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BP refinery in WA fined $81,500 State Department of Labor & Industries says six violations, one ‘willful,’ were found in wake of Cherry Point fire; BP to appeal Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
The state of Washington is proposing $81,500 in fines against BP, alleging multiple violations at its Cherry Point refinery.
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries said it began an inspection in February after a fire forced an extended refinery shutdown. Cherry Point is a major destination for Alaska North Slope crude oil and a significant supplier of fuel products for the Pacific Northwest.
In an Aug. 30 press release, department officials said they had cited the refinery at Blaine, Wash., for six violations of workplace safety and health rules related to management of pipeline and refinery processes. One was a “willful violation,” the department said.
“A willful violation is the most significant civil classification that can be issued,” the press release said. “It is used when L&I alleges that the violation was committed with intentional disregard or plain indifference or substitution of judgment with respect to worker safety and health regulations.”
A BP spokesman told Petroleum News the company intends to appeal.
Lengthy refinery shutdown The Feb. 17 fire, coupled with a subsequent major spring maintenance turnaround, kept the Cherry Point refinery out of service for months. To some degree, shipments of Alaska crude to the refinery were disrupted.
One employee was nearby when the fire erupted, but he escaped without injury, the Department of Labor & Industries press release said.
The fire occurred when a corroded “deadleg” pipe ruptured, the agency said.
“Deadlegs are pipes that aren’t often used but still must be monitored for integrity for when they are needed to carry material used in the refining process,” the department said.
The alleged willful violation was for “not ensuring that inspection and testing procedures for process piping followed recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices for all deadleg piping circuits.”
The proposed penalty for the willful violation is $65,000, the department said.
The five other violations cited were for failing to comply with standards for managing hazards associated with processes that use highly hazardous chemicals.
The company has until Sept. 13 to appeal.
BP disputes ‘willful’ claim Scott Dean, a BP spokesman, said the company would indeed appeal, as “we disagree with the characterization of one of the citations as ‘willful.’”
He said operations at the Cherry Point refinery have returned to normal.
Dean provided a company statement, which said in part:
“First and foremost, we are fully committed to safe and reliable operations at Cherry Point. Over the past few months, we have completed a detailed investigation of the accident, have cooperated with the Washington State Department of Occupational Safety and Health, and have made several changes to our equipment and operations that will help us prevent such an accident from happening again.
“And, as before this accident, we are continually making additional improvements to equipment and operations to further enhance our safety efforts.
“We consulted with third-party industry experts to validate our investigation findings on the cause of the accident. The piping involved in the accident has been replaced and all lines in similar service were thoroughly inspected.
“To further help ensure this does not happen again, we have increased monitoring points along the new piping system and are exploring possible changes to the system design.”
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