Artesia refinery confident

safety measures adequate

Lisa Ridgely
Record Staff Writer
Oil refineries put millions of Americans at risk of physical injury or death in the
case of an accident or terrorist attack and nearly 25,000 of them are right
here in southeastern New Meico, according to a report released !uesday "y
the #nited $tates %u"lic &nterest 'esearch (roup)
!he Na*ajo 'efining +ompany in Artesia was targeted "y the report, titled
,Needless 'isk- Oil 'efineries and .a/ard 'eduction,0 as one of two in the
state, and one of 50 in the nation, that uses hydrofluoric acid in the processing
of petroleum products)
1espite those findings, Na*ajo 'efining does not see the need to change its
current system, a facility official said)
,At this point, we are operating within federal go*ernment guidelines,0 said 2im
'esinger, refinery manager) ,!here are no laws or mandates that say 3a refinery
using hydrofluoric acid4 can5t "e operated in a safe, relia"le manner)0
Oil refineries ha*e "een identified "y the National &nfrastructure %rotection
+enter, which is part of the 1epartment for .omeland $ecurity, as targets for
terrorists) An attack on refineries could release the dangerous su"stance into
the air)
.ydrofluoric acid, when released into the air, forms a sta"le *apor cloud that
can cause serious "urns and throat and lung pro"lems if inhaled)
,!he goal of our organi/ation is just to get this out to the pu"lic,0 said 'o"ert
%eek, New Meico %&'( 6ducation 7und +iti/en Outreach 1irector)
,!he ultimate goal would "e to get these plants to either cut "ack production of
hydrofluoric acid or cut "ack how much they store on8site, or switch to the
alternati*e,0 he said)
!he report studies 50 refineries in 20 states, finding more than 95 million people
li*e in surrounding communities and are endangered "y the presence of
hydrofluoric acid)
!he Artesia facility stores 9:,;00 pounds of the acid, placing 2<,5=5 people at
risk, according to NM%&'()
!hose num"ers were attained from risk management plans annually reported to
the 6n*ironmental %rotection Agency "y each refinery ,"ased on their
estimations,0 said Meghan %ur*is, #)$) %&'( en*ironmental health associate)
'esinger said nothing in the report surprised him, "ut that the refinery has taken
measures to alle*iate risk to the community and its employees)
,>hat we ha*e in place meets all the industry standards,0 he said, including a
rapid pump8out system, which transports the acid ?uickly to storage tanks
capa"le of holding the entire in*entory@ a remote8acti*ated water curtain, which
,knocks down the *apor cloud so it can5t drift off0@ and an automatic stationary
leak monitoring system that operates continuously)
&n the case of a leak, remote acti*ated isolation *al*es are in place to minimi/e
the duration and *olume of that leak)
,>e also employ a continuous processing computer control and monitoring
system,0 he said)
!he facility has an emergency ha/ard response plan, which deploys specially
trained people and e?uipment, including a .a/mat trailer, to respond in the case
of an emergency)
&n terms of risk pre*ention, an etensi*e pre*ention maintenance program
routine is in place)
%hysical security has "een impro*ed as well, he said, with fenceline
impro*ement, increased security force num"ers, impro*ed gate inspections,
monitored access to the plant, cameras and an educated workforce) +rash
"arriers made of concrete ha*e "een erected around the "uilding, especially
near roads, ,where *ehicles could get a running start,0 'esinger said)
,>e5*e gone to some considera"le epense to monitor what5s going on around
us,0 he said)
'esinger came to Na*ajo in August of 2002, and said a security assessment
had already "een completed at that time) Na*ajo is owned "y 1allas8"ased
.olly +orporation, and produces =0,000 "arrels per day)
!he other New Meico refinery identified "y the report is the +ini/a 'efinery in
2amestown that contains =5,000 pounds of hydrofluoric acid)
!he report offers three safer options to refineries using hydrofluoric acid as a
catalyst for alkylates- change the alkylation process to use a solid acid catalyst,
con*ert to a sulfuric acid unit or add modifiers to decrease the gaseous nature
of the acid and install mitigation systems)
,6tensi*e0 mitigation systems are in place at Na*ajo, 'esinger said, and the
cost to switch to sulfuric acid is ,?uite an epensi*e re*amp to con*ert o*er)0
!he "ottom line, he said, is that no matter what technology is used, the risks
don5t go away)
,!he truth inherent in the refining industry is that any num"er of risks are
associated with it,0 he said) ,>ith ha/ardous chemicals that you need to make
sure you handle properly, safety is at the forefront here in e*erything that we
do)0
%ur*is said she can5t "elie*e the federal go*ernment hasn5t tightened
ha/ardous chemical re?uirements for refineries, gi*en the increased risk of
terror attacks)
,& think it5s outrageous that we are still sitting here, two years after $ept) 99, and
there are no federal regulations,0 she said)
!here ha*e "een three releases of one pound each of hydrofluoric acid at the
Artesia refinery in recent years, "ut with no major releases, ,we don5t feel the
only way to eliminate risk is to eliminate this,0 'esinger said) ,>e feel we can
continue the safe record we5*e demonstrated the past 92 years)0
%eek said the %&'( is not maliciously going after oil companies@ it just wants to
make conditions safer for people who li*e near refineries)
,>e just look into pu"lic interests,0 %eek said) ,>e see potential security risk
and we don5t want to shut down refineries, we just want them to update their
technologies)0