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Silver Eagle operators on Friday shut down the Woods Cross refinery for an indefinite period at the urging of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board after government investigators voiced concerns about the safety of the plant's workers and its nearby residents.
The board's investigative team, which has been on site since a Nov. 4 explosion rocked the plant and nearby homes, said it found "serious problems" with integrity of many of the pipes and processing units throughout the refinery.
"For a lot of the pipes there didn't appear to be any documentation indicating their thickness and whether they were able to withstand the internal pressures that they were being asked to contain," said Daniel Horowitz, spokesman for the CSB team.
A pipe with hundreds of pounds of pressurized hydrogen ruptured 10 days ago in a catastrophic failure that resulted in a massive explosion, knocking one home off its foundation and severely damaging others.
That pipe, according to the CSB, showed evidence of significant thinning that had not been detected by the refinery's mechanical integrity program.
No one was injured in the explosion.
Horowitz said CSB investigators and Louis Silva, director of the Utah Occupational, Safety and Health Administration, met with Silver Eagle executives on Friday. Federal OSHA officials were briefed earlier in the day.
When reached Friday evening, Silva refused to answer questions about what role, if any,
Silver Eagle, in a prepared statement issued Friday evening, said it already had started shutting down some of its processing units prior to the meeting with the federal CSB investigators.
"They had started to shut down their 'reformer unit,' " Horowitz said.
Reformer units use chemical processes under high pressure to convert petroleum refinery naphthas recovered from crude oil into products that can be used to make high-octane fuels. Silver Eagle said it would resume operations only when all needed repairs have been made and the units inspected for safety.
"We have decided to do this because our top priority is the health and safety of our employees and the community," Silver Eagle Refining President Dave McSwain said in the statement. "We believe this is the best decision given the circumstances."
Horowitz said the federal safety board did not have the authority to order the refinery shut down and declined to speculate whether OSHA was prepared to take action if the owners of the facility didn't voluntarily cease operations.
"Fortunately, it didn't go in that direction," he said. "Silver Eagle's management responded positively to our suggestion."
Tracy Peterson, whose home was damaged in the early November explosion, said it makes her feel better that the refinery is closed down, even if temporarily. "Six incidents, or however many they have had since we moved in just doesn't seem like a good safety record."
Mike Whittle, who had five of his windows blown out, door jambs damaged and his kitchen roof cracked from the blast, said the closure is good.
"It's the right move," Whittle said while standing in his living room next to one of the damaged windows. "Do what needs to be done to get the place safe."
Whittle's wife, Vicki, said she did "a happy dance," when she heard Friday evening that the refinery was temporarily closing.
"I think it's only going to get worse if they leave it open," she said.
Woods Cross Mayor Kent Parry said the shutdown will go a long way to address residents' safety concerns. "It also will give the company needed time to address any issues that are found," he said.
Rolayne Fairclough, of AAA Utah, which tracks the retail price of gasoline in the state, said it is unclear if the shutdown will have any effect on the cost of gasoline at the pump.
"Fortunately, they are our smallest refinery. Also, it is good that this is happening during this time of year when the demand for gasoline is going down," she said.
Reporters María Villaseñor and Jason Bergreen contributed to this story.
Silver Eagle Refinery operators and government investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board will inspect documents and the refinery's pipes and processing equipment.
Operations will resume only after all needed repairs have been made and all processing units have been inspected for safety. It is unclear how long that will take.
Silver Eagle Refinery operators and government investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board will inspect documents and the refinery's pipes and processing equipment.
Operations will resume only after all needed repairs have been made and all processing units have been inspected for safety. It is unclear how long that will take.
The Silver Eagle refinery is Utah's smallest.
It processes approximately 8,500 barrels of crude oil per day. About 30 percent of the plant's production is gasoline or diesel fuel. The rest is petroleum waxes and asphalts oils.
It employs 60 people.
The Silver Eagle refinery is Utah's smallest.
8,500
The approximate number of barrels of crude oil processed per day.
60
The number of refinery employees.
