DEER PARK, Texas – The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released its final report Thursday on the March 17, 2019 tank farm fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Company, LLC (ITC) bulk liquid storage terminal in Deer Park.
The fire caused a large amount of property damage, significantly impacted the environment, and led to the issuance of several shelter-in-place orders that seriously disrupted the area.
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CSB Chairperson Steve Owens said, “This was a very large and disruptive event. The fire burned for three days, caused over $150 million in property damage at the facility, put the surrounding community potentially at risk, and significantly impacted the environment. This disastrous event could have been prevented if proper safeguards had been in place at the facility.”
The report states the incident occurred when an accidental release of butane-enriched naphtha product accumulated and ignited near a large aboveground atmospheric storage tank, known as Tank 80-8. The CSB found that a circulation pump connected to Tank 80-8 failed, allowing the butane-enriched naphtha product contained in the tank to escape. The Tank 80-8 circulation pump continued to operate as the butane-enriched naphtha product released from the failed pump for roughly 30 minutes before its flammable vapors ignited, causing a fire to erupt and engulf the Tank 80-8 piping manifold. Once the fire erupted, ITC was unable to isolate or stop the release. The fire then burned and spread to the 14 other tanks located in the same area. It burned for three days before it was extinguished.
The report mirrors the findings of the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which released their report around nine months after the fire in 2019. Their report found the fire was “likely caused by a failure within the manifold power frame of Tank 80-8.” It was ruled an accident.
The CSB report highlights five key safety issues regarding the fire.
The first is that ITC did not have a formal mechanical integrity procedure to maintain the integrity of Tank-80-8 and its associated equipment, including the Tank 80-8 circulation pump.
Secondly, Tank 80-8 was not equipped with a flammable gas detention system to warn personnel of a hazardous atmosphere resulting from loss of containment from the tank or its associated equipment.
Thirdly, Tank 80-8 and other tanks in the tank farm were not equipped with remotely operated emergency isolation valves designed to mitigate process releases remotely from a safe location.
Fourthly, elements of the tank farm design, including tank spacing, subdivisions, engineering controls for pumps located inside the containment area, and drainage systems allowed the fire to spread to other tanks within the tank farm.
Lastly, ITC did not apply a formal process safety management (PSM) program to Tank 80-8 because neither the OSHA PSM standard nor the EPA Risk Management Program (RMP) rule applied to the tank and its associated equipment due to exemptions contained in the regulations.
Investigator-in-Charge Crystal Thomas said, “The CSB’s investigation found that the cause of the incident was linked to a number of safety shortcomings including the lack of an effective mechanical integrity program, tank farm design, deficient remote isolation valve capabilities, as well as a lack of a formal process safety management program for Tank 80-8.”
As a result of its findings, the CSB is issuing recommendations to the company, OSHA, EPA, and a standard-setting organization to take action to address gaps linked to the identified safety issues.