Another REFINERY EXPLOSION

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My morning paper today states that the Richmond CA Chevron refinery which was already partly crippled by an explosion earlier this year has had a second explosion last Saturday, resulting in gas production being cut 70%. The California Energy Commission has granted Chevron a request to sell regular gas that is dirtier than the CA standards in Northern CA and the Central Valley. This means that gas can be imported from other states that do not have to meet the same stringent refining rules. The article states that this measure was taken to head off gas price increases of 50 cents in additin to the amount it already has gone up in the last week. ( I passed a Chevron station yesterday that was selling regular at $161.9.)

The news report also states that the Tosco plant which also had an explosion and fire this year has "some problems in bringing the damaged unit back on line, but wouldn't give any details."

Lastly, "According to the Oil Price Information Service, the Exxon Benicia refinery also was reported to have production problems affecting gas output. Exxon spokesman crawford Buckley would not verify this information." The Exxon plant also had some major problem earlier this year, and has been limping along.

I haven't looked this article up on the newspaper's web site, but the url is www.pressdemo.com. This was a lead article on the front page.

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), July 16, 1999

Answers

Searched their website and found nothing about it.

Please try to confirm.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), July 16, 1999.


I did hear a mention of it on last night's local TV news.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 16, 1999.


I looked up the website, and all but the article on salmon fishing are from yesterday's paper. I expect, therefore, that the article on the refineries will be posted to the Press Democrat's site tomorrow. I do have a hardcopy issue of today's paper, from which I copied the quotes.

By the way, story attribution was to AP and the Sacramento Bee.

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), July 16, 1999.


Follows the pattern - in the past, (before Oct 1998) there were far fewer explosions and fires - four to five months between events.

Now, after Oct 1998, they are occurring more than once per month.

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), July 16, 1999.


www.sacbee.com

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), July 16, 1999.


Gee..and we complained when gas here in So.Mo went up to $1.05 from .99 a week or so ago....will quit now.

-- MUTTI (windance @train.missouri.org), July 16, 1999.

Robert, good point, you can bet your bottom dollar these accelerating series of events are being reviewed by many folks in responsible positions.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), July 16, 1999.


Robert, it sounds like you have been tracking these fires. Do you have some research that I could print out about this subject? Thanks.

-- alan (alandonnaj@aol.com), July 16, 1999.

Here is a thread with some more information

Texas refinery explosion

-- Brian (imager@home.com), July 16, 1999.


Chevron officials said they had not found the cause of the gasoline unit's problems.

Calif. spot gasoline prices return to record highs - Says "Major regional refiner Chevron Corp (NYSE:CHV - news) said damage to one of its key gasoline producing units forced it to apply for special permission to sell conventional gasoline, rather than the state's special smog-fighting blend." (This article is a good one)

Calif regulatory board gasoline waiver for Chevron - Chevron officials requested the exception after a problem at its Richmond, Calif., refinery led it to shut down a major gasoline unit there. That came after another gasoline-making unit had already been shut down, leaving the refinery producing just 30,000 barrels per day of gasoline -- about a quarter of typical levels.


Looks like something is seriously wrong here but they just don't want to 'fess up that it was YET ANOTHER explosion. And from overseas...

TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), July 16, 1999.



And from overseas...

Gas leak alert shuts UK Britannia field - Chevron

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), July 16, 1999.


I live in Idaho, and gas prices went from 1.39 to 1.43 last night. It started with the Chevron station.

-- Kathy (i_think_so@hotmail.com), July 16, 1999.

TECH 32, thanks for the links, I had been watching crude oil prices today and was surprised to se them up 45 cents this afternoon. Guess the reason is pretty evident after reading those articles.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), July 16, 1999.


Chevron Wins Waiver to Sell Dirty Gas
New Richmond blast slashed production
Rebecca Smith, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, July 16, 1999
)1999 San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/07/16/MN6448.DTL

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Chevron Corp. won permission to sell gasoline in California that violates the strict environmental guidelines of a 1996 state law in an unprecedented decision by the state Air Resources Board yesterday.

Chevron petitioned the agency late Tuesday for an emergency waiver, arguing that an explosion Saturday at its Richmond refinery had slashed gasoline production to 30 percent of normal. The refinery produces more than 10 percent of the state's supply of cleaner-burning gasoline.

