US safety board identifies weak refining standards in Chevron fire review

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has identified deficiencies in current industry standards related to mechanical integrity and leak evaluation and response in a draft final investigation report issued on Chevron's Richmond refinery fire in 2012.

According to the CSB’s news release, the agency found shortcomings in industry standards related to comprehensive inspection, effective facility upgrades, and the need for minimum safety requirements. 

The draft report is the third and final one in the agency’s investigation of the August 2012 fire in Richmond, Calif., that started when light gas oil leaked from a ruptured pipe and ignited. 

CSB’s draft report also details failures in Chevron’s emergency response to the incident, including a lack of leak response guidance or formal protocol for operations personnel, refinery management, or emergency responders.

The agency concludes its report with safety recommendations to help promote safer operations at petroleum refineries and protect workers and communities from similar accidents. Based on its findings, CSB recommends that the American Petroleum Institute establish and strengthen minimum requirements for preventing potentially catastrophic sulfidation corrosion failures and safety guidance for responding to hazardous process fluid leaks. 

The CSB also urged Chevron to ensure process safety and employee safety by developing an accountability method to identify and track effective implementation of industry best practices. 

Finally, the agency recommends revisions to the Richmond, Calif., Industrial Safety Ordinance to provide stronger regulatory oversight with community involvement to the existing safety culture review program.

The full draft report is available for review on the CSB’s website.

The first CSB report on the incident, an interim investigation report, cited “missed opportunities to apply inherently safer design, failure to identify and evaluate damage mechanism hazards, and [a] lack of effective safeguards” as contributors to the fire, which was caused by a catastrophic pipe failure. 

The second, a regulatory report, called on California to enhance its process safety management regulations for petroleum refineries and recommended “substantial” changes to the way those refineries are regulated in the state.

Nineteen refinery employees were endangered during the 2012 fire at the Chevron refinery. Following the accident, 15,000 people sought medical attention due to a vapor cloud that was released into the surrounding area.