Chemical Safety Board Releases New Video Of 2018 Superior Refinery Explosion, Fire
SUPERIOR, Wis. – A new 20-minute video has been released by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board involving the 2018 Husky refinery explosion and fire in Superior.
The goal of the board is to “drive chemical safety change through independent investigations to protect people and the environment.”
The 2018 incident injured 36 workers, caused roughly $550 million in damage to the facility and released 39,000 pounds of flammable hydrocarbon vapor into the air.
The incident happened during a partial refinery shutdown for scheduled maintenance.
CSB
The federal investigation found multiple factors contributed to the incident, including outdated steel, a faulty valve and inadequate employee training.
“The incident at the Superior Refinery should serve as a wakeup call to other refineries, especially those that have hydrofluoric acid alkylation units. During transient operations, refineries must have necessary safeguards in place — and follow correct procedures — to prevent disasters from occurring,” according to Steve Owens, chairman of the board.
A chunk of flying steel punctured a nearby asphalt tank sending thousands of barrels of the flammable material into the refinery, which later caught on fire.
A nearby tank with the toxic Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) was not affected, but the agency said it could have been.
The agency said if a newer grain of steel was in place, the material would have likely torn instead of shattering.
The superior refinery recently reopened under its newest owner Cenovus Energy after years of rebuilding since the explosion.
CSB
Cenovus said the company has incorporated all of the recommendations from the Chemical Safety Board into the refinery’s rebuild. The following is a statement released by Cenovus in December of 2022 when CSB released its final report:
We have incorporated all of the recommendations the Chemical Safety Board directed to the Superior Refinery into our rebuild, and they will be in place when it restarts.
These include enhanced safety processes and numerous equipment upgrades in alignment with their recommendations, including:
New state-of-the-art slide valves in the Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit with enhanced safeguards such as advanced instrumentation to monitor performance in real-time and ensure the operations and engineering staff can carefully assess performance.
A new control system throughout the refinery which will improve safety and operating performance through enhanced safety shutdowns and process control.
New training materials to be delivered by subject matter experts, including the use of simulators which mirror control room equipment and cover a full range of operating conditions.
We will continue to work with the CSB as we progress the implementation of its recommendations directed to Cenovus’s U.S. operations.
