The US Chemical Safety Board has published a draft report proposing major changes to the way refineries are regulated in California.
“Regulatory Report: Chevron Richmond Refinery Pipe Rupture and Fire” calls on California to overhaul its existing “reactive” systems with a performance-based regulatory model.
CSB chairperson, Rafael Moure-Eraso, said an “exhaustive” review had revealed “many ways” to decrease the risk of major refinery accidents such as the Chevron fire.
The draft Chevron regulatory report is the second of three in the CSB’s investigation of the 2012 process fire in the crude unit at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California.
The Safety Case System
The CSB would like to see California adopt a ‘safety case system’ similar to those in the United Kingdom, Norway and Australia. The safety case regime compels companies to demonstrate to industry regulators via a written report their plans to control major hazards and reduce risks.
Companies must then review, audit and enforce their safety goals by way of highly trained regulatory inspectors. The CSB report says the system works, with data from Norway and the UK demonstrating reductions in hydrocarbon releases offshore.
Moure-Eraso commented: “Refinery safety rules need to focus on driving down risk to the lowest practicable level, rather than completing required paperwork. Companies, workers, and communities will all benefit from a rigorous system like the safety case.”
California, he added, would act as a model for the wider US by adopting the system.
“I have great confidence that California will embrace the recommendations in our draft report and carry them forward to implement policy change.”
Mr Moure-Eraso explained how the proposed move marked a sea-change in current policy, shifting responsibility for major accident risks from regulators to high hazard sites.
“In contrast to the safety case, the current regulatory system for process safety is largely reactive, at both the state and federal level; companies have a default right to operate, and are subject to penalties when accidents occur or their activities otherwise draw negative attention from regulators,” he said.
“In the case of the Chevron refinery fire, the reactive system of regulation simply did not work to prevent what was ultimately a preventable accident.”
Chevron ‘Repeatedly’ Failed
The report concluded that Chevron “repeatedly failed” over a ten-year period to implement inherently safer design principles and upgrade piping in its crude oil processing unit. It was this piping, says the report, which was “extremely corroded” and ruptured on August 6, 2012.
The report also warns of “a considerable problem with significant and deadly incidents at petroleum refineries over the last decade”.
In 2012, the CSB reports 125 significant process safety incidents at US petroleum refineries with 17 of these taking place in California. As a result, the US had experienced financial losses from refinery incidents at least three times that of industry counterparts in other countries.
US Falling Behind
Mr Moure-Eraso cautioned that the US safety system had fallen behind the standards set by the rest of the world.
Referring to the ‘safety case system’, he stated: “Workers, the public and the industry itself would benefit greatly from the enhanced advantages of this more adaptable and effective approach to regulation.
“Other regimes have long since recognized the need for increased participation by workers and their representatives, transparency of information and the use of key process safety indicators to ensure the system works to prevent major accidents.”
Refining Safety
The draft report is expected to be considered for formal adoption by the Chemical Safety Board at a public meeting at 6:30 pm on January 15, 2014, at Richmond City Hall.
View the full draft report here
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