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Madison, Wisconsin (AP) — Federal regulators have determined that the 2018 Superior oil refinery explosion was caused by a lack of safeguards during a maintenance shutdown.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Commission last week released its final report on the April 2018 refinery explosion, Wisconsin Public Radio reported Wednesday.
Calgary-based Husky Energy owned the refinery at the time of the explosion. The explosion injured him 36 workers. 2,500 residents were forced to evacuate due to a threatened hydrofluoric acid leak. No acid leaked, but he spilled 17,000 barrels onto the facility from a tank containing hot asphalt. The asphalt ignited, billowing black smoke and releasing thousands of pounds of flammable hydrocarbon vapors. The explosion caused approximately $550 million in damage to the refinery.
The CSB reported that the refinery had shut down a gasoline production unit when the explosion occurred. Investigators determined that the facility did not implement safety measures such as creating a vapor barrier in the fluid catalytic cracking unit used to produce gasoline and operators purging air from equipment in the system. did. The slide valve that lets air into the unit had been severely eroded.
Refinery workers did not understand how to shut down operations, and the facility failed to maintain worker training and safety information for fluid catalytic cracking units. Workers were also unaware of a similar incident at a refinery in Torrance, Calif., according to the report.
CSB has issued 16 safety recommendations, including the development of programs to ensure the integrity of slide valves and training of operators on fluid catalytic cracking units. Reg Curran, a spokesman for his Cenovus Energy, which now owns the refinery, said the company is taking all recommendations into account as it continues to rebuild the facility.
The CSB originally planned to publish the report in 2019, but has been dealing with a backlog of investigations and a shortage of staff.
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