Without the waiver, Chevron said, the state would be hit with a gasoline shortage that would drive prices up sharply.

The 1996 law requires refiners in California to produce a special formula gasoline that is less polluting than fuel sold in other states. Chevron's variance represents the first time an oil company has gotten that law set aside.

Critics fear that other refineries might use this decision as precedent in the event they face production problems.

But Jerry Martin, a spokesman for the state air board, said, ``The variance was granted to avoid a supply disruption'' that could push gas prices up.

As part of yesterday's variance, Chevron now can import up to 3.5 million barrels of gasoline that meets federal, but not state, standards and sell it during a 45-day period.

By law, Chevron would be fined 15 cents, paid into an environmental fund, for each gallon of noncomplying gasoline sold. If it sells the full amount allowed, about $22 million will flow into a fund and be used to get older, more-polluting vehicles off the roads.

Whether Chevron will pass the 15-cent-a-gallon penalty along to motorists is unclear. Other oil companies, whose wholesale costs are rising, also could raise gasoline prices to match Chevron's.

Without the variance, Chevron said it would have had to reduce gasoline deliveries to its service stations by the middle of next week.

Environmental advocates reacted angrily to the variance, which they said rewards Chevron for bad management. They also said they were upset that the state air board conducted its public hearing less than 24 hours after Chevron filed its emergency petition.

``The state not only is allowing Chevron to profit from being an unsafe refinery operator, but they've allowed themselves to be pushed into this decision without allowing the public time to react,'' said Denny Larson, director of the nonprofit group, Communities for a Better Environment in San Francisco.

``We are mad as hell, and we think everyone in California should be,'' he continued. ``It sets a terrible precedent, especially considering how often California seems to have refinery explosions.''

For economists, the question is not whether gasoline prices will rise -- they already are rising -- but whether the additional supply will ease the shortage and push prices back down, said Severin Borenstein, head of the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley.

``For the next couple of weeks, we'll see prices going up,'' said Borenstein. ``What the Air Resources Board does won't stop that because there's already been a supply disruption. And one problem with prices going up is that there's a certain stickiness that hinders their coming back down again.''

The explosion at the Richmond refinery already has had an effect on the commodities market. Gasoline prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange with an August delivery date rose 2.18 cents yesterday, 3.7 percent, to 61.70 cents a gallon. That is the biggest increase since March 26 and the highest closing price in 21 months.

Saturday's explosion was the second major problem at the Richmond refinery this year. An explosion and fire at the refinery in March temporarily slashed production. The oil giant was able to make up for all but 15 percent of the normal refining production by buying partly refined fuel elsewhere that it could finish refining.

It had hoped to return the refinery to full production this summer, but on Friday workers discovered a leak in a steam generator. On Saturday, that leak led to a natural gas explosion that rocked an electrostatic precipitator, a piece of equipment that cleans particles from flue gas before it is exhausted into the atmosphere.

There were no injuries, but the refinery's production capacity got knocked back to 30 percent of the normal 240,000 barrels of crude a day.

In a letter to Air Resources chief Michael Kenny, Chevron said it will take several weeks to get the precipitator back to half-operation and several months to regain full use of the equipment. The mishap is bad news for drivers. Summer is the peak driving season, which means there is not a lot of excess inventory that can be tapped to make up for the shortage. That's why Chevron proposed that it be allowed to go outside the state, probably to the Gulf states, to obtain substitute gasoline. Chevron told Kenny that gasoline inventories in the Western region slid close to a five-year low when they hit 26.9 million barrels in early July.

At Wednesday's hearing, there was only limited opposition to the variance, but that could be because many groups were unaware of the explosion, the variance request or the hearing.



-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 16, 1999.


Now, watch gold prices start going up.....

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), July 16, 1999.


Here is a list of refinery fires/explosions I put together earlier this year. I have also graphed the frequency of fires etc. and it has increased a lot since (and including) the last quarter of 1998. Anyone can feel free to update the list. I know it is incomplete in the earlier years. I am pretty certain I caught all of them in the first five months of this year, but I may well have missed some even with doing a lot of searches. There might be formatting problems. It looked OK on my computer--Date, State, Location, Company, Cause(if known).

