area, good and bad. He also attended a site inspection performed during a visit by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno shortly after the incident.

“It sounds like they’re ahead of schedule,” Burzichelli said of the cleanup, conceding weekend winds had made it difficult. The assemblyman added officials were monitoring the air — particularly in Paulsboro, Greenwich Township and the refinery itself — to ensure potentially harmful compounds don’t exceed mandated limits. When asked about any potential penalties against PBF, Burzichelli suggested exceeding those air quality mandates could result in fines. Hajna said he hadn’t received word of potential fines or other penalties to the refinery. He said there still hadn’t been any impact to the Delaware River, and air monitoring in the area hadn’t raised concerns. Burzichelli maintained the refinery is a valuable local asset.

“The jobs are important, and the product they refine is essential,” he said. “It’s sophisticated. It’s a 24/7 operation. “The response (to the spill) has gone as planned,” Burzichelli continued. “The smell has been unpleasant and you prefer that these things don’t happen...But a spill like this is very rare. “These tanks are more prone to being hit by lightning,” he said. He recalled the July 2007 lightning strike to a chemical tank at what then served as Sunoco’s now idle Eagle Point plant in West Deptford Township. The bolt that hit an oil storage tank with 1.5 million gallons of gasoline blending chemical caused an inferno to which 33 fire companies responded.

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