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Pemex chemical release

4,538 Views | 28 Replies | Last: 29 days ago by 94chem
BayAg_14
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https://abc13.com/post/deer-park-pemex-facility-is-emergency-situation-involving-life-flight-officials-say/15414117/

Odor has reached Manvel.
Milwaukees Best Light
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All good here in Kemah.
Ciboag96
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Wildmen06
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Bad situation. Reporting 1 fatality.
Ciboag96
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Dang
JABQ04
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I don't smell anything in East Pearland. Good buddy I worked with at my plant quit and now works for the ERT at Pemex. I know he's off shift tonight but is headed in.
JABQ04
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B-Batt '06? I was B-Batt '04 if so.
Wildmen06
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Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound.
Al Bula
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BayAg_14 said:

Odor has reached Manvel.
"Man, vel ya get a loada dat smell? Vat is that? Gefilte?

sts7049
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oh man. h2s release...bad stuff
Ferris Wheel Allstar
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Now 2 fatalities.
94chem
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No news in 5 days, except that they may have to cut oil production? Are we just not letting them sweep the bodies out to sea fast enough for their satisfaction?
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
CDUB98
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Quote:

may have to cut oil production?
You sure you know how a refinery works?
sts7049
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you're gonna have to wait for the CSB's report or interim updates to find out what happened. there isn't going to be much released otherwise.
94chem
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CDUB98 said:

Quote:

may have to cut oil production?
You sure you know how a refinery works?
Their announcement, not mine. But maybe they said gasoline. Or maybe they have to cut oil production if the refinery is slowed down. But I'm in chemicals - glad I don't have to know much about refineries. I do think sulfur is a pretty cool element, though. I have at least 7 patents for using it to make catalysts and stuff.

I just thought the 13 hospitalized people might warrant an update.

As for the CSB, that will be a few years, fortunately. After Trump tried to disband it, they are at least back to full strength with all 5 members, last I heard.
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
sts7049
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https://www.csb.gov/us-chemical-safety-board-releases-investigation-update-into-fatal-hydrogen-sulfide-release-at-pemex-deer-park-refinery-in-deer-park-texas/

Quote:

The CSB's update states that on the day of the incident two contract workers at the refinery partially opened a flanged connection on piping containing hydrogen sulfide gas, which caused the release. One of these workers was fatally injured. The work was supposed to be done on a different, isolated piping segment located about five feet away from the flange that was opened. Two other contract workers from a separate company, who were working on equipment less than 250 feet away and downwind from the release, were also affected, with one fatally injured from the hydrogen sulfide exposure.

Cromagnum
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sts7049 said:

https://www.csb.gov/us-chemical-safety-board-releases-investigation-update-into-fatal-hydrogen-sulfide-release-at-pemex-deer-park-refinery-in-deer-park-texas/

Quote:

The CSB's update states that on the day of the incident two contract workers at the refinery partially opened a flanged connection on piping containing hydrogen sulfide gas, which caused the release. One of these workers was fatally injured. The work was supposed to be done on a different, isolated piping segment located about five feet away from the flange that was opened. Two other contract workers from a separate company, who were working on equipment less than 250 feet away and downwind from the release, were also affected, with one fatally injured from the hydrogen sulfide exposure.




It's almost always contract workers that eff up at chemical plants.
Sooper Jeenyus
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Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.
sts7049
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Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.


yep. and it isn't the contractor that issues the work permit.
SockDePot
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sts7049 said:

Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.


yep. and it isn't the contractor that issues the work permit.



A contract employee probably signed off on the contractor's permit to work
maroon barchetta
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SockDePot said:

sts7049 said:

Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.


yep. and it isn't the contractor that issues the work permit.



A contract employee probably signed off on the contractor's permit to work


Host company employees should have walked that system down with them before issuing a permit.

