Washington, DC, April 1, 2014 - Today the CSB announced that it will be holding a May 1, 2014, public meeting in Anacortes, WA, to release and vote on its final report intothe April 2, 2010, fatal explosion and fire at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, WA.
The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. PDT at the Brodniak Auditorium, Anacortes High School, 1600 20th Street, Anacortes, WA 98221.
At the public meeting, the Board will consider and vote on the final investigation report into the April 2, 2010, explosion and fire that fatally injured seven employees. The CSB’s investigation found that at the time of the incident a bank of heat exchangers was being brought online in the refinery’s naphtha hydrotreater unit when another heat exchanger in a parallel bank catastrophically failed, spewing highly flammable hydrogen and naphtha which ignited.
Seven Tesoro workers, who were nearby, assisting with the heat exchanger startup, were fatally burned. The accident at Tesoro was the most deadly U.S. refinery incident since the 2005 explosion at BP Texas City that killed 15 workers and injured 180 others
The hearing is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is encouraged but not required; to register for the event, please send email to [email protected].
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.
The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA. Visit our website, www.csb.gov.
For more information, contact Communications Manager Hillary Cohen, (202) 446-8094 or Sandy Gilmour at (202) 251-5496.