Environmental Health Anacortes WA, Tesoro Refinery, Shell Refinery

Conner Griswold Winter 2016

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Photo by Scott Butner. DSC_3142-16 Tesoro March Point Refinery near Anacortes, Wash.

Conner Griswold

Environmental Health (Fall)

Carrie Pucko, Russell Lidman

2/10/16

Executive Summary

In Anacortes Washington lies two oil refineries, one owned by Shell and the other by Tesoro. In

this report I will be addressing some of the ecosystem of the aria and its biodiversity. Then I will

be discussing some of the economic and social benefits of the refineries, like the jobs and

funding they provide. Next there will be a description of the environmental effects, specifically

the CO2 that is released and how that effects the local aria. Finally I will present what can

happen when a refinery goes un regulated by using the 2010 Tesoro explosion.

Introduction

Washington State is know for its diverse ecosystem and especially for the Puget Sound

region which is argued to be one of the largest estuaries in the United States. Much of

Washington went undeveloped until the start of the gold rush where Seattle became the starting

point in which miners embarked from to find gold in Canada and Alaska. War, fishing and

logging furthered this development around what we know Puget Sound as today and with the

continuous population growth and the exploitations of resources the region continues to grow.

With this growth like any human action there are consequences.

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In this report I will be focusing on the Tesoro and Shell oil refinery in Anacortes Washington and

its effect on the community and the ecology of Puget Sound.

Background

Anacordes Washington sits between the Strait of Juan De Fuca and Strait Georga where

like most of Puget Sound has diverse land and marine organisms . There are over 3,000 species

of invertebrates, 200 species of fish and 26 species of underwater plant life. Most of the shores

are rocky, filled with barnacles and other mollusks which as filter feeders help to build the

environment for fish like salmon and crustaceans to live in. This supports larger organisms like

the American Bald Eagle, herons and other various shore birds. The shore line also supports the

forest through the salmon runs, which help replenish nutrient levels upstream. The health of

Puget Sound could be seen as dependent on the health of the filter feeders that live in the water.

Filter feeders like barnacles and oysters are able to clean about 50 gallons of water a day making

the water clean for other organisms to live like salmon. Without these organisms the water would

fill with sediment and pollutants that would mike it harder for other organisms to thrive. Oil

refineries release CO2 which greatly effects filter feeders and crustaceans through ocean

acidification. These sea creatures build their shells out of carbonate ions and when CO2 enters

sea water it releases hydrogen ions that then bond with Carbonate making it harder for the

shelled critters to build their homes. (Dep. of Ecology, Puget Sound Shoreline)

The Tesoro and Shell oil refineries are located between Anacortes and Mount Vernon.

The Tesoro oil refinery is surrounded by two different bays; Padilla bay and Fidalgo bay. Fidalgo

bay is owned in part by a resort and there is not much environmental protection, however, Padilla

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bay is a protected estuary and is listed National Estuarine Research Reserve System. The bay is

shallow and because of this it contains a large eelgrass bed.

Eelgrass create a great ecosystem for delicate invertebrates and crustaceans which in low tide

support many birds as well support filter feeders like barnacles and clams that keep the water

clean. (Padilla Bay Newsletter, 2004)

Companies

The two companies provide many economic benefits to the communities that surround

them and communities abroad. Combined, the two refineries provide around 1,050 jobs for the

area not including the rail system that distributes the oil and oil takers that pass through.

Specifically the Tesoro refinery sells its oil to the following gasoline providers, ARCO®, Shell®,

Exxon®, Mobil® USA Gasoline™ and Tesoro®. Having a large industry in oil can be very

beneficial for a state and the country in that oil is highly taxed making it a large source of income

for states. This is why when oil prices are down the general economy can also drop especially

some states like Wyoming and North Dakota. According to Shell’s and Tesoro’s websites they

directly contribute large amounts of money to local charitable organizations like the Boys and

