U.S. board faults refiners, regulators in deadly Tesoro blast
Source: Reuters
U.S. board faults refiners, regulators in deadly Tesoro blast
BY ERWIN SEBA
Thu Jan 30, 2014 3:39am EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said a fireball of hydrogen and naphtha engulfed seven workers at Tesoro Corp.'s Anacortes, Washington refinery in 2010 because the company failed to identify the damage hydrogen was causing to steel components, according to a draft report released on Thursday.
Further, the CSB said industry practices recommended by the American Petroleum Institute don't require refiners to take necessary steps to prevent high-temperature hydrogen attacks that form minute cracks in carbon steel like that on the heat exchanger which ruptured at the Tesoro Anacortes refinery on April 2, 2010.
The board plans to vote on a final version of the report this year.
In a statement, Tesoro acknowledged the efforts of board investigation teams "despite the significant and successive turnover in the agency's assigned personnel over the years".
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/30/us-refinery-investigation-tesoro-anacort-idUSBREA0T0AY20140130
