The Worlds Largest Inland Oil Refinery Explodes...And I Live Only 3 Miles From It

Originally posted by vox2442
Quick question - what`s a catcracker?

I`ve seen that in here a few times, but I`m at a loss. What is it, what does it do (in a nutshell)?

See en.wikipedia.org...(chemistry)
If the link doesn't work, Google for "catalytic cracker".

Basically a cracker is a chemical reactor that breaks long molecules into shorter ones. In this case, it's where the crude oil molecules get broken into the shorter gasoline etc. ones.



[edit on 18-2-2008 by gb540]

[edit on 18-2-2008 by gb540]

reply to post by gb540


Yeah, my dad used to say it was where the actual gasoline was made. That was a long time ago......i lived through my 20's since then.

The story has always been that if that were to blow, the whole town would be destroyed, flattened. I was never sure if they really meant the WHOLE town....but i think i believe it now. Needless to say, i am moving to another part of town.

My wife and i were talking. The infrastructure must be designed to blow downwards when it does blow. There were people outside the local school, and they didn't get knocked over. But they did stumble back from it.

However, the ground shook so violently that it shook the doors inside my house open.

reply to post by gb540


catcracker.... catalytic cracker...

(*insert sound of hand slapping forehead*)

I really should have more coffee before I post here...

Glad to hear that you are ok. I hope your friends are too.

I'm glad you mentioned this explosion, I think it has something to do with raising the price of oil even more. Do you guys think this is a setup to raise oil prices?

good thing not many people were hurt....

so the question now is, how much fuel was lost?

Sorry for the folks who were hurt by this.

But, the questions are still there. Not to be inconsiderate. Was this planned, so as to have a reason to jack up the oil prices?

Troy

oh man that sucks ...

no, its not a setup people..

and if someone had the nerve to say that most of the dead / injured were blue collar workers that support Hillary Clinton and that it is a good thing somehow, likely because they cant vote now they'd deserve to be flamed to high heck and shunned.

seriously, what a crappy thing to say.

that or any other conspiracy theory with absolutely zero evidence whatsoever to even consider.. not to poke at the previous poster too hard, heheh.



[edit on 2/19/2008 by runetang]

Originally posted by runetang

no, its not a setup people..

[preface; there's now 5 known injured as of AM on Tuesday 19th]...genuflect


here's something to consider, the accident seems to have happened when there were few people around...




i however must consider possible sabotage... not from militant terrorists,
but from money driven contractors.



Hows that you ask?
Well, consider the expansion project of the refinery at Port Arthur....

The oil giants Dutch Royal Shell PLC and Saudi Refining Inc. are in partnership at the Port Arthur facility to increase product refining -
from the present capacity of 275,000 barrels-per-day
to a robust 600,000 barrels-per-day.

for info see;

www.texasgulfcoastonline.com...



now i'm not saying Shell or Saudi sought out saboteurs, but it would be
conceivable that someone with hundreds of millions in futures could
be involved with a 'independent contractor' squad or a Bizzaro-World 'A-Team' types, and planned the shutdown of the BigSprings facility
with a no collateral damage(as in people) destructive event.


I would't be so quick to say that there was no "set-up"

This is a small town, and i have been here for about 30 years. I know a lot of folks, and word gets around quickly.

This morning the fire chief, while having coffee at one of the firehouses, told the following story (I am not quoting, just paraphrasing):

"ABout 5 minutes before the blast, a white cloud was noticed laying low to the ground over an area about the size of a football field. Because of this, about 75% of the plant had already been evacuated. When the second blast came, the only ones to get hurt were the last couple of folks who were getting clear. The "office staff" would have been all killed had it not been a holiday. The offices are destroyed."

I drove by the refinery this morning. It smells like diesel and jet fuel out there. And about 1/3 of the refinery is a smoldering rubble pile. There are tanks that are melted on the top.

The local fire department is amazing. Their response and reaction is what saved the day. Mind you, many of these firemen are volunteers. Their heroism and bravery is inspiring, and I have a whole new outlook on mankind thanks to them. My faith is restored....for the time being.

Now, if we could just get them to teach the local police how to "serve" instead of acting like they "protect", we would be much better off.

When i get home i will upload this picture off my cell phone and post it, if i am not scooped by the news outlets (which i likely will be).

My sympathy goes out to those who live in the area. What a moment in a day makes in the lives of a community.

From my 16 years of living within the oil production business, all refineries
have advanced measures of safety. First every worker on site has a radio,
secondly all the workers have extensive back ground in how to RUN like HELL
when hearing those alarm bells.

Its a blessing that more deaths didn't occur.