Girls Clubs and various parks. The two refineries also claim to take action to reduce their

environmental effect by upgrading units to increase efficiency. The Shell refinery also received

the Clean Air Excellence Award from the EPA for reducing tailpipe emissions and evaporative

emissions. The two refineries are also stake holders in various Puget Sound estuaries and have

donated funds to local tribes to help in the restoration of the salmon populations. Wile Tesoro

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does not disclose how much their workers make they do provide a Thrift 401k, pension plans,

health insurance, and paid time off. (Tesoro//Shell, web site 2016)

Environmental Effects

Oil refineries while they do not produce as much CO2 emissions as coal fired power

plants, still produce a significant amount of it. They also release small amounts of Nitrous Oxide

and Methane. According to the EPA in 2010, the Tesoro refinery in 2010 released 585,227 metric

tones of CO2 and in 2014 they released 1,325,196 metric tons. This was an increase of 739,969

metric tones in only four years. (EPA EnviroMapper)

The Shell refinery processes much more oil then Tesoro does and in 2010 the EPA

reported a release of 2,036,453 metric tons of CO2 in 2010. However there was a drop in the

release of CO2 by about 240,714 in four years brining it down to 1,795,739 metric tones. While

it is nice to see a drop in emissions, this drop is insignificant when compared to Tesoro’s almost

doubling its emissions. One of the reasons to why Tesoro has seen a jump in its production is

because it supplies fuel to cargo ships and with the increased amount of shipping there is an

increased amount of traffic. Another possible contributor to Tesoro’s increase in activity may be

due to its recent partnership with Savage Companies. Savage Companies is a shipping company

that has partnered with Tesoro to bring crude oil from North Dakota to Anacortes. This would

increase Tesoros barrels per day by 360,000. The motivation behind the agreement between

Tesoro and Savage Companies is to offset the decline in Alaskan oil. The rail is still under debate

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as one of the terminals that the rail passes through is still under evaluation by the city of

Vancouver Canada and Washington State.

On a national level the two refineries output of CO2 is minuscule however there are still two very

important elements to consider. (EPA EnviroMapper//EFSEC 2016//Savage Companies)

One of which is the effects on the local area. CO2 has been found to not only contribute to

climate change but it also contributes to asthma and other health problems. A rise in global and

local temperatures have also resulted in an increase in some pollen bloom which also can be a

causation of asthma. Over the last 20 years there has been an increase in asthma cases of 160%

globally and it is found that a lack of clean air makes patients more vulnerable to pollen, mold

and fungi (US National Library of Medicine, 2011). Oil refineries release CO2 which in its self is

harmful to the environment but also they are also a link to a major polluter which is cars. The

more refineries we have the more oil is being refined and eventually burned resulting in an

increase in CO2 produced by cars. The burning of fossil fuels is not only found to be harmful to

the environment but it is also damaging to local human health.

When crude oil is extracted from the earth it is not ready for use. After the oil has been extracted

it is transported by ether truck, train or pipeline to a refinery plant. There it goes thought many

complicated processes to turn the crude oil into fuel. A large part of the refining process is

separating sediment from the oil and this can be done in a number of ways. In some refining they

use gravity and pressure to separate the sludge from the oil. In this process water is used in the

sludge removal. The refining process has multiple stages and water is used in most of them to

help separate the oil making it more refined with each stage. Once this waste water is collected

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there are many techniques that are used to treat it. One practice uses an activated carbon

technique that works through carbon absorption.

Many of these techniques are done on site and depending on the water after treatment it is ether

sent into city water treatment or can also be recycled by the refinery. However some waste

sludge is not able to be processed and is sometimes disposed in off site disposal sites or even

land fills. (IPIECA, 2010)

Explosion

On April 2nd 2010 seven workers died in a fatal explosion at the Tesoro refinery. It was

quickly concluded that the explosion occurred during a maintenance operation between two heat

exchangers. One of the 40 year old heat exchangers formed a crack and when the exchangers

were started up it filled up with gas and led to the explosion. With seven people dead an

investigation by the U.S Chemical Safety Board was immediately started. Questions like did

Tesoro know about the cracked heat exchangers and were there any government regulations that

could have prevented this. Four years later CSB released its investigation and some of the

finding are as followed. It was found that Tesoro and Shell did preform damage mechanism

hazard reviews (DMHRs) but high temperature hydrogen attacks (HTHA) were not considered a

credible failure mechanism for the exchangers. This is in part due to HTHA are very hard to

detect for the fracture in the piping can be very small. However in 1970 the American Petroleum

Institute (API) release data and recommendations to help prevent HTHA. A recommendation

from API showed that stainless steel lining can help prevent HTHAs which much of the

exchangers was constructed of however there was a portion of the exchangers that was not and

this is where the explosion took place.

