BP's Texas City refinery has lost power...

The weather is really acting up.
I feel for all those dealing with the tornados and the deaths.
Power outages in one part will put more load on others due to all being linked at some point.
Texas can have the rain I'm getting up here in Washington State.
My prayers and wishes are with you all.

The government the polluters paid for.......
www.greenpeace.org...
Exerpt from this link:
(How are you celebrating Chernobyl Day? The folks in Texas City, Texas are celebrating by staying indoors and sealing their windows and door with duct tape. It’s called “shelter in place” and it’s not really a Chernobyl Day commemoration, it’s the citizens only defense against noxious fumes emanating from three refineries and a vinyl acetate facility that have experienced a power loss. Power loss, the same thing that kicked off the Fukushima disaster.)

reply to post by rbrtj


I had actually fallen asleep in my chair browsing these forums when the call came in from the automated system and woke me the other night. It was somewhat jarring to have been researching the power outage and possible pre-tsunami damage at Fukushima and be suddenly awakened by an emergency notification that two of the petro-chem refineries in my vicinity had lsot power.

Several things went through my mind in quick succession.

1) it was night time so all my kids and animals were inside
2) the notification mentioned turning off the a/c. Ours does not have a fresh air intake and is a closed system. No need to shut ours off (a FB post of one of my wife's friends confirmed this)
3) all the rumbling and thunder-like sounds we heard earlier were probably related to the outage

It's a good thing (as much as anything is good about this) that it took place late in the evening. Mug earlier and the softball and little league baseball fields would have been full or school let out and hordes of kids would be crawling the neighborhoods.

reply to post by jadedANDcynical



Glad your safe.
That reminds me of last summer when some body in a small plane got to close to the Presidents plane and the Airforce scrabbled a jet out of Portland to intercept it and in doing so broke the sound barrier all along the I-5 corridor on its way.
I totaly was chillin in the shade and the bang it made knocked me out of my hammick.
I had no idea what it was and the dispatcher on the scanner was busy as heck with people calling and then she got a call from NORAD and announced the situation.
Thank god for Lorazapam.
Keep safe and in touch...

I'm right down the road from u (as far as texas goes) - sent a u2u, lemme know.....

Upate:

TEXAS CITY — The power stayed on at the industrial complexes Thursday after three days of outages, blips and unit shutdowns led to a lot of flaring. But as work crews clean power equipment of salt and dirt thought to have caused the outages, power company officials said it might be three weeks before the work is complete but that primary service work should be done by the weekend.

Three weeks?!

How is it the build up has gotten as bad as it is and do they perform any maintenance on these stations? Ever?

“The entire system isn’t currently redundant ... because of preventive work we are doing,” Garber said. “We will have redundancy restored by this weekend for facilities that have experienced issues.”

So they have back ups, but they are down for maintenance? Did anyone ever consider the possibility that the backups need to have backups if they are going to be down for any length of time? Or that the primary system should be shut down or at least restricted in case of an emergency while the backups were being worked on?

There are two main power lines that provide power to the industrial sector in Texas City. If one line goes down, the second can supply the electricity needed, Garber said. Because of work on both lines this week, there is not a backup.

So there are two backup systems, they just took them both down AT THE SAME TIME to work on them?! Does this strike anyone as less than intelligent, or is it just me?

On to the air quality readings:

“After conferring with the manufacturer of the monitoring equipment used by our emergency responder, we believe that the data produced by TCEQ on the morning of April 26 are inaccurate,” agency spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said in an email statement Thursday. “On that morning, our hand-held monitor indicated the presence of air contaminants in excess of the equipment’s detection limits. These readings have been determined to be invalid.”

You mean they didn't test the equipment before it was needed to be certain that it was working properly?! I think these fools ride in the same clown car as the Tepco idiots...


At least our mayor isn't afraid to hold thier feet to the fire:

“We shouldn’t scare (residents) anymore than they already are with what was going on,” Doyle said. “I think (TCEQ) has a high responsibility to make sure they report something they know is factual and not just off the cuff.”

You go Matt!

And here it is, a clear statement that the power company is not capable of safely and properly operating it's own services:

Electric companies usually depend on rain to wash away the salt and dirt, but the lack of showers and no action to clean the lines led to this week’s outages.

Seems to me that TMNP is on the hook just as much as BP for this.

Source for above quotes

Simply stupifying
Speaking of weather related stuff, we had a little tornado up north in Washington State, but it didn't touch down.