8/13/90 California Carson Arco
8/24/90 California Shell
9/28/90 California Bakersfield San Joaquin Refinery broken seal on vacuum tower pump
8/8/91 California Wilmington Unocal crude oil spill
10/8/92 California Wilmington Texaco worn pipe
9/25/93 California Santa Fe Springs
12/1/94 California Torrance
6/1/95 California Rodeo Unocal
10/16/95 Pennsylvania Rouseville Pennzoil
4/11/96 Michigan Detroit Marathon
5/17/96 California Rodeo Unocal
10/19/96 Illinois Blue Island Clark Oil
11/11/96 California Los Angeles Texaco hydrotreater
1/22/97 California Martinez Tosco
5/13/97 Texas Corpus Christi
5/16/97 Minnesota St. Paul Park Ashland
6/22/97 Texas Houston Shell
11/8/97 Minnesota Rosemount Koch
8/24/98 Minnesota St. Paul Park Marathon-Ashland
8/25/98 California Martinez Tosco
10/16/98 Pennsylvania Trainer Tosco jet fuel tank
11/25/98 Washington Anacortes Equilon Puget Sound "coker"
1/13/99 Arkansas Smackover Cross Oil Naptha Valve
2/24/99 California Martinez Tosco
3/25/99 California Richmond Chevron
5/7/99 Texas Pasadena Lyondell-Citgo coker
5/14/99 Texas Corpus Christi Coast gasoline production unit



-- Michael Munn (kuti@theriver.com), July 16, 1999.


See also older thread "fuel price hike."

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), July 16, 1999.

Quite surprised that these haven't as yet been spun as terrorist hits!

-- (snowleopard6@webtv.net), July 16, 1999.

-- Michael Munn, many thanks, I have been hoping that someone had accumulated this data>

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), July 16, 1999.


Just drove back to mountains from Fremont, CA. Congestion on highways was horrid-several bad wrecks delaying traffic plus usually road work during commute hour choking I-5 down to one lane in Lathrop. Way to go, Caltrans! Gas price increases have had no effect on number of cars on the road. Looking at all those people today, I'm thinking I may need to move further out in the boonies come rollover. And there isn't even a 7-11 within 50 miles of here.

-- Sharon L (sharonl@volcano.net), July 16, 1999.

Ray, Michael Munn, there is also the HUGE Amerada Hess episode in North Dakota (still not solved). I know some of the guys involved, so could you please give some background on it? Thanks

-- George (jvilches@sminter.com.ar), July 16, 1999.

I have been collecting bits and pieces about this subject and have been doing some extra searching the past couple of days. Below are my results. (This list is in addition to the incidents posted earlier in this thread, I'm going to try to get these combined and on a web page sometime in the next whenever. Some of the incidents are annotated a bit.

March 4, 1998, Louisiana, Pitkin, Sonat oil separation facility March 27, 1998 Louisiana, Hanville, Union Carbide plant April 8, 1998, New Jersey, Paterson, Morton Specialty Chemical company, explosion July 2, 1998, Alaska, Homer, ammonia leak and explosion at a seafood processing plant, July 15, 1998, Illinois, Commonwealth Edison, fire in coal fired electrical plant July 28, 1998 Indiana Hammond Southern Energy generating plant (allegedly coal dust) August 19, 1998, California, Carson, Arco Oil Refinery, (explosion during welding) August 21, 1998, Ohio, Ironton, Allied Signal coal tar plant, one dead August 27, 1998, Missouri, Joplin, incinerator explosion, 1 killed, 2 injured,

September 3, 1998, Oklahoma, Springer, two men are killed while repairing a pipeline (frozen to death by liquid nitrogen)

September 25, 1998 Australia Victoria, Esso Longford, gas plant explosions

September 28, 1998, Sioux Falls, SD, Woods Equipment Manufacturer, paint thinner reclaiming machine explodes when turned on, one killed

October 13, 1998, Maryland, Baltimore, Condea Vista Company, chemical plant explosion, benzene and hydrochloric acid released, nearby residents ordered to stay indoors

October 24, 1998, gas well explosion kills 7, Louisiana, Bryceland, Sonat Exploration Company, (close to Shreveport)

January 27, 1999 Canada, British Columbia, Taylor, Solex Gas Liquids Plant Explosion (caused by accidental gas leak)

February 1, 1999 Michigan, Dearborn, power plant at Ford Rouge plant explodes.

