The Galveston County Daily News

TEXAS CITY — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has told BP it had failed to make agreed-upon safety improvements at its Texas City refinery following the March 23, 2005, explosions that killed 15 workers.

In an agreement with the federal agency, BP promised changes at its refinery and paid a $21.5 million fine to settle safety violations OSHA found during its investigation into the 2005 blasts.

In a letter to BP Texas City refinery manager Keith Casey, OSHA Houston South Area Office Director Mark R. Briggs said that if specific improvements were not made by today it “would constitute a failure to comply with the terms of the 2005 agreement and/or failure to abate,” safety hazards at the refinery.

In a copy of the Aug. 3 letter obtained by The Daily News, Briggs detailed dozens of problems, including BP’s failure to review instrument alarm systems that “are critical to process safety” and failure to conduct a comprehensive valve study on its process units as required.

A failure of equipment and the use of an outdated pressure release system on a sub-unit at the refinery were at the heart of a “geyser” release of flammable material that ignited, causing fatal blasts that killed 15 and injured more than 170.

Briggs also wrote, “for some identified hazards, BP either has not specified or allocated the specific layers of protection needed.”

For other hazards where BP has outlined how it would control danger, “the specified instrument controls have not been installed or are not operational,” Briggs wrote.

The letter also outlined 13 units where inspections of critical instruments, valves, pipes and internal processes were overdue. Those overdue inspections and maintenance tasks were from OSHA reviews five months before the letter was sent to Casey.

While not addressing specifics of OSHA’s letter, BP said it is committed to building upon the safety investments and improvements at the refinery.

“BP places the safe, compliant and reliable operations of all of our manufacturing facilities as our highest priority,” BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said.

“Since 2005, we have made substantial investments at Texas City in our people, our work processes and in upgrading our facilities.

“BP Products has completed more than 550 OSHA citation abatement requirements and process safety related recommendations and has significantly reduced hazards on-site and off-site.

“We believe we are in full compliance with our commitments.”

The company was working with OSHA to “resolve any expressed concerns,” Beaudo said.

A $1 billion refinery overhaul, which came as a result of federal, state, union and internal investigations that found a lax safety culture and poor process safety procedures, was completed in January.

In an August interview, Casey said tremendous changes had been made both in the physical infrastructure and the safety culture of the refinery.

In addition to forming a safety training program with the United Steelworkers union, which represents the bulk of the refinery’s work force, BP also has implemented a control system that requires extensive checks, rechecks and consistent permitting for projects at the refinery.

Review and investigations of incidents include union representation.

Casey acknowledged his refinery had a long way to go to gain the public and regulators’ trust.

He also noted that some of the changes may not be happening fast enough.

“Once you have violated the trust, people will never forget, but they will eventually forgive if you do the right things,” Casey said.

He said he still was challenged often by people asking whether the company was “doing the right stuff quick enough.”

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More online

Read the OSHA warning letter to BP at galvnews.com.