Update:

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Restart procedures are well under way Friday at BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) oil refinery in Texas City, Texas, a person familiar with operations at the plant said.

Source

I noticed when I went to the store today that the flare activity was much lessened than it was yesterday. I dd see crews working on the substation at Texas ave near 146 wiping down the insulators. I can see now how it would take three days. They had two guys working on the entire substation...

Brown's ferry nuker 'owned' and operated by TVA which is 'protected' by GE whom is related to BP because nukes compete with oil...BP has a history of shutting down competing so the relationship between the two cannot be antagonistic ...


From a bloomberg 'story' on the 27th:

The amount of oil processed by BP refineries in the first quarter declined to 2.269 million barrels a day, compared with 2.428 million barrels a year earlier, because of “higher turnaround activities at the Texas City refinery,” BP said in the statement. " target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">

The amount of oil processed by BP refineries in the first quarter declined to 2.269 million barrels a day, compared with 2.428 million barrels a year earlier, because of “higher turnaround activities at the Texas City refinery,” BP said in the statement.

What does 'higher than average turn-around' mean exactly?

BP Plc (BP/)’s profit from refining and marketing in the first quarter surged 185 percent from a year earlier because it was able to use cheaper crude oil at some of its U.S. plants and because of higher petrochemical prices. ....West Texas Intermediate oil has been cheaper than other types of crude because of high stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for futures contracts.

Stockpiles...after the gulf incident and with insanely high prices on petroleum everywhere else , why is this oil cheaper and why does it require higher turn around time? Sulfur in the oil is a good reason for it to be 'stockpiled' ( read as not wanted )

Salty insulators are complete crap



notice how the salt is not letting the high voltage arc but the direct connection to metal does , I've personally watched eletricity arc around around transformers continuously in 100% humidity conditions and not short out . For the salt story to be truly the problem they electric company would have noticed the gradual and continued power line transmission loss as salt accumulated on the insulators ( so either they are grossly incompetent or lying ) it's a good bet BP 'owns' them at some level.

(p.s. for those not in tune with high voltage, it's the arcing out that can cause a problem as it creates extremely high capacitance surges at the front and rear of the discharge , these are teh destructive voltages that fry things )

reply to post by Silverlok


Interesting possibility and not one I had considered.

Did a little looking with that in mind and have found a couple of interesting connections.

TNMP's parent company is PNM whose parent company is PNM resources and if you look around some of the board of directors have seats on boards for other energy companies.

It looks like any other set of interconnected corporate directorships where backs are scratched back and forth while the people who actually do the work make a pittance compared to those who sit in offices most of the time they aren't on golf courses or out fishing (real big amongst he upper management of the company I work for).

reply to post by jadedANDcynical


I believe they are bathing in the same information pool

Well, I just got home from work and drove past BP, Valero, Marathon, and Sterlng Chemical and BP by far had the largest number of flares burning. I'd estimate at least a dozen of various intensities, though none of them were extremely bright; I couldn't see the flares from the Causeway due to overcast conditions, but I could cleary see the lights of the refineries from the bridge.

Valero had about the normal amount of flaring, but they were venting lots of steam, as was Marathon though there was flaring at Marathon, there was not as much as at bp.

Sterling was venting about as much steam as Marathon and Valero but there wasn't anywhere near as much flaring here.

We also had a brief power outage, about 3-7 minutes, at the restaurant tonight and apparently there's been wide-spread outages of differing periods of time all over the island(Galveston, if anyone beyond the Texas border is reading this) and there have been a few random blackouts in Texas City as well though not at my house. So there just may be something to this salt buildup thing.

I will say that I finally had to break down and wash my vehicle, it was coated in sand and salt, but I work right on the beach and it has been windy as all get out, so the buildup on my vehicle is understandable. I'm not certain I buy it on the substations, they're a lot further from the coast.

Fortunately, I live well east and a bit north of the plants, and while winds are from the south, blowing any releases over a portion of the city, our place is in the clear for the time being.

Source: first hand experience, if that still counts for anything.

Doesnt this damn plant blow up like every few years.... I remeber quite a few explosions there, as well as in Baytown when I was younger... As bad as it sucks, most people near the port are quite use to the possibility of an explosion.
I hope it just something minor though, I plan on going to beach Thurs.... This bull could ruin the rest of summer

Yes, this plant has had it's share of explosions, however the particular issue at hand is the power outage.

Which was uncatagoricaly 100% preventable!