February 17, 1999, Missouri, Kansas City, power plant explodes.

February 19, 1999 Pennsylvania, Allentown, Concept Sciences plant, explosion during distillation of hydroxylamine, 5 killed

February 23, 1999, Ohio, Dayton, Miami Valley Paper Company, explosion, fire, orange die leak (3 incidents in one day)

February 26, 1999, Massachusetts, Springfield, Jahn Foundry, one killed, 11 injured.

May 13, 1999 Korea Ulsan refinery fire (world's largest refinery)

June 1, 1999, Pennsylvania, Conway (and elsewhere) rail problems/congestion/missing late loads, unknown destinations begin as a result of computer problems incident to the merger of Conrail and Norfolk Southern railroads.

June 10, 1999. Washington, Bellingham, 250,000 gallons gasoline leak into creek, explode, kill 3 young people, could have been much worse, computer failure

July 1, 1999, Missouri, Jackson County (KC), Missouri Public Service substation explodes.

July 5, 1999 Louisiana, Grammercy alumina plant explosion (24 workers injured) Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Company

July 6, 1999, California, Los Angeles, produce district warehouse explosion, 1 killed

July 7, 1999, DC, Washington, Office of Pipeline Safety issues advisory to pipeline operators advising them to check computer systems in the wake of the computer problems that caused the Bellingham explosion.

July 6-7, 1999, blackouts in New York City,

July 7, 1999, Nuclear Regulatory Commission announces that 1/3 of active nuclear power plants in the US are not y2k compliant at this time.

July 9, 1999, Texas, Panola County, near Beckville, 30 inch natural gas pipeline explosion and fire (reported in Shreveport media, fire was 400 yards long and hundreds of feet in the air)

July 11, 1999, Alaska, whistleblowers report that the Alaskan Pipeline is in imminent danger of an explosion or other accident causing damage "much worse" than the Exxon Valdez incidnet. July 16(?), 99, California Richmond Chevron (2nd at 03-25-99 plant incident)

July 12, 1999, Rio Rancho NM y2k sewer problem

July 12, 99 Japan, Fukui Prefecture, radiation leak (250X safety limit)

July 13, 1999, North Sea, Britannia gas field, production is halted due to a gas leak.

July 14, 1999, President Clinton establishes National Infrastructure Assurance Council,

July 15, 1999, CNN reports "somber faces" and bad news at a Senate hearing on y2k readiness of cities.

July 16, 1999, 100,000 phone lines knocked out by fire in Toronto.

Robert Waldrop http://www.justpeace.org/printflyers.htm

PS. One of these days I'll figure out how to do a working link in one of these posts.

-- robert waldrop (rmwj@soonernet.com), July 18, 1999.


I have been collecting bits and pieces about this subject and have been doing some extra searching the past couple of days. Below are my results. (This list is in addition to the incidents posted earlier in this thread, I'm going to try to get these combined and on a web page sometime in the next whenever. Some of the incidents are annotated a bit.

March 4, 1998, Louisiana, Pitkin, Sonat oil separation facility

March 27, 1998 Louisiana, Hanville, Union Carbide plant

April 8, 1998, New Jersey, Paterson, Morton Specialty Chemical company, explosion

July 2, 1998, Alaska, Homer, ammonia leak and explosion at a seafood processing plant,

July 15, 1998, Illinois, Commonwealth Edison, fire in coal fired electrical plant

July 28, 1998 Indiana Hammond Southern Energy generating plant (allegedly coal dust)

August 19, 1998, California, Carson, Arco Oil Refinery, (explosion during welding)

August 21, 1998, Ohio, Ironton, Allied Signal coal tar plant, one dead

August 27, 1998, Missouri, Joplin, incinerator explosion, 1 killed, 2 injured,

September 3, 1998, Oklahoma, Springer, two men are killed while repairing a pipeline (frozen to death by liquid nitrogen)

September 25, 1998 Australia Victoria, Esso Longford, gas plant explosions

September 28, 1998, Sioux Falls, SD, Woods Equipment Manufacturer, paint thinner reclaiming machine explodes when turned on, one killed

October 13, 1998, Maryland, Baltimore, Condea Vista Company, chemical plant explosion, benzene and hydrochloric acid released, nearby residents ordered to stay indoors

October 24, 1998, gas well explosion kills 7, Louisiana, Bryceland, Sonat Exploration Company, (close to Shreveport)

January 27, 1999 Canada, British Columbia, Taylor, Solex Gas Liquids Plant Explosion (caused by accidental gas leak)

February 1, 1999 Michigan, Dearborn, power plant at Ford Rouge plant explodes.

