EPA RELEASE - U.S. EPA fines Exxon Mobil $2.64 million for PCB release

From:  EPA 

COMMENT - This release documents the continuing business strategies followed by ExxonMobil for externalizing profits by minimizing maintenance. 

Release Date: 08/21/2008
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 798-1404, arcaute.francisco@epa.gov

Toxic chemical leaked at the facility off the coast of Santa Barbara County 

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has settled with the Exxon Mobil Corporation for $2.64 million for allegedly disposing of and improperly handling polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”) on an offshore oil and gas platform in the Santa Barbara Channel, off the Southern California coast, in violation of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.

“Today’s settlement sends a clear signal that companies must follow PCB regulations to protect communities and our environmental resources,” said Wayne Nastri, administrator for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “The EPA will not hesitate to take enforcement actions against companies that fail to properly handle and dispose of PCBs.”

Between 2002 and 2005, two large electrical transformers located on Platform Hondo, part of Exxon’s Santa Ynez Unit, leaked nearly 400 gallons of PCB-contaminated fluid. Exxon allowed one of the transformers to leak for almost two years before repairing it. The leaking from the transformers constitutes illegal disposal of PCBs, a violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act.Additionally, Exxon failed to ensure that workers who cleaned up the leaked fluid were provided protective clothing or equipment to protect against direct contact with and inhalation of PCBs. Exxon replaced the two transformers with non-PCB containing transformers in 2005.PCBs are man-made organic chemicals used in paints, industrial equipment, plastics, and cooling oil for electrical transformers. More than 1.5 billion pounds of PCBs were manufactured in the United States before the EPA banned the production of this chemical class in 1978, and many PCB-containing materials are still in use today.

When released into the environment, PCBs remain for decades. Tests have shown that PCBs cause cancer in animals and are suspected carcinogens in humans. Acute PCB exposure can also adversely affect the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems as well as liver function.

Concerns about human health and the extensive presence and lengthy persistence of PCBs in the environment led Congress to enact the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976.

For more information on PCB regulation and enforcement, as well as the Toxic Substances Control Act enforcement in general, please visit the EPA’s website at: 
www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/pcb/ 
www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/tsca/index.html

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Williams’ Legislation in Response to Refugio Oil Spill Clears Senate Committee

From:  Noozhawk

SOURCE: LOURDES JIMENEZ FOR ASSEMBLYMAN DAS WILLIAMS

Less than a month after Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Carpinteria, chair of Natural Resources Committee, held an oversight hearing to examine the recent Refugio oil spill, legislation he introduced in response to the incident passed out of Senate Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday.

Assembly Bill 864 is now headed to Senate Appropriations Committee. A hearing date in this committee has not been set.

“It was clear during the recent oversight hearing that the defective pipeline was not equipped with leak detection technology and automatic shut-off valves,” Williams said. “There is always tremendous risk to areas surrounding offshore and onshore coastal drilling. The law should reflect this truth by requiring operators to take every precaution available and use the best achievable technology when drilling.”  MORE

US agency faulted for inaction after California oil spill

From:  WPXI

By KEVIN FREKING and MICHAEL R. BLOOD

The Associated Press

FILE - In this May 21, 2015 file photo, workers prepare an oil containment boom at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif. The nation's top pipeline regulator is lagging in meeting congressional requirements imposed several years ago but it is planning to increase staff for safety inspections, its interim director says. The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has been facing new questions about its effectiveness after a May 19 break near Santa Barbara created the largest coastal oil spill in California in 25 years. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

WASHINGTON — 

The federal agency that oversees the safety of the nation's pipelines failed to follow through on congressional reforms that could have made a difference in a May break that created the largest coastal oil spill in California in 25 years, a House committee chairman said Tuesday.

In a rare display of agreement on Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats on the Energy and Power Subcommittee expressed frustration with inaction by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which has yet to complete more than a dozen requirements outlined in a 2011 federal law.

Among the unfinished work is revising regulations to establish specific time periods for notification of authorities after an accident is confirmed. The new rule would require notice as quickly as possible and always within an hour.  MORE

Plains All American pipeline spills 4,200 gallons of oil

From:  Houston Business Journal 

Laura Furr

Houston Business Journal

SEE CORRECTION AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE

Enlarge

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS ANDREA ANDERSON

Crews are completing clean-up of the oil along Refugio State Beach in Goleta, California,… more

A Plains All American Pipeline LP (NYSE: PAA) pipeline spilled an estimated 4,200 gallons of crude oil near St. Louis on July 10.