I talked with my dad this morning and I asked him about the buildup of salt. And he informed me that yes, it was a KNOWN ISSUE. He said it was part of regular preventative maintenance to power wash the insulators at the power plant he was supervisor of (he worked for HL&P for neary 40 years) if there wasnt any rain for a while.

He said that the salt and dust forms a layer over the insulators and moisture would cause a short to ground and cause the in-line breakers to trip resulting in power outages.

I asked him why they would neglect the PM and he said it was solely a consideration of cost. They chose not to spend the money on a routine maintenance program that would negate this as a possible area of concern.

Source: conversation with my father.

Here in Port Aransas the power company has been spraying off the insulators and power lines - first time I have ever seen them do that.

reply to post by I.C. Weiner


Seems like they're performing some preventative maintenance as they should.

Here are a few photos I took of the flares the other morning on my way to work:



There are only two visible in the pictures, but there were several more I couldn't image as I was driving and wanted to pay attention to the road.

The smoke indicates they are running the thermal oxidizers sans steam, which creates a "dirtier" burn. Normally there is a dedicad steam plant providing steam for the flare in order for the excess and waste product to burn off without smoking assumably cleaner than without the steam.

When they lost power they apparently lost,among other things, the ability to generate the steam. And les. Ot Roget the sulphur dioxide and benzene which were released at that time as well.

OK, I am not an air quality monitor but I can tell you that if you walk outside your house and you can TASTE the air, there is a problem.

I understand that some things are harmful and some things arent but we evacuated our family for safety reasons and Texas City was in a fog that you could feel on your skin and taste in your mouth. I don't care what anybody says, that is not healthy.

Now let me say that I am not one of the sue happy residents that live here and I understand that if I live this close to chemical plants I have to expect an occational incident but I realy hate it when people assume we are all stupid.

Source

This is from a resident who lives a lot closer than I do to the plants. I like what she has to say and the cnviction she has behind it.

Anyway, the ramp up tk full production continues:

More Print Email BP Plc (BP/) is starting up units at a chemical plant in Texas City, Texas, according to filings with state regulators.

The first and third paraxylene units at BP’s Chemical Plant B are resuming operations, according to filings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Source
Startup is one of the most dangerous times in a refinery. The same applied to the power plant my dad was supervisor for; so many things could go wrong. Anything from a part or tool left I'm the machinery to a gasket or seal failure to loss of/too much pressure anywhere in the works. There are literally thousands of failure points. We just have to hope they've all been accounted and engineered for.

And once I knew what to look for, I saw the power generating plants at one of the refineries. I'll try to get a picture the next time I drive past them; they're right next to the substation I think was in the video linked earlier in the thread that showed work crews cleaning insulators.

Originally posted by jadedANDcynical
reply to post by I.C. Weiner

 

Seems like they're performing some preventative maintenance as they should.

Here are a few photos I took of the flares the other morning on my way to work:



There are only two visible in the pictures, but there were several more I couldn't image as I was driving and wanted to pay attention to the road.

The smoke indicates they are running the thermal oxidizers sans steam, which creates a "dirtier" burn. Normally there is a dedicad steam plant providing steam for the flare in order for the excess and waste product to burn off without smoking assumably cleaner than without the steam.

When they lost power they apparently lost,among other things, the ability to generate the steam. And les. Ot Roget the sulphur dioxide and benzene which were released at that time as well.

OK, I am not an air quality monitor but I can tell you that if you walk outside your house and you can TASTE the air, there is a problem.

I understand that some things are harmful and some things arent but we evacuated our family for safety reasons and Texas City was in a fog that you could feel on your skin and taste in your mouth. I don't care what anybody says, that is not healthy.

Now let me say that I am not one of the sue happy residents that live here and I understand that if I live this close to chemical plants I have to expect an occational incident but I realy hate it when people assume we are all stupid.

Source

This is from a resident who lives a lot closer than I do to the plants. I like what she has to say and the cnviction she has behind it.

Anyway, the ramp up tk full production continues:

More Print Email BP Plc (BP/) is starting up units at a chemical plant in Texas City, Texas, according to filings with state regulators.

The first and third paraxylene units at BP’s Chemical Plant B are resuming operations, according to filings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Source
Startup is one of the most dangerous times in a refinery. The same applied to the power plant my dad was supervisor for; so many things could go wrong. Anything from a part or tool left I'm the machinery to a gasket or seal failure to loss of/too much pressure anywhere in the works. There are literally thousands of failure points. We just have to hope they've all been accounted and engineered for.

