Oil Industry Accidents During
Hurricane Isaac
Total Released: 4.9 million pounds
and 171,000 gallons
Hurricane Isaac was in the region for
approximately three days, beginning on August 28th. During that time, over 100
reports about oil industry accidents were filed with the National Response
Center (NRC), the federal single point of contact for oil spills. Some reports
were filed by industry, others by eye witnesses. The following information is
based on a review of all of the NRC reports filed.
Adjusting for reports that reported the same
accident and irrelevant reports, there were 93 total accidents in the
oil industry. The most serious accidents are listed below.
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EXPLORATION
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Company and Accident Description
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Date
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Substance
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Amount
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NRC Report #
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Preparedness failure
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Chevron
Leaking well, not shut down properly
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Thurs Aug. 30th
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Oil
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101 gallons
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1022700
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Failure to shut down properly
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Black Elk Energy
Leaking oil
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Sat Sept. 1st
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Oil
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132 gallons
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1022916
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Unknown
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Unknown
Leaking oil
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Sun Sept, 2nd
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Oil
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Unknown
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1022990
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Abandoned platform
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Texas Petroleum Investment Corp
Storage tank overtopped or leaking
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Thurs Aug. 30th
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Oil
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16,800 gallons
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1022718
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Storage tank – was it adequately filled and in
good condition?
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TRANSPORT
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Date
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Substance
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Amount
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NRC
Report #
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Preparedness
Failure
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Unknown - Barge sank
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Thurs Aug. 30th
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Petroleum Coke
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2,000 tons
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1022648
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Barge was in vulnerable location, not
adequately secured
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REFINING
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Date
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Substance
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Amount
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NRC
Report #
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Preparedness
Failure
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Chalmette Refining
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Mon Aug. 27th
Fri Aug. 31st
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Sulfur dioxide: 277 tons
Other volatile organic chemicals: 5 tons
Hydrogen sulfide: 1,200 pounds
Benzene: 100 pounds
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1022865 and 1022345
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Shut down should have happened more slowly and
controlled, before the 27th
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Shell Chemical / Motiva
Could not keep flare lit and vented to the
atmosphere
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Tue Aug. 28th
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Butadiene, benzene, carbon dioxide, ethylene,
hexane, hethane, proplylene
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Unknown
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1022483
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Should have shut down; the parish had a
mandatory evacuation
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