Brisbane City Council wait for Caltex Investigation

So we all wait as the cogs of industry move slowly and the investigation comes to a close. Mr Turnbull must be under a lot of pressure to get the right result on this one. Rumour has it that the nipple that caused the incident was made of carbon steel and should have been some copper exotic material called monel. Silly buggers replaced the nipple after the incident with the same material, how crazy is that. Anyway some guy from Pembroke in the UK, who was flown in for the investigation spotted this and got the refinery manager to shutdown and replace it with the proper material ?? Now thats must be real difficult when profits are real high and oil is $50 plus.
The worrying thing about all of this is that they knew about this problem months ago and the inspectors pointed this out but refused to act. Wow looks like the production manager and relability manager have some explaining to do. More soon.
Your refinery eye.




http://www.caltex.com.au/corporate_new_detail.asp?id=646

07.04.2005 Lytton refinery gas leak incident update Caltex Australia said today there had been a serious incident as a result of the escape of hydrogen fluoride gas at the company’s Lytton refinery in Brisbane this morning. “The twenty four people who were taken to Brisbane hospitals following the incident are currently being held for observation or have already been released. None is in a critical condition,” said Lytton Refinery Manager Andrew Brewer. “The hydrogen fluoride gas escaped from a section of the alkylation unit. “People in the vicinity of the incident reported that a plume of the gas emerged on the alkylation unit. Hydrogen fluoride is used in the plant process for the manufacture of petrol. “The unit was immediately shut down with the release contained by a water deluge system. Employees and contractors in the area of the affected unit were immediately evacuated. All people on the site were accounted for and there was no impact on surrounding residents." Of the total of 45 people who are employees of Caltex and contractors who were potentially affected, twenty four people were transported to hospital with the others receiving treatment on-site. Caltex Managing Director and CEO Dave Reeves and General Manager Refining Eion Turnbull flew to Brisbane from Sydney to visit those in hospital and talk with their families. They will also meet with people at the refinery. Families and employers of the affected people have been notified. A letterbox drop is being made to all homes and businesses in the area advising neighbours of the incident. Government authorities including Workplace Health and Safety and the Environmental Protection Agency were notified and officers from both agencies have inspected the site of the incident. “All of us at Caltex deeply regret that people have been injured at our site,” Mr Brewer said. “Our focus today is on caring for the people affected and their families. We will initiate a full investigation when the initial response is complete. “We are very appreciative of the rapid response by the emergency services to assist with the management of the incident. “The incident has not affected production at the refinery.” Media contact Jenny Palmer Media Relations and Communications Executive 02 9250 5762 SEE ALSO http://blog.fictionised.net/index.php?paged=2 Turns out that the incident was a leak in a high-pressured pipe containing hydrofluoric acid in gaseous form. Very dangerous stuff. The ch9 (and some random ch) choppers came and filmed it all from above. Apparently, a few were injured, but I don’t have full details. Glad I don’t work with the stuff (mind you, at uni, I use all kinds of carcenogenic rubbish ).