This sounds like an armchair permit could be one of the root causes.
CDUB98
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Quote:

The work was supposed to be done on a different, isolated piping segment located about five feet away from the flange that was opened.
This is tragic. Somebody did a total **** up on reading the P&ID. A crew cannot be careful enough when breaking a flange in this type of service. It should have been quadruple checked. This was 100% preventable.
CDUB98
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sts7049 said:

Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.


yep. and it isn't the contractor that issues the work permit.
This.

Unless the site has been completely fenced off for a unit construction, the owner's operator always issues the work permit. I've been through the process only God knows how many times and a contractor never issued us a permit.

There a lot of people who need to be fired over this. On a good day, it is simply unacceptable to identify the wrong flange. On a lethal service, I don't even have words to describe how much of a **** up it was.

Obviously, safety is very important to me, and some of my friends and family roll their eyes when I caution them on even various home activities, but it matters. It saves lives. It prevents injury. I would rather shut down a job and waste $10k that day to ensure nobody is hurt than throw caution to the wind.

I've had two people hurt on my jobs over the years. One was a completely freak accident from a weld fail that spit molten salt on someone, and the other was due to the vac truck company not maintaining their hoses properly and a slug of polymer pushed some acid out of the hose. Thankfully, in both cases, they were only first aids, so technically not a recordable, but it still angered me personally that it was under my watch.

Apologies for the blabbing. I'm just passionate about nobody getting hurt. Everyone has somebody who wants them to come home intact.
txags92
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Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.
This. When I worked for DuPont, the plant bonuses were tied to their lack of osha reportables or lost work days. So any task with any hint of risk was outsourced to contractors. Wasn't rare to see the sign at the front gate of the plant showing last lost workday for employees >10 years, and the last lost workday for contractors <10 days.
maroon barchetta
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txags92 said:

Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.
This. When I worked for DuPont, the plant bonuses were tied to their lack of osha reportables or lost work days. So any task with any hint of risk was outsourced to contractors. Wasn't rare to see the sign at the front gate of the plant showing last lost workday for employees >10 years, and the last lost workday for contractors <10 days.


There was a slogan for Dow in the 80's:

"We will do it safely or we won't do it"

It was changed by the local contractors to "We will do it safely or we will hire a contractor"
Milwaukees Best Light
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I mean, they're contractors. Not like they are real people or anything.
sts7049
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txags92 said:

Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.
This. When I worked for DuPont, the plant bonuses were tied to their lack of osha reportables or lost work days. So any task with any hint of risk was outsourced to contractors. Wasn't rare to see the sign at the front gate of the plant showing last lost workday for employees >10 years, and the last lost workday for contractors <10 days.
that certainly got reset in 2014 when the truth about dupont really came to light
txags92
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sts7049 said:

txags92 said:

Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.
This. When I worked for DuPont, the plant bonuses were tied to their lack of osha reportables or lost work days. So any task with any hint of risk was outsourced to contractors. Wasn't rare to see the sign at the front gate of the plant showing last lost workday for employees >10 years, and the last lost workday for contractors <10 days.
that certainly got reset in 2014 when the truth about dupont really came to light
Yeah, that was a long time coming for them. The inventive program caused all kinds of shenanigans that were contra to the development of a strong safety culture. Instead of incentivizing people to work as safely as possible, it incentivized not reporting safety incidents. And that LaPorte incident was just a classic safety scenario of a chain of people rushing in to help fellow employees without taking the first important step of making sure it was safe to attempt to rescue them.
94chem
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txags92 said:

Sooper Jeenyus said:

Well, to be fair, pretty much all the real work gets contracted, so yeah.
This. When I worked for DuPont, the plant bonuses were tied to their lack of osha reportables or lost work days. So any task with any hint of risk was outsourced to contractors. Wasn't rare to see the sign at the front gate of the plant showing last lost workday for employees >10 years, and the last lost workday for contractors <10 days.
Our contractors count as employees for purposes of OSHA. Has been that way for 10 years or so. I don't know if it's required, but it's the right thing to do.
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
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