Tesoro Refinery, Martinez California barred federal safety inspectors after leaking pipes sprayed acid on workers.
Tesoro Corporation barred federal inspectors from it's refinery in Pacheco, California, after two workers were seriously burned by sulfuric acid spraying from a broken pipe, declaring the federal government lacked jurisdiction. The unprecedented move by Tesoro, challenged long-established precedent that the U.S. Chemical Safety Board has the right to inspect chemical plants after accidents. Tesoro claimed that the bursting of a sulfuric acid line, that hospitalized two workers with acid burns, was a minor incident that didn't give the federal government the right to inspect for possible safety violations.
After seven workers were killed in an accident at a Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington in 2010 the chemical board wrote, in a recent draft report, that Tesoro had a lax approach to safety which had catastrophic consequences. Tesoro is claiming that only state regulators have authority, apparently to avoid the federal examination of it's pattern of lax safety practices in multiple states. The California regulatory agency that oversees the refinery has shut down the octane boosting facility where the acid line is located for inspection. However, the federal regulators' plans to examine Tesoro's lax safety culture across multiple states has effectively been blocked for now.
This isn't the first accident on acid lines at the California refinery, located near Martinez. A worker suffered facial burns in November trying to fix a failed temporary repair on a leaking acid pipe. Workers have told state inspectors that they are afraid to work at the octane boosting facility because the dangerously thin pipes "leak all the time". Workers who suffered facial injuries were given standard protective wear, not the specialized facial protection required by federal law, for maintenance of acid lines.
Tesoro management have declared themselves above federal law.
If the Federal government does not take strong action to reassert control, the relevant rules, regulations and Federal laws might as well not exist. This is an unprecedented attack by Tesoro on the rule of law and on the federal government's right to enforce federal laws.
Safety board officials could not recall another refinery or chemical plant on U.S. soil that has challenged the board's authority since its inception in 1998.
"It's rather unique," said Dan Horowitz, the federal agency's managing director, "because our authority is very broad. We not only investigate incidents, but we can investigate hazards even where there has not been a release."
The Tesoro incident, Horowitz said, falls squarely into the agency's jurisdiction.
"This is a hazardous unit - it released a hazardous substance, (and) those workers were seriously impacted," Horowitz said. "This is not the sort of accident that should be occurring, a loss of containment involving a hazardous substance. This is exactly the sort of incident that regulatory systems are designed to prevent. We need to find out why this happened."
He said the Chemical Safety Board has subpoenaed Tesoro to turn over documents about the unit's operations and answer questions related to the accident by March 7.