And once I knew what to look for, I saw the power generating plants at one of the refineries. I'll try to get a picture the next time I drive past them; they're right next to the substation I think was in the video linked earlier in the thread that showed work crews cleaning insulators.

Just came across this post. You have some serious commitment to physically drive down the road and take live pictures. Thanks for your effort and analysis......

Update

CenterPoint takes steps to prevent power outages

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- CenterPoint Energy's latest means of keeping its power lines clean is using a helicopter to spray the lines. It's a risky job, and it's all because of the lack of rain.

I also saw a CenterPoint truck with someone up in the cherry-picker wielding a power washer to spray off the insulators, I was driving and didn't have time or the attention to spare to take a pic, but it is an eyewitness experience which goes along with the news article.

I've made mention in a few of my other posts about the drought we are currently experiencing. This looks to be something we will be dealing with for some time.

In April, several Texas City refineries lost power and production when the transmission lines tripped a circuit. The lines and power belong to Texas New Mexico Power. It resulted in burning flare stacks and air quality issues. The cause was sediment buildup on insulators.

This was the origin of this thread in the beginning. A power outage at several plants simultaneously caused a shelter-in-place order to be issued in Texas City while the plants were forced to flare off excess product they were unable to process due to a lack of steam.

This resulted in air contamination (read air quality issues in above quote) in the area with a number of people reporting to the local hospital with some unpleasant experiences.

"We can't turn our back on it," said Dixon. "Basically, we've kind of dubbed it, especially along the coast, 'Salt Wars.' We just can't stop washing because it continues to be a problem."

source

That tropical system Mexico is about to get would help this along with other issues the region is facing.

Originally posted by jadedANDcynical
...
So, two more refineries now are without power and no one knows why:

Neither BP or Texas City officials could confirm the cause of the outage.

There is some indication because of drought and windy conditions in the county that a build up of salt on power line insulators may be to blame for the power outages. Area refineries and chemical plants experienced power "blips" last week several times, officials said.

I'm left wondering how salt buildup would cause such power disruptions in an area on the coast. I've lived here my entire life (I'm 42) and have never heard of anything like this happening...

Greetings:

As usual, j&c, great work.

Now, wethinks you have brought up another quirk in the matrix.

If one chooses to believe that there may be elevated levels of barium and aluminum salts, polymer fibers, thorium, and/or silicon carbide in the atmosphere, would any latent incoming electromagnetic energy, errant protons and electrons or ultraviolet and x-ray radiation or "electronic plasma" continue to affect our Fragile Earth?

Is there even any residual effect from the geomagnetic storm and subsequent continued interaction with Earth's magnetosphere? ...

Not that we would draw any correlation to weather modification, but isn't Texas is a hot-bed for this stuff?

In the brief scan of our files on this, it seems that there has been an increase in electrical-related "anomalies" since the inception of weather modification. We will follow up on this.

The "blip" that is referred to could be when strong winds force the high-tension lines closer together so that there is an arc, possibly enhanced by those "salts" build-up.

BTW, the above is a quote from here where our first interaction with the phage went unanswered, still to this day... and we have baited it in many other posts.

One might wonder if it would be possible to obtain a sample of any of this suspected build-up of "salts" from downed power lines or elsewhere.

Our question: What is the trail of barium and aluminum salts, polymer fibers, thorium, and/or silicon carbide that spews out from weather modification planes called if not a chemtrail?

OK, we said chemtrail. 3-2-1- hello, proudbird, let's hear it.

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Let us help you better manage your atmospheric and water resources.
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Aerial cloud seeding is the process of delivering a seeding agent by aircraft - either at the cloud base or cloud top. Top seeding allows for direct injection of the seeding agent into the supercooled cloud top. Base seeding is the release of the seeding agent in the updraft of a cloud base.

Snowfall and Rainfall Augmentation

North American Weather Consultants has conducted more than 200 weather modification projects involving snowfall or rainfall augmentation world-wide [color=Cyan]since 1950...

The most common seeding agent is microscopic sized particles of silver iodide. These silver iodide particles are dispersed either from the ground or aircraft...

Typical precipitation increases from the programs range from 10 to 15 percent (in wintertime cold climate areas) to 20 to 25 percent (in more maritime tropical regions) over what would have occurred naturally.

Airborne Cloud Physics and Tracer Studies
...
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tfw
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