HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02131996 - P5 .i
P. 5
THE BOARD OR SUPERVISORS OF
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Adopted this Order on February 13, 1996, by the following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Rogers, Bishop, Torlakson, Smith
NOES: None
ABSENT: Supervisor DeSaulnier
ABSTAIN: None
SUBJECT: Report on the Incident at the Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Hydrogen Plant in Martinez, California
Kevin Murphy, Business Manager, Air Products, Inc. , spoke on the
investigation of the February 1, 1996, incident at the Air Products and
Chemicals, Inc. , Hydrogen plant in Martinez caused by the failure of a 24-inch
diameter process gas pipe: Noting that the failure caused a fire, Mr. Murphy
reported that damage to the facility was limited to the area close to the pipe
failure and that there were some reported injuries of an undisclosed nature
but no fatalities. He advised the Board of inspections taking place in other
plants to avoid another incident and of his intent to advise the Board of the
cause of the incident when known.
IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that the report of Kevin .Murphy is
ACCEPTED.
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND
CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND
ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN .
ATTESTED: February 13, 1996
Phil Batchelor,Clerk of the Board of
nn Supervisors and County Administrator
B �•
Y U 7_2✓�,r, Deputy
cc: County Administrator
Health Services Director
I
VUAD&ARY Or EV=ENT
e��yTY,'i�LerlTT�ATT I i RAO�yD�{Y'J(/C�r i�J {lam
Rel El lie PLANT ai l i I +'+AM s Ci Wil R ILA
On February 1, 1996 at 11:0: a.m. Pacific Daylight 71me, a failure
occurred in a 244-inch diameter process gas pipe in the Air Products and
Chemicals, Inc. hydrogen plant in Martinez, California. The failure
caused a fire in a small portion of our plant. None of our employees were
injured, but several Bechtel contractors at the refinery reportedly
experienced injuries of an undisclosed nature. Damage to our facility was
limited to the area close to the pipe failure. The only other damage we can
presently confirm was to certain construction trailers located on Shell's
property.
Thanks to the quick response of Shell employee fire teams and the
Contra Costa County Consolidated Fire Department, the fire was
extinguished within 10 minutes of the accident. Our team of technical and
safety experts arrived at the site that day to begin their investigation into the
cause of the accident.
The hydrogen plant which we operate is located adjacent to the Shell
Martinez refinery on land leased from. Shell. The facility was engineered
and constructed by Kinetics Technology International Corporation, a firm
located in San Dimas, California. Our plant produces hydrogen and steam
by processing a feed gas stream provided by the Shell refinery. The feed gas
stream is treated in our plant in several processing units and is combined
with steam at high temperature and pressure. The hydrogen gas recovered
from the feed gas stream is supplied to Shell for the refinery's Clean Fuels
Projects.
The pipe that failed was located downstream of the process waste
heat boiler. When the pipe failed, gas contained in equipment located
upstrwmi and downstream of the pipe break vented into our plant, The ,gas
which vented from the pipe formed a flammable mixture with air and
ignited, causing a loud concussion to be heard within the Shell refinery and
the surrounding community.
There were no releases of any acutely hazardous materials covered
by the CA State Risk Manageanent Prevention Plan and the EPA CERCLA
and SARA Title III regulations. The Bay Area Air Quality Management
District has determined it Will not issue any violation Citations concerning
the bUident. California OSHA District Inspectors have made three visits to
our site to inveuftato the explosion and pipe failure.
The root cause of the pipe failure presently is unknown, and is being
investigated by Air Products.
February 7, 1996