update #2 on Wash. state oil refinery explosion

[ensho]

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=eng


Four workers were injured and three were missing after a midnight explosion and fire at an oil refinery in Washington state early Friday morning, officials said. The Skagit County and Anacortes fire departments sent crews to battle the fire that erupted at 12:40 a.m. PT Friday, while Airlift Northwest told King-TV that four helicopters were dispatched. Two of the injured workers werer transported from local hospitals to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center by around 3:30 a.m. PT, someone involved in the rescue operation told msnbc.com on the condition of anonymity. The remaining two were on their way to the hospital, one of the country's leading burn trauma centers. Activity around the complex had calmed down considerably by about 3 a.m. PT, The Associated Press reported. Witnesses in houses as far away as 5 miles said they felt their houses shake, then saw flames and black smoke. "My house shook, big time," Lisa Wooding told KOMOnews. "There were flames. First high, then low to the ground and broad." Some said the fire was being blown by high winds.

Jason Chinchen told NBC station KING 5 that he lives three to four miles away from the refinery and felt his windows shake. Chinchen said immediately after, there was a noise that sounded like a jet flying overhead, a kind of loud wind, the news service reported. He took some pictures and video of the refinery in the distance. The pictures show what appears to be the glow of flames at the facility. The blaze started in a naptha unit of the complex and it was put out by the refinery's emergency crews, Tesoro Refinery human resources manager John McDarment sadi. He said that he didn't know how it had started. Tesoro Corporation, a Fortune 100 company that operates seven refineries including the one in Anacortes, has a combined capacity of 665,000 barrels per day, according to the firm's Web site.
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wishing everyone well and hoping the toxins are not spread far and wide

[skeptical cynic]

1. Big Oil operates refineries like they operate everything else...

in run-to-fail mode. Consider the BP refinery fire resulting from a lack of process safety management, and their current legal troubles stemming from a failure to take the lessons of the first explosion and loss of life seriously. Or consider the oil spills on Alaska's north slope, caused by a failure to meet even the minimum requirements for corrosion control.

Big Oil will only protect human health and the environment when killing their employees and polluting the soil, water and air comes with a higher price-tag.

Expect a heartfelt public statement from a very sincere-sounding executive who probably just received a very big annual performance bonus for cutting costs.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. I worked at that refinery for a few weeks in the 80's...

... when it was still owned by Shell.

Scary place. We were onsite to document the "nightshift engineering" that had taken place over the years. The process diagram was essentially in one guy's head - Elmer.

Elmer took us on a tour to explain how the plant actually worked;
"See that black spot on the ceiling over there? Four guys died here in 1972".
"See that steam pump over there? I remember when it blew up and destroyed everything in a 30' radius"
"If you hear steam escaping, stop in your tracks, and if you like your fingers, especially don't run your hand along the pipes to try to find it."
"Today we're climbing the crude column. If the wind shifts, you don't want to be downwind of the stack - hydrochloric acid. Here's your gas mask."

:scared:

[ensho]

4. wow - the things the public doesn't get to know about these plants

is huge.

[Arctic Dave]

5. I know a guy that works up here that was run off from that place because he wouldn't

toe the line, if you know what I mean.
I 've heard a lot of stories about that place. I'm not sure if much has changed.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Thanks for posting, I would have missed this.

Just woke up, actually.

Used to live in the area, know it well.

[freeplessinseattle]

6. used to live in Bellingham and have friends in Anacortes

threw me for a loop to see this post, for sure, 20 minutes after waking (DU as vital as coffee in the am!)

[rhett o rick]

8. didnt this happen about 10 years ago. nm

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. I have a son in Bellingham.

I lived on Whidbey Island for years, was born in the Pac. NW,
spent half my life there.
( then I realized there was sunshine in other places....:evilgrin: )
Anacortes was always a bit too seedy for my taste when I was growing up,
haven't been there in ...gee, since late 70's.

[rhett o rick]

7. I seem to remember this happening there in the past. I will have to research. nm

[rhett o rick]

10. Also, in 1998 on Nov 27, a blast at the same plant kills six.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dUkLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=21IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5512,4092467&dq=anacortes+refinery+blast+history&hl=en