The U.S. Chemical Security and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) launched a second update on its ongoing investigation into the deadly hydrogen sulfide launch that occurred on October 10, 2024, on the PEMEX Deer Park Refinery in Deer Park, Texas. Two contract staff died in the course of the incident, and over 27,000 kilos of poisonous hydrogen sulfide gasoline have been launched. Native authorities issued shelter-in-place orders lasting a number of hours for the neighboring cities of Deer Park and Pasadena.
The PEMEX Deer Park Refinery is an oblique subsidiary of Pemex, a petroleum firm wholly owned by the Federal Authorities of Mexico. The refinery employs roughly 1,000 personnel and 1,200 contractors. The ability is a petroleum refinery, which produces hydrogen sulfide as a byproduct that may trigger severe well being hazards if launched into the surroundings.
On the day of the incident, upkeep contractors have been working to eradicating piping isolation gadgets, referred to as blinds, from ARU6, one of many refinery’s Amine Regeneration Models (ARUs). In the course of the process, staff inadvertently opened a flange on a piping section of one other unit, ARU7, which was nonetheless pressurized with hydrogen sulfide gasoline.
At roughly 4:23 p.m., the ARU7 piping flange was opened, releasing a poisonous focus of hydrogen sulfide gasoline into the air. One of many contract staff performing the duty was fatally injured on the scene. The wind carried the poisonous hydrogen sulfide to a close-by unit the place different contractors have been working. One contract employee downwind from the discharge additionally was fatally injured from hydrogen sulfide poisoning.
The CSB’s investigation is ongoing and can give attention to the next key areas:
- Protected work components
- Upkeep Insurance policies and Procedures
- Emergency Preparedness
The CSB’s closing investigation report will embrace complete findings, analyses, and, if relevant, suggestions for improved security practices to forestall future incidents.
The CSB is an impartial federal company charged with investigating incidents and hazards that consequence, or could consequence, within the catastrophic launch of extraordinarily hazardous substances.
Matters
Texas
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