August 28, 2022 · 2 min read

Odd that a refinery fire triggered a regional emergency

Tom KirkmanIndependent Project Manager

This is … odd …

A regional emergency declared by federal and state governments over an oil refinery fire.

/ Update – looks like it was caused by an electrical fire in a control panel:

“The fire incident affected utilities to multiple units at the refinery.

Restarting the impacted units could begin promptly if the fire damage is restricted to a control panel, with a return to normal operations expected as soon as early next week.”

nasdaq.com ↗

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“The Department of Transportation declared a regional emergency Saturday affecting four Midwest states after a fire earlier this week caused an “unanticipated shutdown” of a BP oil refinery in Indiana.

BP Whiting, the sixth largest refinery in the U.S. refining over 400,000 barrels of oil per day, shut down to undergo damage assessment after a fire knocked out the plant’s electrical power and cooling water systems on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

The shutdown caused the federal government to take action and address the looming shortage of fuel output that will affect Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, states that collectively receive up to 25% of their fuel from the Whiting refinery.

“This Declaration addresses the emergency conditions creating a need for immediate transportation of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel and provides necessary relief,” the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said in a statement.

The emergency declaration gives states an exemption from some federal regulations, such as waiving U.S. truck driver rules that dictate maximum driving times. However, when truckers return to normal operations after providing emergency assistance, they will be required to take a 10-hour break if they exceed 14 hours in emergency relief, according to FMCSA.

Sources told Reuters that the refinery’s restart date remained unknown as all of its units would have to be checked for damage and possibly repaired.

… Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) responded to the refinery’s shutdown by issuing an executive order that lifts some requirements for fuel transporters and “temporarily suspends certain laws and regulations to accelerate the transition to the fall fuel supply and takes advantage of existing stocks of fuel, contingent on the Environmental Protection Agency making similar changes.” …

Read the linked article on dailywire.com ↗

FROM THE THREAD

Tom's notes 11

Tom KirkmanAug 28, 2022
Brad Hayes Governor Whitmer is still insisting that she wants to shut down Line 5 pipeline.

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A judge in Michigan has sided with pipeline operator Enbridge in a case that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer pursues to have the Line 5 oil pipeline from Canada to the United States shut down.

... This is the second time in several months that Judge Neff has sided with Enbridge over the long-standing dispute between the company and the state of Michigan over the pipeline.

Line 5 carries crude oil and natural gas liquids across the Canada-U.S. border and the Great Lakes via a twin line that runs along the lake bed.

In November 2020, the Michigan Governor and the director of the state's Department of Natural Resources revoked Enbridge's easement for the operation of the twin Line 5 pipeline, citing repeated violations of the easement and the need to protect the Great Lakes.

... Enbridge ignored the notice and continued running the pipeline. The pipeline operator says that only a court and the U.S. federal government have authority to order Line 5 shut down. ...

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Judge-Deals-Blow-To-Michigans-Attempt-To-Shut-Down-Line-5.html
Tom KirkmanAug 28, 2022
Brad Hayes no, I just moved from Michigan a few weeks ago. Whitmer will not budge.

She is an adoring fan of the Green New Deal Build Back Better socialist shutdown of hydrocarbons and the economy.
Tom KirkmanAug 28, 2022
Brad Hayes no, I just moved from Michigan a few weeks ago. Whitmer will not budge.

She is an adoring fan of the Green New Deal Build Back Better socialist shutdown of hydrocarbons and the economy.
Tom KirkmanAug 28, 2022
Richard Mooney while there indeed seems to be a growing pattern of industrial accidents, so far there is little information about what caused the electrical fire in the control panel at this oil refinery.

Just add it to the list:

https://eatingtoascend.com/signs-and-wonders/updated-list-of-100-us-food-factory-plants-destroyed-2021-to-present/

But what I found odd is that both a federal emergency was declared, as well as a Michigan state emergency.

Possibly optics before the upcoming midterms, to show that the government is "doing something" ?
Tom KirkmanAug 28, 2022
Elizabeth Moore bingo.
Tom KirkmanAug 28, 2022
Not necessarily. I'm still waiting for BP to announce what caused the fire in the control panel.

What I find more odd is the emwrgency declaration by both the federal government and the state of Michigan.

I don't recall an unplanned oil refinery shutdown to be grounds for the U.S. federal government to declare an emergency. The Biden administration detests oil.

My best guess is that this emergency declaration is just optics before the midterm elections.
Tom KirkmanAug 28, 2022
Josue Sanchez, M.E.M. I expect to see more information about this shutdown trickle out this week.
Tom KirkmanAug 29, 2022
I'm still trying to find out what actually caused the electrical fire in the control panel last week. Still not much information online.

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BP spokesperson Christina Audisho said the electrical fire occurred around 3 p.m. on Aug. 24. The fire was limited to a single electrical system and was quickly put out. No one was hurt and there have been no known impacts outside the refinery, but the fire did lead to the loss of utilities in other parts of the facility, Audisho said. ...

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/whiting/bp-whiting-refinery-fire-prompts-michigan-to-lift-some-fuel-rules-us-department-of-transportation/article_f0a6b73c-a24c-5693-93fb-e0ec9f6e914f.html

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BP Plc’s 435,000 barrel-per-day Whiting, Indiana, refinery is shut and undergoing damage assessment following loss of electrical power and cooling water systems in a Wednesday fire, sources familiar with plant operations said on Friday.

The timing for the refinery’s restart remains unknown as all of the refinery’s units will have to be checked for damage following the sudden loss of electrical power on Wednesday afternoon, the sources said. ...

https://inspectioneering.com/news/2022-08-26/10260/bp-whiting-refinery-shut-following-fire
Tom KirkmanAug 29, 2022
Pretty much.
Tom KirkmanAug 30, 2022
Tim Butz well said.
Tom KirkmanAug 30, 2022
Tim Butz well said.

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