I'm sure that homeland security is monitoring this situation closely preventing much from being published in mainstream media.

It is extraordinary that this explosion occurred on Presidents Day and even stranger that its north of Midland, Texas tied to the Bush family's buisness in oil.




[edit on 19-2-2008 by Skydancer]

[edit on 19-2-2008 by Skydancer]

[edit on 19-2-2008 by Skydancer]

Yeah, about a month ago the George Bush childhood home burned down. I have several pics from his childhood that i had taken while i visited there with my kids.

Don't have to like the guy to want to know about the history behind him (good and bad).

All those pictures were destroyed in the fire. I am glad i got to keep that little piece of history. I will make a separate thread. I know that Bush is not well liked (at least, not in my home), but maybe you can print the pictures to use for dart practice or something.

Now, Laura Bush...that is one HOT TAMALE.

I grew up near the refinery and now live 80 miles away. Sounds like a maintenance issue involving a gasket leak. Gas leaks are common in petroleum applications due to caustic byproducts. It only takes one spark with the right ratios to cause a major explosion.

I doubt it was anything conspiratorial. In the early 1970's this same refinery had a large fire. I drove near it that day with my parents. It also billowed a lot of black smoke. This should not cause any environmental concerns, due to the location of the refinery. The facility is actually a lot cleaner today and a lot less of an enviromental danger than it was back then. Most of water wells were toast years ago due to sulphur contamination.

I know several workers there and have known several over the years and best wishes for the injured and their families.

Gas prices will probably rise. The market monkeys use every excuse in the book now to raise prices.

I hope all is well there Texan.
Why we have so few refineries here in the US is bewildering for such a high volume using nation. All by design of course so that the few make the masses pay more. Capitalism at its wackiest.
Anyways I have a refinery near where I lived in Downriver Detroit and I could see the flames from the Gas burnoffs frequently and sometimes were as high as 50 ft or more and extremely loud like a huge air compressor. Night was like Day at times.
When I was 7 one of the 20 or so storage containers a mile and a half from my house caught fire and endandgered the whole tank field and the surrounding areas. Scarry stuff.
I worked there as well in my younger temp laborer days.
I believe every 3 -5 years of operation requires a extensive shutdown and maintenence regiment in most of their production.
Also of note living close too the refinery does bring slightly cheaper gas $$$ for some reason. Sometimes between 10-25 cents a gallon.
Bottom line more refineries more equal distribution and less problems like this and its aftershock.


[edit on 19-2-2008 by VType]

We do need more refining capacity, conservation and alternative methods!!! The excuse given for not building refinery's, is that enviromental laws are too strict. We have the technology now to do it right. I agree that more refinery's may not happen in order to keep the price up.

Why sell two apples for a dollar when you can sell one for a dollar by growing half as many (it's less work and overhead to grow one apple). The refinery fire in Big Spring is only a small burp in market capacity with an amplifier for dramatic market effect. This comment is a little off subject, but it applies to the loss of this refinery.


[edit on 19-2-2008 by royalblood]

What was the cause of this massive explosion?

reply to post by infocon_delta


I posted the remarks by the fire chief. There was a "white mist" covering 4 feet up from the ground. They began evacuation ASAP (the reason there was not a lot of injury, beyond the few reported). I guess they didn't get word to everyone, as the guy (I believe his name is Phinney, if it is the same guy that was put on the burn unit. Family owns "The Karat Patch", a jewelry store) who lit the reactor touched off a small blast. This blast was causative of, and immediately before, the "BIG" blast that scared the living hell out of 30,000 residents (and whatever passers-by were on the road).

There was a very lucky streak of events that minimized casualties. Very lucky, indeed.

I wonder if there is any way to find a web cam pointed in the direction of the Refinery to see if there was any changes in the flare stack emmissions minutes before the blast.

My X husband alway said you have 6 minutes to manually bring undercontrol
a serious electronic malfunction from outside the pump station control room before all the fire works go off.

Well here we go:

NEW YORK - Oil futures shot higher Tuesday, closing above $100 for the first time as investors bet that crude prices will keep climbing despite evidence of plentiful supplies and falling demand. At the pump, gas prices rose further above $3 a gallon.

There was no single driver behind oil’s sharp price jump; investors seized on an explosion at a 67,000 barrel per day refinery in Texas, the falling dollar, the possibility that OPEC may cut production next month, the threat of new violence in Nigeria and continuing tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.

Source | MSNBC | Cost of oil passes $100, sets a new record

Anything to lead to more record profits.

I'm with St Udio's speculation on this one; could very well be sabotage.