According to a statement from the Houston-based company, the flow of oil has been stopped, but some reached a nearby creek. Plains has initiated its emergency response plan to contain the release and work crews are on site.

The leak was traced back to small-diameter pipeline at the company’s Pocahontas pump station in southwest Illinois, about 40 miles from St. Louis, the company said in the statement.  MORE

Tests link South Bay tar balls to Refugio oil spill

From:  The Independent 

Computer Models Accurately Show Crude Hitting Deep Water and Heading South

Igor Mezic, professor of mechanical engineering, displays a graph produced by his researchers. George Foulsham

Story by Tyler Hayden

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Less than an hour after emergency crews started scrambling to contain the Refugio Oil Spill, Dr. Igor Mezic already had a pretty good idea how and where the crude would spread throughout the Santa Barbara Channel.

And less than four days after the May 19 spill, Mezic, a professor in UCSB's Department of Mechanical Engineering, was fairly confident the fallout would trickle 100 miles south to Manhattan Beach. He was right. Yesterday, Los Angeles officials confirmed tarballs found there match the oily fingerprints of the Refugio disaster.

"My specialty is trying to understand what a current will do with a spill," Mezic explained this week. "I've developed a method that can track any material in or on the ocean. And when I say 'I,' I mean me and my team." That team includes Dr. Sophie Loire and undergrad Patrick Clary. They also collaborated with Brian Emery and Professor Libe Washburn.  MORE

From:  The Independent 

Story by Keith Hamm

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

TESTING THE WATERS: Kristen Karnes (foreground) and Eric Simon with Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health use an UltraRAE handheld device to get readings at Refugio State Beach the day after the oil spill.

The fifth class action lawsuit against Plains All American Pipeline was filed recently in federal court, this one on behalf of commercial fishermen Keith and Tiffani Andrews and a handful of others impacted by the May 19 Refugio Oil Spill.

Residents of Santa Margarita in San Luis Obispo Country, the Andrews trawl for giant red sea cucumber — a top-dollar Asian delicacy — off Refugio State Beach. Those fishing grounds were closed from May 19 to June 29 and will remain tainted, according to the July 1 complaint, which also expresses the Andrews’ worry “that the market for Santa Barbara sea cucumbers may forever be harmed.”

Joining the Andrews, Goleta’s Sarah Rothbone had to cancel more than 300 deliveries from her Community Seafood boat-to-table business, and fears lingering financial impact “for years to come.” Other plaintiffs include Oxnard-based commercial fishermen Josh Chancer, local deckhand Cort Pierson, Los Angeles-based seafood processor Weihai Zheung, and Carpinteria’s Joseph Viens, who is suing for lost service-fee income from several ATMs he owns along the Gaviota Coast.  MORE

Exxon's Oil, Plain's Pipe – The Tyrannosaurus in the Room or - On the Beach with Rex and Greg

By Melinda Pillsbury-Foster 

DANS, CEO

Rex and Greg having a confab on the Beach in Santa Barbara 

Let's start at the beginning.  The oil which poured out of the pipe originated from the Hondo Drilling Platform, owned by ExxonMobil.  It was transported via ExxonMobil pipes to Las Flores, an ExxonMobil Facility, and then began its transport by Plains All American Pipeline through the Plains connection to the ExxonMobil Tank. 

10:45:00 AM

Five Plains employees are at work in a room at ExxonMobil's Las Flores Pump Station where their company's ten miles of pipeline begins a few feet from one of two massive tanks.  

A mechanical issue is reported.  The pipeline, carrying Exxon crude from Hondo, shuts down at Sisquoc Pumping Station due to unknown reasons.  At 10:47AM, approximately, Las Flores shuts down, reporting a pressure surge.  

Exxon owns the three drilling platforms, Hondo, Heritage and Harmony, located in the Santa Barbara Channel.  Exxon owns the pipeline which feeds into the Las Flores  Canyon Processing Facility along with the room provided to the five Plains employees who oversee the exit of Pipe 901 from Las Flores.  The Refugio Spill will take place three miles into the 901. 

                                                                               

ExxonMobil Infrastructure involved in the Refugio Spill

The ten miles of pipe owned by Plains on this route, known as Pipeline 901,  had been cited by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)  as needing immediate repair in the Corrective Action Order issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), dated June 3, 2015.  Plains had been aware of the problems since the test was done a month earlier, two weeks before the spill took place on May 19^th.   

 Las Flores Facility, owned by ExxonMobil.  Red Line is Pipe 901.

