LA Bucket Brigade : Refinery Accident Database

About the Database

Motiva Enterprises (1406), Norco

Releases of Stormwater

LDEQ Accident Number Accident Date	Point Source(s)	Notes	Amount of Release
80409 2005-07-08		Cause: Due to Tropical Storm Cindy, heavy rainfall caused the SWIB to reach capacity, forced to open LPDES Outfall 002 to prevent flooding of the refinery. Followup: No Notes: Outfall 006 is permitted under the LPDES Permit to discharge "low contamination potential stormwater runoff." The outfall was monitored as required by the LPDES #LA0003522. Discharge was stopped on 07/09/05.
96300 2007-05-16		Cause: Motiva's Stormwater Impoundment Basin was already at 8.5 ft from previous rains and exceeded hit capacity of 10 ft after heavy rainfall. Motiva had to open outfall to prevent flooding of the refinery, bypassing stormwater treatment system. During the storm event, employee observed stormwater leaking from refinery ditch through site perimeter levee and into St. Charles Parish stormwater ditch via a nutria burrow. A drain box/manhole box was also leaking stormwater off-site from the ditch. See also report #96302 of the same date. Followup: Yes Notes: Nutria burrow repaired, drain box repair will take longer. Analysis of stormwater is included in reports and summarize below: Oil & Grease: 5.7 mg/L Total Organic Carbon: 13.2 mg/L Ph: 7.5 All below permit limits
96302 2007-05-16		Cause: An employee observed stormwater leaking from the Motiva West Stormwater Ditch, through the site perimeter levee, and into the adjacent St. Charles Parish stormwater ditch via a nutria burrow. See DEQ# 96300 of the same date. Followup: Yes Notes: The breach in the perimeter levee caused by the nutria burrow was repaired on 05/17/07. The remainder of the system was inspected for any additional issues. During this inspection, it was discovered that a drain box/manhole box was also leaking stormwater off-site from the West Ditch. An inspection was made of the drain box to determine the extent of damage and the required repairs. The north wall of the drain box will require replacement as of 05/21/07.
125993 2010-08-29	Outfall 006 (WWTP)	Cause: Report states that there was "unusually heavy rainfall which exceeded the capacity of the facility WWTP requiring discharge through the LA0003522 permitted Outfall 006 for storm water." Testing was performed throughout the release and no discharge parameters were exceeded. Followup: No Notes: No information given.
145159 2012-12-05	Spillway on northern side of SWIB	Cause: On December 5, 2012 the Norco area experienced extremely heavy rains from a slow moving thunderstorm. The site was initially able to contain the rainfall associated with this event and route it to the Refinery Wastewater Treatment System (RWTS) for treatment and subsequent discharge through LPDES Outfall 002. However, the system storage capacity was reduced due to the amount of heavy rainfall that had occurred in such a short time frame; as the heavy rains continued, the RWTS (consisting of the Storm Water Impoundment Basin and Aeration Basin) reached maximum capacity levels. In accordance with the procedures outline in the LPDES permit application, Motiva opened the spillway, which is located on the northern side of SWIB, at 22:06 to prevent flooding of the refinery and damage to the SWIB from overtopping of the retaining levee. Followup: No Notes: Motiva's normal operating procedures call for the initiation of bypass operations when no capacity remains in the RWTS and a bypass is the only alternative to prevent flooding of the facility. No mention of any pounds or gallons.
143044 2012-09-17	SWIB spillway	Cause: The unanticipated bypass of the Motiva wastewater treatment facility at the Storm Water Impoundment Basin (SWIB) spillway was caused by thunderstorms and associated heavy rainfall. Followup: No Notes: Norco experience extremely heavy rains from a slow moving thunderstorm. The site was initially able to contain the rainfall associated with this event and route it to the Refinery Wastewater Treatment System (RWTS) for treatment and subsequent discharge through LPDES Outfall 002. However, the system storage capacity was reduced due to rainfall that had occurred on preceding days and as the heavy rains continued, the RWTS (consisting of the Storm Water Impoundment Basin and Aeration Basin) reached maximum capacity levels. Motiva opened the spillway, which is located on the northern side of the SWIB, to prevent flooding of the refinery and damage to the SWIB from overtopping of the retaining levee. The spillway discharges to Engineer's Canal and then to Lake Ponchartrain via a flood control structure through the St. Charles Paris Hurricane Protection Levee. Permit levels were not exceeded and a visual inspection showed no signs of adverse water quality of the storm water discharge during the bypass. No mention of any pounds or gallons.
142415 2012-08-28	Outfall 006	Cause: Bypass occurred at the SWIB at outfall 006 due to rainfall caused by Hurricane Isaac. The unanticipated bypass incident at the Storm Water Impoundment Basin spillway and permitted Outfall 006 was due to an upset condition and was cuased by thunderstorms and associated heavy rainfall from Hurricane Isaac. Followup: No Notes: An unknown amount of rainwater was bypassed. The facility reported that all samples were collected as required by their permit and visual inspections showed no signs of adverse water quality of the storm water discharge during the bypass event. Extremely heavy rains from Hurricane Isaac were experienced in the Norco area. Site was initially able to contain the rainfall associated with this event and route it to the Refinery Wastewater Treatment System for treatment and subsequent discharge. The system storage capacity was reduced due to rainfall and the heavy rains continuing, the RWTS reached maximum capacity levels. Motiva opened the spillway to prevent flooding of the refinery and damage to the SWIB from over-topping of the retaining levee. Heavy rainfall due to Hurricane Isaac continued requiring the opening of permitted outfall. The spill way serves as the protection structure for the SWIB and is used to prevent and reduce flooing of the refinery during extreme rainfall events. The spillway discharges to Engineer's Canal and then to Lake Pontchartrain via a flood control structure through the St. Charles Parish Hurricane Protection Levee. Although tests confirmed the discharged stormwater was within LPDES permit limits, there may be some pollution from process area stormwater going untreated directly to outfall canal. No mention of any pounds or gallons.