February 17, 1999, Missouri, Kansas City, power plant explodes.

February 19, 1999 Pennsylvania, Allentown, Concept Sciences plant, explosion during distillation of hydroxylamine, 5 killed

February 23, 1999, Ohio, Dayton, Miami Valley Paper Company, explosion, fire, orange die leak (3 incidents in one day)

February 26, 1999, Massachusetts, Springfield, Jahn Foundry, one killed, 11 injured.

May 13, 1999 Korea Ulsan refinery fire (world's largest refinery)

June 1, 1999, Pennsylvania, Conway (and elsewhere) rail problems/congestion/missing late loads, unknown destinations begin as a result of computer problems incident to the merger of Conrail and Norfolk Southern railroads.

June 10, 1999. Washington, Bellingham, 250,000 gallons gasoline leak into creek, explode, kill 3 young people, could have been much worse, computer failure

July 1, 1999, Missouri, Jackson County (KC), Missouri Public Service substation explodes.

July 5, 1999 Louisiana, Grammercy alumina plant explosion (24 workers injured) Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Company

July 6, 1999, California, Los Angeles, produce district warehouse explosion, 1 killed

July 7, 1999, DC, Washington, Office of Pipeline Safety issues advisory to pipeline operators advising them to check computer systems in the wake of the computer problems that caused the Bellingham explosion.

July 6-7, 1999, blackouts in New York City,

July 7, 1999, Nuclear Regulatory Commission announces that 1/3 of active nuclear power plants in the US are not y2k compliant at this time.

July 9, 1999, Texas, Panola County, near Beckville, 30 inch natural gas pipeline explosion and fire (reported in Shreveport media, fire was 400 yards long and hundreds of feet in the air)

July 11, 1999, Alaska, whistleblowers report that the Alaskan Pipeline is in imminent danger of an explosion or other accident causing damage "much worse" than the Exxon Valdez incidnet. July 16(?), 99, California Richmond Chevron (2nd at 03-25-99 plant incident)

July 12, 1999, Rio Rancho NM y2k sewer problem

July 12, 99 Japan, Fukui Prefecture, radiation leak (250X safety limit)

July 13, 1999, North Sea, Britannia gas field, production is halted due to a gas leak.

July 14, 1999, President Clinton establishes National Infrastructure Assurance Council,

July 15, 1999, CNN reports "somber faces" and bad news at a Senate hearing on y2k readiness of cities.

July 16, 1999, 100,000 phone lines knocked out by fire in Toronto.

Robert Waldrop http://www.justpeace.org/printflyers.htm

PS. One of these days I'll figure out how to do a working link in one of these posts.

-- robert waldrop (rmwj@soonernet.com), July 18, 1999.


Great job RMW ,{^;)

Think I'll cut,paste and save, if you don't mind.

-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), July 18, 1999.


Here is the latest 1999 list, 30 or so additional events added to that which was posted previously (sorry i posted it twice, oops). Look for additions in a couple of days to the 1998 list. i am finding these from web searches, and have started putting the newspaper that I'm finding them in beside them as a reference.

Robert Waldrop the printable flyers guy http://www.justpeace.org/printflyers.htm

1/4/99 Ohio Oregon fire

1/5/99 Illinois Chicago HS release January 5 1999, Minnesota, transformer explosion at Prairie Island nuclear power station affects plant operations, caused one reactor to shut down.

1/9/99 California Southgate fire & explosion

January 10, 1999, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, ABERDEEN AMERICAN NEWS, natural gas explosion in the base's environmental plant.

January 12, 1999, Florida, Marieville, explosion at bolt-making plant kills 2 workers, THE MIAMI HERALD, Infasco corp.