The May 5^th In-Line Inspection (ILI) revealed four areas requiring, “ immediate investigation and remediation” on Pipe 901.  Loss of original metal was reported as “54 and 74% of the original pipe wall thickness.”  

Because of the corrosive nature of crude, high temperatures used for transport and weathering pipes need constant monitoring.  

The Hondo Crude flowing through Pipe 901 on May 19^th was heated to 126 degrees so it could be transported.  The profile for the Hondo Crude includes Sulphur 4.3 % by volume (sour oil) .  

When heated, the Sulfur will be ready, if exposed to oxygen, to react, becoming Hydrogen Sulfide, a highly poisonous gas.  The Hondo Crude also contains Benzene, which also becomes gaseous when released to the air.  Both, being heavier than air, could have, absent a breeze, flowed down to the beach.   

The five Plains employees controlled a valve in a small building, like a maintenance shed, a few feet inside the Exxon Facility.  

 Pipeline 901 crosses the manifold carrying the oil, owned by ExxonMobil.

150 feet from the tank is a manifold where pipes  come together.  This is exposed.  A spur crosses the main pipeline.  The pipelines, perpendicular to the main line,  lead to  a small building about six car lengths long and 2 car lengths wide where it stops.  

This is where the valve is believed to be located.   It is also the place where the Smart Pig, used to test Pipe 901 on May 5^th was inserted, traveling all the way to Refugio and beyond.  The Smart Pig reported to Plains' contractors, who let Plains know, there were problems with 901, providing them with the data.  

Smart Pig

Plains had not been ordered by Jeffrey D. Wiese, Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, to stop pumping  so they continued to do so.  It was a judgment call.  

10:47:00AM

Sisquoc Pump Station shuts down both the backup and main pumps.  

10:50:00AM

The Refugio Spill has not yet taken place.  

The pumps at Las Flores shut down due to a high pressure reading.  An operator restarts the pumps at the Sisquoc Pump Station, which is about 50 miles north of the spill site.  

10:53:00AM

Between 10:53 an 10:55 first Las Flores and then Sisquoc restart pumping. 

How much pressure is too much when the pipe is already having issues?  This is a judgment call.  

Pressure gauges are old technology and subject to multiple misreadings.  Many oil companies now use Ultrasound monitoring, which provides precise bi-directional and highly dynamic flow measurement and the non-intrusive clamp-on technology to ascertain flow rates, a better indicator. 

Plains is still on old technology in other ways as well.  No automatic shut off valve is on the system although Santa Barbara County requires this.  

11:15:00AM

The Sisquoc back-up pump goes down, followed by the main pump, according to the company. It is not possible to restart the pumping.  At Las Flores pumping continues.  

11:30:00AM

Due to “pressure anomalies” occur that morning, a Plains operator at the Midland Control Center in Texas remotely shuts down the ruptured pipe and finally stopping the pump at Las Flores.  

11:42:00AM

A 9-1-1 call reporting strong oily odors comes in to the Fire Department Dispatch Center for Gaviota. In response, a crew from County Fire Station 18 goes out on the bluffs to investigate the strong odor and follows it down to the beach at Refugio where 901 is bleeding oil through the culvert, onto the beach and into the Pacific Ocean.  

The potentially fatal concentration of Hydrogen Sulfide and Benzene, dispersed to the area north and east, will have dissipated from its maximum ten minute high by the time emergency personnel arrive.  

It could have been worse. 

Exxon and Plains appear, by reports, to follow the same protocols for monitoring flow in the pipelines in Santa Barbara County, this being a pressure reading.  No mention is made of ultrasound technology.  

Some questions naturally occur.  

What did Exxon know about the problems with 901 and when did they know it?  

Why is Exxon not also under investigation?  Why have litigants failed to name the corporation in their law suits, as is usual in similar circumstances?  

Why wasn't ExxonMobil asked to answer questions at the June 26^th Hearing in Santa Barbara?   

Does Exxon have any data which is relevant to the ongoing investigation?  

Now, how about some answers!

Company Safety Records:  

Plains All American Pipeline - Environmental Record 

Our thanks to Channel Keepers

ExxonMobil - Environmental Record

Our thanks to the great people who provided the original research.

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster is now the Executive Producer for  Content, Freedom TV Networks, formerly CEO of DANS News Service, and a life long advocate for the environment and social justice.  Technical background on issues of petroleum using the expertise of AvertAlert  Director for Research, David Lincoln, a whistleblower on the oil companies and qualified expert witness on their practices and technologies.