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Another finding by the CSB was the poor work ethic during refinery start up. Many

hazards such as leaks were over looked. Some of this resulted form the 1998 refinery handover

from the management of Shell to the management of Tesoro. While Shell did disclose to Tesoro

that safeguards were available and in practice the effectiveness of the safeguards were not

disclosed and thus led to the overlooking of potential risks.

One example of this was during start up, the heat exchangers would leak flammable gas

and while Tesoro was aware of this, they did not investigate the causation. In short CSB

concluded that the safety culture at Tesoro was lacking and thus resulting in the fire. In CBS

investigation they also showed that there is not much in the way of government regulation for

refineries from either The State of Washington or federal regulators. While the EPA is able to

enforce some regulatory requirements through the Clean Air Act, refineries do not have to make

risk management plans nor submit a process hazard analysis to the regulator. At the end of this

report by CBS there are many suggestions made to the Washington State Legislature and the

Governor to increase the amount of regulation on refineries. Some of these include preventative

inspections by the regulator, better safe guards, employee procedures and an in general more

comprehensive process hazard analysis. One of the most disturbing elements to this is that even

years 5 after the fatal explosion the company has not been legally held responsible even though

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Tesoro did give compensation to the families. This is in part due to the time it takes to make a

settlement between Tesoro and the state. (CSB, Tesoro Explosion//CSB Final Report2014)

While the explosion in itself did not have much of an environmental effect, explosions

like these happen on average every three days. The potential for an explosion to happen that

creates an oil leak is very possible, which can be devastating to the environment.

The Tesoro explosion is a testament to how we need more governmental regulations so that the

health of the environment and the people are protected.

There is a clear lack in regulation when it comes to public safety there is some amount of

environmental regulations that surround the refinery. In 2012 the Shell, Tesoro, Olympic Pipe

Line Co, BP Shipping and various other companies sponsored an oil spill drill. Under

Washington State law, petroleum companies that wish to operate within WA must have oil spill

contingency plans. As well, Washington State law states that petroleum companies that wish to

operate within Washington must have these oil spill contingency plans. Having two major

refineries placed next to a major body of water it makes this regulation and others very

important.

As shown with the BP spill in 2010, when oil spills into water it is especially hard to

clean up and it has a large disaster radius making it absolutely crucial for refineries to have a

contingency plan and even more crucial for a spill to not happen in the first place. Other state

regulations include an evaluation of the refineries oil handling equipment, maintenance, and

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procedures. The evaluations help insure that equipment is up to date so that storage and transport

of oil is safe.

There are also State required inspections that include an overview of the refineries prevention

plan, operations manual, training and certification program, and facility design standards. Again,

this helps insure that the facilities are up to date and run appropriately.

However, while there has not been a spill at Tesoro or Shell if state inspections were thorough

the Washington State’s website says then the 2010 explosion should have been prevented. While

the state claims to have polluters in check it is hard to know if they are truly being regulated

properly. Tesoro has also made it clear that they do not see a need for more government

regulation for on their website they state that a carbon tax would “another questionable

government intervention into the economy.”

In the 2010 explosion Tesoro proved that they are ill-equipped to self regulate them selves and

with the changing environment it should be even more clear to the state that oil is not a route to

be taking. There has been some penalties Tesoro has had to pay to the EPA for violating clean air

regulations and had a penalty of 1.1 million dollars which if just a small drop in the bucket for

the company.