1/13/99 Arkansas Smackover Cross Oil Naptha Valve, 3 deaths

January 14, 1999 Duluth, Potlatch Corp strandboard plant, propane-fired pollution control device exploision, DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE

January 21, 1999, state ? Columbus, machine explodes, kills worker, East Central Wax Co. LEDGER-ENQUIRER

January 22 (?) 1999, Alabama, Bridgeport, natural gas line explosion, 3 killed, dozens of businesses damaged. LEDGER-ENQUIRER

January 26, 1999, California, Long Beach, "plant explosion," PRESS-TELEGRAM, "gas may have ignited boxes".

January 27, 1999 Canada, British Columbia, Taylor, Solex Gas Liquids Plant Explosion (caused by accidental gas leak)

February 1, 1999 Michigan, Dearborn, power plant at Ford Rouge plant explodes.

February 7, 1999, Canada, Alberta, natural gas pipeline explosion, creates mushroom cloud seen 62 miles away. The Arizona Republic.

02/09/99, California, Dixon, liquid fertilizer tank explosion, one killed, two injured, CONTRA COSTA TIMES

February 11, 1999, California, Hollister, explosion at explosive manufacturer, 1 death, Published on 03/05/99, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

February 17, 1999, Missouri, Kansas City, power plant explodes.

02/19/99, Indiana, FORT WAYNE, rail car explosion at cement plant, Journal Gazette

February 19, 1999 Pennsylvania, Allentown, Concept Sciences plant, explosion during distillation of hydroxylamine, 5 killed, 14 injured

February 23, 1999, Ohio, Dayton, Miami Valley Paper Company, explosion, fire, orange die leak (3 incidents in one day)

2/24/99 California Martinez Tosco refinery

2/24/99 Indiana Lamont crude oil unit fire February 24, 1999, Miami Florida, Transformer fire (near I595 and US 441)

February 26, 1999, California, San Bernardino County, STORAGE TANK BLAZE CAUSES EVACUATION OF POWER PLANT: SOLAR FACILITY: LIQUID EXPLODES; AIR TRAFFIC HAS TO BE RE-ROUTED.

February 26, 1999, Massachusetts, Springfield, Jahn Foundry, one killed, 11 injured.

3/4/99 Washington Anacortes explosion in polymerization unit

Published on 03/08/99, Michigan, Plainwell, natural gass line explosion THE JOURNAL GAZETTE GAS PIPELINE BLAST LIGHTS MICHIGAN SKY PLAINWELL, Mich. --

March 25, 1999, Boston Globe, analysts say the Ukraine is so broke it has stopped funding most nuclear reactor safety maintenance.

3/25/99 California Richmond Chevron refinery

3-27-99, due to a glitch, warning phone calls relating to the refinery explosion in Richmond, Ca went to Martinez instead of the nearer neighbors in Richmond.

March 27, 1999, explosion in magnesium dust collection system, Olney Bicycle parts plant, Evansville Courier and Pres (Illinois), Weinmann Inc.

March 29, 1999, Michigan, Osseo, Professional Fireworks Company, 4 dead (had a previous explosion 12-98, 7 deaths, business closed down after this last explosion)(.

4/2/99 California Torrance isobutane leak

April 6, 1999, Ohio, East Akron, Forest Technical Corp, tank explosion (wax vat)

April 8, 1999, Tampa, Florida, TECO Energy Company power plant explosion (hydrogen leak), 3 killed, 49 injured, 39 hospitalized (Miami Herald, eventually blamed on worker)

(Note April 9, 1999, article in the Bradenton (Florida) Herald, stating that almost all power plants use hydrogen to cool their generators. . . "It must be used in a closed system." I am reminded of the Hindenburg (not an explosion story, just a reminder.) April 13, 1999, South Carolina, Orangeburg, chemical plant explosion, 1 killed, 1 seriously injured, The State

April 14, 1999, Arizona, Tempe, Heraeus Amersil, hydrogen supply line explosion, Arizona Republic

April 14, 1999, Tampa, Florida, power plant explosion (hydrogen leak), 2 killed (? same as April 8 above?)

4/14/99 Washington Anacortes Equilon Puget Sound acid leak

April 15, 1999, Indiana, Notre Dame, fire and explosion in power plant of Notre Dame University, 2 injured.

