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<span style="font-style: italic">On March 23, 2005, a fire and explosion occurred at BP's Texas City Refinery in Texas City, Texas, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others. <span style="font-weight: bold">BP was charged with violating federal environment crime laws and has been subject to law suits from the victim's families. Later an $87 million fine was imposed by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which claimed that BP had <span style="text-decoration: underline">failed to implement safety improvements</span> following the disaster.</span>
The Texas City Refinery is the second-largest oil refinery in the state and the third-largest in the United States. BP acquired the Texas City refinery as part of its merger with Amoco in 1998. It had an input capacity of 437,000 barrels per day (18,354,000 gallons or 69,477,448 litres) as of January 1, 2005.
The explosion occurred in an isomerization unit at the site resulting in the deaths and injuries. According to a report issued after the accident, actions taken or not taken led to overfilling the raffinate splitter with liquid, overheating of the liquid and the subsequent overpressurisation and pressure relief. Hydrocarbon flow to the blowdown drum and stack overwhelmed it, resulting in liquids carrying over out of the top of the stack, flowing down the stack, accumulating on the ground, causing a vapor cloud, which was ignited by a contractor's pickup truck when he repeatedly attempted to start the engine. <span style="font-weight: bold">The report identified numerous failings in equipment, risk management, staff management, working culture at the site, maintenance and inspection, and general health and safety assessments.</span></span>
Didn’t or don’t the powers that be learn?
I wasn’t aware of this explosion until now and it makes me even more furious that preventative/safety measures were not taken...especially after previous disasters...
Wherein lies the loyalty of our government? Let’s see….