The 2010 Tesoro Anacortes Refinery disaster was an

industrial accident A work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work is a "discrete occurrence in the course of work" leading to physical or mental occupational injury. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more th ...

that occurred at the

Tesoro Anacortes Refinery The Marathon Anacortes Refinery, prior to October 2018 known as the Andeavor Anacortes Refinery and prior to August 2017 known as the Tesoro Anacortes Refinery, is a petroleum refinery located about 70 miles north of Seattle on March Point (Puget ...

Anacortes Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

on April 2, 2010. Seven workers received fatal burns in an explosion and ensuing fire when a

heat exchanger A heat exchanger is a system used to transfer heat between a source and a working fluid. Heat exchangers are used in both cooling and heating processes. The fluids may be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing or they may be in direct conta ...

violently ruptured after a maintenance restart.

Explosion

At 12:30 a.m. on April 2, while personnel were performing post-maintenance heat exchanger restart operations, a heat exchanger on an adjacent bank catastrophically and violently ruptured. The pressure-containing shell of the heat exchanger burst at its weld seams, expelling a large volume of very hot

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

and

naphtha Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Mixtures labelled ''naphtha'' have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat. In different industries and regions ...

, which spontaneously ignited upon contact with the surrounding air. The ensuing explosion was so violent that many in Anacortes felt the shock wave across

Fidalgo Bay ''Fidalgo'' (, ), from Galician and Portuguese —equivalent to nobleman, but sometimes literally translated into English as "son of somebody" or "son of some (important family)"—is a traditional title of Portuguese nobility that refers to a ...

. A giant fireball lit up the sky above the refinery, and a plume of black smoke was pushed toward the town by a southeast wind. It took about 90 minutes to put the fire out.

Aftermath

The families of the victims and an injured contractor filed a lawsuit against Tesoro. The lawsuit was settled for $39 million, but as of 2020 the company continued to fight a fine and government accusations that it willfully put its workers in harm's way. The Tesoro refinery had been fined $85,700 in 2009 for 17 "serious" safety violations — meaning there was a risk of "death or serious physical injury" from each violation. Those fines were later reduced to three violations and a $12,250 settlement. According to the final report released by the CSB, the explosion was caused by

high temperature hydrogen attack High temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA), also called hot hydrogen attack or methane reaction, is a problem which concerns steels operating at elevated temperatures (typically above ) in hydrogen-rich atmospheres, such as refineries, petrochemical a ...

(HTHA), which severely cracked and weakened

carbon steel Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states: * no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, coba ...

tubing and led to the rupture. As a result, the CSB recommended the state adopt more rigorous process safety management attributes and features based on the team's regulatory analysis. The Nelson curve for carbon steel was also reduced, prohibiting the use of the material in processes that operate in temperatures above 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The accident was the state's worst industrial disaster in 50 years. A similar incident occurred in November 1998, when six men were killed in explosion at the Equilon Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes.

References

{{reflist

External links

Report: Deadly Anacortes refinery blast ‘could have been prevented’

No Criminal Charges In Deadly Tesoro Refinery Explosion

Tesoro Refinery Fatal Explosion and Fire

* ttp://www.goskagit.com/all_access/chemical-safety-board-to-vote-on-tesoro-explosion-report/article_a9f6d7ad-b0ce-545d-8800-e775198ab68c.html Chemical Safety Board to Vote on Tesoro Explosion Reportbr>''The Anacortes Refinery Disaster''
Fault Lines - Al Jazeera English (video, 25 mins) 2010 in Washington (state) Tesoro Anacortes Refinery disaster Disasters in Washington (state) Industrial fires and explosions in the United States

Explosion

Aftermath

See also

References

External links