April 15, 1999, Tennessee, Toone, Kilgore Operations Plant explosion (munitions)

4/19/99 Indiana Whiting jet fuel cracking unit

April 20, 1999, Indiana, Gary, BP Amoco explosion and fire, leaking jet fuel in crude refining unit, Post Tribune

April 21, 1999, Schuykill County, Pennsylvania, Copperhead Chemical Co., explosion in mixing and packing section, pharmaceutical manufacturer, 2 killed

April 23, 1999, Illinois, Evansville (?), Rubber shredding facility explosion, 100 firefighters summoned, Evansville Courier Press

4/25/99 Oklahoma Tulsa coker restart

5/7/99 Texas Pasadena Lyondell-Citgo coker

May 12, 1999, Alabama, Decatur, Daikin America chemical plant explosion, 3 dead, Ledger Enquirer

May 13, 1999 Korea Ulsan refinery fire (world's largest refinery) May 14, 1999, Coastal Corp refinery explosion, 10 injured, Greensboro News Record, location ?

5/14/99 Texas Corpus Christi Coast gasoline production unit

May 18, 1999, South Carolina, Cardenal Chemical Company, fire, The State

May 24, 1999, Ahaz, Iran, gas pipeline explosion (during a repair), 70 injured, San Jose Mercury

June 1, 1999, Pennsylvania, Conway (and elsewhere) rail problems/congestion/missing late loads, unknown destinations begin as a result of computer problems incident to the merger of Conrail and Norfolk Southern railroads.

June 10, 1999. Washington, Bellingham, 250,000 gallons gasoline leak into creek, explode, kill 3 young people, could have been much worse, computer failure

6/14/99 Tennessee Memphis leak from storage tank

6/23/99 California Torrance Mobil

6/24/99 Texas Houston July 1, 1999, Missouri, Jackson County (KC), Missouri Public Service substation explodes.

July ? 1999, Louisiana, Convent, Zeno chemical plant fire and explosion

July 5, 1999 Louisiana, Grammercy alumina plant explosion (24 workers injured) Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Company

July 6, 1999, California, Los Angeles, produce district warehouse explosion, 1 killed

July 7, 1999, DC, Washington, Office of Pipeline Safety issues advisory to pipeline operators advising them to check computer systems in the wake of the computer problems that caused the Bellingham explosion.

July 6-7, 1999, blackouts in New York City,

July 7, 1999, Nuclear Regulatory Commission announces that 1/3 of active nuclear power plants in the US are not y2k compliant at this time.

July 9, 1999, Texas, Panola County, near Beckville, 30 inch natural gas pipeline explosion and fire (reported in Shreveport media, fire was 400 yards long and hundreds of feet in the air)

7/10/99 California Chevron

July 11, 1999, Alaska, whistleblowers report that the Alaskan Pipeline is in imminent danger of an explosion or other accident causing damage "much worse" than the Exxon Valdez incident.

July 12, 1999, Rio Rancho NM y2k sewer problem

July 12, 99 Japan, Fukui Prefecture, radiation leak (250X safety limit)

July 13, 1999, North Sea, Britannia gas field, production is halted due to a gas leak.

July 14, 1999, President Clinton establishes National Infrastructure Assurance Council,

July 15, 1999, CNN reports "somber faces" and bad news at a Senate hearing on y2k readiness of cities.

July 16, 1999, 100,000 phone lines knocked out by fire in Toronto.

July 16(?), 99, California Richmond Chevron (2nd at 03-25-99 plant incident)

July 16, 1999, Maryland, Baltimore, Bethlehem Steel (explosion during a spraying/coating operation) (Baltimore Sun)

July 17, 1999, Pennsylvania, Harleysville, metal manufacturing facility, Philadelphia Inquirer



-- robert waldrop (rmwj@soonernet.com), July 20, 1999.


I have put the list that is being compiled in this thread on a web page at

www.justpeace.org/explosions .htm

Also, somewhere I have seen a brief report of an explosion in the past couple of days in Oologah, Oklahoma (haven't seen it in the Daily Oklahoman, though), which may have been a fire in a transformer.

Robert Waldrop printable flyers for distribution during y2k disruptions

-- robert waldrop (rmwj@soonernet.com), July 22, 1999.


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