BP AMOCO EXPLOSION MARCH 05

15 DEAD
100 INJURED
30 PUBLIC INJURED
8 IN CRITICAL CONDITION
 Details Available so far

Location was Texas City, about 56 kilometres southeast

of Houston.

BP AMOCO Refinery is on 1,200 acres with 30 refinery

units and is 71 years old. It is the USAs third largest
refinery.

It is BPs largest plant, and the USAs third largest.

Explosion was a believed to be the result of an Unconfined Vapour

Cloud Explosion from a release of Benzene/Heptane from a Raffinate
Splitter on a 180 kL/hr Isomerisation Unit.

The unit was being started up after a 2 week shutdown for reactor
repairs. 12 months earlier an explosion on startup had also occurred
with no injuries.

Exact quantities of hydrocarbon involved have not been determined as

yet.
A camera on a nearby building captured these before and after
photographs of the initial blast.
About 375 employees of contracting firms Jacobs and JE Merit were
doing shutdown maintenance work at an Ultracracker unit near the
Isomerisation unit when the blast occurred. They were not working on
the Isomerisation unit.
Most of the damage to the process unit was thermal (from the fire which
ensued after the explosion).
The fire was extinguished by nightfall. A portion of the plant was
reduced to a pile of smouldering, gnarled metal (L.A. Times)
Of those killed, 11 worked for
companies servicing a different
part of the Refinery entirely.

This photo shows the temporary

offices at the bottom, and a
storehouse near the top of the
photo. Several people died in
this temporary office trailer
which was used for
Safety Briefings,
Progress Meetings,
and Consultation
among
Supervisors.

The temporary
offices was
within 50 metres
of the blast zone
The decision on where to place such trailers would be a big part of
the investigation, Im sure BP Spokesman Bill Stevens (NY Times)
Chemical Safety and Hazard Board Investigator John Bresland noted two blast-
proof control rooms at the site suffered minimal damage (Houston Chronicle)
It is believed that a car being started may have provided the
source of ignition for the explosive vapour cloud
The heat from the fire was so intense that several cars in the nearby
parking lot exploded into flames.
Pedro Albaladejo (spare parts dealership nearby) said
the explosion sounded like a bomb going off.

This picture shows the initial blast damage to the Storehouse, adjacent to
the portable offices.
The initial blast appears to have been the cause of most of the loss of life
and equipment damage.
 Internal damage to buildings for up
to 8 kilometres was experienced.

Ceilings were damaged in offices.

The blast forced schoolchildren

to cower under their desks (Wires)

Windows were blown in

at local homes several
kilometres away, and
windows were rattled up
to 8 kilometres away.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
and the Chemical Board are conducting separate investigations.
OSHAs probe is expected to take six months, while the Chemical
Board will probably take 12 months to complete its findings.

Of interest are the following incidents which occurred at the same plant.

The day prior to the explosion, a furnace valve caught fire.

March 2004 a similar explosion on the same plant had occurred,
requiring evacuation of the entire facility. Afterwards BP were fined
$US63,000 for 14 safety violations including problems with its
Emergency Shutdown System and Employee Training.
In 2002 at the same plant 2 maintenance employees were killed when
scalding hot water (260C) was released from a pump seal only a
check valve was used as isolation for the pump.

In addition, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission fined BP

$US700,000 for a well head explosion in 2002 in Prudhoe Bay.
The total cost of this incident is
expected to reach $US 1 Billion