• Sign up for the Daily Digest E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

BOE Report

Sign up
  • Home
  • BOE Intel
  • Headlines
    • Latest Headlines
    • Featured Companies
    • Columns
    • Discussions
  • Well Activity
    • Well Licences
    • Well Activity Map
  • Property Listings
  • Land Sales
  • M&A Activity
    • M&A Database
    • AER Transfers
  • Markets
  • Rig Counts/Data
    • CAOEC Rig Count
    • Baker Hughes Rig Count
    • USA Rig Count
    • Data
      • Canada Oil Market Data
      • Canada NG Market Data
      • USA Market Data
      • Data Downloads
  • Jobs

Feds: Lack of safeguards led to Superior refinery explosion

January 4, 202311:05 AM The Canadian Press0 Comments

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Federal regulators have determined that a lack of safeguards during a maintenance shutdown led to a 2018 explosion at an oil refinery in Superior.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board released a final report last week on the April 2018 explosion at the refinery, Wisconsin Public Radio reported Wednesday.

Calgary-based Husky Energy owned the refinery at the time of the explosion. The blast injured 36 workers. Fears of a hydrofluoric acid leak forced 2,500 residents to evacuate. No acid leaked but a tank containing hot asphalt spilled 17,000 barrels into the facility. The asphalt caught fire, sending up a plume of black smoke that released thousands of pounds of flammable hydrocarbon vapor. The explosion caused about $550 million in damage to the refinery.

According to the CSB report, the refinery was shutting down a gasoline-making unit when the explosion occurred. Investigators determined that the facility failed to implement safeguards such as creating a steam barrier in a fluid catalytic cracking unit used to make gasoline and having operators purge air from equipment within the system. A slide valve that allowed air to flow into the unit was severely eroded.

Refinery workers didn’t understand how to shut down operations and the facility failed to maintain worker training and safety information on the fluid catalytic cracking unit. Workers also had no knowledge of a similar incident that occurred at a refinery in Torrance, California, that could have helped prevent the blast, according to the report.

The CSB issued 16 safety recommendations, including developing a program to ensure integrity of slide valves and worker training on fluid catalytic cracking units. Reg Curran, a spokesperson for Cenovus Energy, which now owns the refinery, said the company has incorporated all of the recommendations as it continues to rebuild the facility.

The CSB originally planned to release the report in 2019 but the agency has been dealing with a backlog of investigations as well as understaffing.

Cenovus Husky Energy

Follow BOE Report
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Sign up for the BOE Report Daily Digest E-mail

Successfully subscribed

Latest Headlines
  • HWN Energy acquires assets from Bonavista Energy – 470 wells, 68 facilities, 191 pipelines
  • Snuneymuxw First Nation and FortisBC Holdings Inc. sign agreement for Tilbury LNG projects, strengthening long-standing relationship
  • U.S. natgas end-of-season storage to hit two-year high in March
  • House GOP seeks new restrictions on use of US oil stockpile
  • U.S. drillers leave oil and gas rigs unchanged – Baker Hughes

Return to Home
Alberta Gas
CAD/GJ
Market Data by TradingView

    Report Error






    Note: The page you are currently on will be sent with your report. If this report is about a different page, please specify.

    About
    • About BOEReport.com
    • In the News
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Editorial Policy
    Resources
    • App
    • Widgets
    • Notifications
    • Daily Digest E-mail
    Get In Touch
    • Advertise
    • Post a Job
    • Contribute
    • Contact
    • Report Error
    Featured In
    • CamTrader
    • Rigger Talk
    Data Partner
    BOE Network
    © 2023 Stack Technologies Ltd.