142166 2012-08-18	SWIB spillway	Cause: The facility opened the SWIB spillway to prevent flooding of the refinery due to extremely heavy rainfall. The unanticipated bypass of the Motiva wastewater treatment facility at the Storm Water Impoundment Basin (SWIB) spillway was due to an upset condition and was caused by thunderstorms and associated heavy rainfall. The Norco area experienced extremely heavy rains from a slow moving thunderstorm. The site was initially able to contain the rainfall associated with this event and routed it to the Refinery Wastewater Treatment System (RWTS) for treatment and subsequent discharge. However, the system storage capacity was reduced due to rainfall that had occurred on preceding days and as the heavy rains continued, the RWTS (consisting of the Storm Water Impoundment Basin and Aeration Basin) reached maximum capacity levels. In accordance to outlined procedures, Motiva opened the spillway, which is located on the northern side of SWIB, to prevent flooding of the refinery and damage to the SWIB from overtopping of the retaining levee. Followup: No Notes: The spillway serves as the protection structure for the SWIB and is used to prevent/reduce flooding of the refinery during extreme rainfall events. The spillway discharges to Engineer's Canal and then to Lake Ponchartrain via a flood control structure through the St. Charles Parish Hurricane Protection Levee. Motiva's normal operating procedures call for the initiation of bypass operations when no capacity remains in the RWTS and a bypass is the only alternative to prevent flooding of the facility. Emergency bypass operations were stopped on August 21, 2012. The facility was being properly operated and maintained at the time of the incident and all required notifications were made. No mention of any pounds or gallons.
145845 2013-01-10	Spillway on Northern side of SWIB	Cause: On January 10, 2013, the Norco area experienced extremely heavy rains from a slow moving thunderstorm. The site was initially able to contain the rainfall associated with this event and route it the Refinery Wasterwater Treatment System (RWTS) for treatment and subsequent discharge through LPDES Outfall 002. However, the system storage capacity was reduced due to the amount of heavy rainfall that had occurred in such a short time frame and the rainfall events that had occurred on days preceding January 10, 2013; as the heavy rains continued, the RWTS (consisting of the Storm Water Impoundment Basin and Aeration Basin) reached maximum capacity levels. In accordance with the procedures outlined in the LPDES permit application, Motiva opened the spillway, which is located on the northern side of the SWIB, at 14:35 to prevent flooding of the refinery and damage to the SWIB from overtopping of the retaining levee. The spill was discharged until approximately 3:00 PM on January 12, 2013 into Engineers Canal which then flows into Lake Ponchartrain. Sampling and visual observations were conducted in conjunction with opening the spillway, no signs of adverse water quality of the storm water discharge during this bypass. Followup: No Notes: As stated above, Motiva's normal operating procedures call for the initiation of bypass operations when no capacity remains in the RWTS and a bypass is the only alternatives to prevent flooding of the facility. According to the follow up letter effluent limits established in the permit for this bypass procedure were not exceeded and there were no visual signs of adverse water impact.
156845 2014-06-17	RWTS Emergency Spillway Structure	Cause: On 6/15/2014, Motiva Norco experience a rainfall event. At the time, the site was was working to control pH swings in the Refinery Wastewater Treatment System (RWTS). Due to the pH upset conditions in the Aeration Basin of the RWTS, the site shut down Outfall 002 pumps to the river to prevent polluting the river with pH upsets. As a result of the backup of wastewater and the addition of stormwater the RWTS reached maximum capacity levels. In accordance with their LPDES permit application, the RWTS emergency spillway structure was opened to prevent flooding of the refinery and damage to the retaining levee. The water was discharged to Engineer's Canal and then to Lake Ponchartrain. Followup: No Notes: Monitoring was conducted through sample collection and analysis of discharged water and pH monitoring of the water leaving the spillway to ensure the water leaving the site remained between pH 6.0 and 9.0. Report indicates that Motiva is investigating the cause of the initial pH upset and will submit a follow up report. This report has not been received.
156388 2014-06-01	Refinery Wastewater Treatment System Emergency Spillway Structure	Cause: On 6/1/2014, heavy rains from a series of thunderstorms in the Norco area overwhelmed the Refinery Wastewater Treatment System (RWTS). The heavy rain that occurred in the days prior reduced the systems storage capacity. When the RWTS reached capacity, in accordance with procedures in the LPDES permit application, Motiva opened the RWTS emergency spillway to prevent flooding of the refinery and damage to the Storm Water Impoundment Basin from overtopping the retaining levee. Stormwater bypassed the RWTS and was discharged to Engineer's Canal and then to Lake Ponchartrain via a flood control structure through the St. Charles Parish Hurricane Protection Levee. Followup: No Notes: Motiva's normal operating procedures call for the initiation of bypass operations when no capacity remains in the RWTS and a bypass is the only alternative to prevent flooding of the facility. Sample collection and analysis required by LPDES Permit LA0003522 were conducted in conjunction with the opening of the spillway. Emergency bypass operations were stopped at 0500 on June 2, 2014.