In researching the two refineries I have discovered that there aren't current direct negative

effects of the two plants. Wile they do produce CO2 it is hard to track wether that CO2 is actually

effecting the local environment. However on June 30, 2011 the Washington State Department of

Health closed off Fidalgo bay because a high amount of Paralytic Shellfish Toxin was found. The

toxin is produced by algae blooms with the increase in CO2 algae blooms are becoming more

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common. (Skagit County, 2011). What is clear is that production of oil at Tesoro and Shell are

not going to stop any time soon. Indications of this are the increase of CO2 that Tesoro is putting

out, but also the increase in rail traffic into the plant.

With this increase in traffic the negatives are going to be come more present and with the

obvious lack of government regulations the risk of transporting and refining crude oil becoming

much higher. This begs the question that even if the refineries have a clean up plan is that enough

to prevent major ecological disaster? Especially important in an area where there is a lot of

important organisms and their environments are already being threatened by ocean warming.

Conclusion

The two refineries do provide jobs and funding to the communities that surround them so

it its important that we keep workers employed however some jobs may need to be sacrificed for

the bettering of the environment. Again fortunately Tesoro and Shell have not been link to many

negative impacts like a spill but the potential is high and no matter how up to date and secure a

system may be there is always potential for something wrong to happen.

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References- Department of Ecology WA , Puget Sound Shoreline, Puget’s Sound Past <http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/pugetsound/tour/history.html#top>

Department of Ecology WA , Puget Sound Shoreline, Puget’s Sound Species <http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/pugetsound/species/species.html>

National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Puget Sound <https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wild-Places/Puget-Sound.aspx>

EPA, Environmental Mapper <http://map11.epa.gov/myem/efmap/index.html?ve=14,47.068241119384766,-122.97999572753906&pText=98505,%20WA>

Washington State, Padilla Bay Newsletter, Spring 2004 <https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/documents/0406003.pdf>

Skagit County WA, Fidalgo Bay Closer, June 30th, 2011 <http://www.skagitcounty.net/Home/HTML/Press/063011.htm>

Washington State Department of Health, Paralytic Shellfish Poison <http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Shellfish/BiotoxinsIllnessPrevention/Biotoxins/ParalyticShellfishPoison>

Tesoro Refinery, Anacortes WA <http://tsocorp.com/refining/anacortes-wash/>

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Shell Refinery, Anacortes WA, Health, Safety and the Environment <http://www.shell.us/about-us/projects-and-locations/puget-sound-refinery/health-safety-and-environment.html>

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Savage Company, Oil Refining Transport <http://www.savageservices.com/industries/oil-refining.html>

Access Washington, Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, Tesoro Savage Vancouver Energy Project <http://www.efsec.wa.gov/Tesoro-Savage.shtml>

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CSB, Tesoro Refinery Fatal Explosion and Fire <http://www.csb.gov/tesoro-refinery-fatal-explosion-and-fire/>

CSB Final Report, Tesoro Refinery Fatal Explosion and Fire, 05/01/2014 http://www.csb.gov/tesoro-refinery-fatal-explosion-and-fire/ (Report download link [<http://www.csb.gov/file.aspx?DocumentId=600>])

John Ryan, “Feds Urge Tighter Refinery Regulations After Fatal Tesoro Blast”, KUOW.ORG May 2 2014 <http://kuow.org/post/feds-urge-tighter-refinery-regulations-after-fatal-tesoro-blast>

Department of Ecology WA, Spills, Class One Facilities Regulations <http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/Class1_facilities/Facilities_Class1.html>

Department of Ecology WA News Release, “Spill response exercise set for Padilla Bay Aug. 8”, August 6, 2012 http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2012/256.html

Department of Ecology WA, Industria Section, Tesoro Refinery <http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/industrial/oil_tesoro.html>

EPA News Release, “Washington Tribes receive nearly $2 million for projects to protect Puget Sound”, 04/29/2009

<http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d96f984dfb3ff7718525735900400c29/bc9a848b9beae114852575a700696a81!opendocument>

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Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Process Safety Management (PSM) Advisory Committee <http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/GrantsPartnerships/Committees/PSM/default.asp>

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