INVESTIGATION INFORMATION

Accident Description

At approximately 1:20 p.m. on March 23, 2005, a series of explosions occurred at the BP Texas City refinery during the restarting of a hydrocarbon isomerization unit. Fifteen workers were killed and 180 others were injured. Many of the victims were in or around work trailers located near an atmospheric vent stack. The explosions occurred when a distillation tower flooded with hydrocarbons and was overpressurized, causing a geyser-like release from the vent stack.

Investigation Status

The Board approved its final report by a vote of 5-0 at a public meeting in Texas City on March 20, 2007.

Documents

Congressional Testimony

7.10.2007 - Chairman Merritt Testimony before Senate Subcommittee (pdf,340.68KB)

5.16.2007 - Chairman Merritt Testimony before House Subcommittee (pdf,135.26KB)

 

 

Final Report

Final Investigation Report (pdf,3286.21KB)

Report of the BP Independent Refineries Safety Review Panel (Baker Panel Report) (pdf,2352.22KB)

 

 

Full Text of Urgent Recommendation

Texas City Refinery Retrospective Analysis (pdf,1249.39KB)

 

 

Key Documents from the BP Final Report

Management of Chage Form for ISOM Board Operator (pdf,536.85KB)

E-mail from Dennis Link (pdf,85.28KB)

BP Operator Competency Assurance Audit Checklist (pdf,1141.22KB)

E-mail to Gary Scoggin (pdf,78.86KB)

Reduced External Supplier and Materials Usage (pdf,929.59KB)

ARU/ISOM Supervisors – Deisohexanizer Releases 1994 (pdf,643.27KB)

Texas City Site (TCS) – Texas City Refinery and Texas City Chemicals Site gHSEr 2004 Assessment (pdf,1308.96KB)

E-mail from George R. Carter, January 9, 2002 (pdf,127.05KB)

Job Change Order Form- 2005 Valve Replacement (pdf,72.5KB)

E-mail from James Hay, August 19, 2002 (pdf,128KB)

Texas City Business Unit Business Strategy (pdf,159.25KB)

BP Audit Report- “getting HSE right” Audit Report, BP South Houston, September 22, 2003 (pdf,569.17KB)

TC-PSC Chair Selection, August 1, 2004 (pdf,734.03KB)

Telos Perspective and Recommendations (pdf,1088.2KB)

Executive Summary of Report of Findings, January 21, 2005 (pdf,586.69KB)

What makes protection particularly difficult for BP Texas City? (pdf,170.81KB)

HSSE ’05 Business plan (pdf,730.87KB)

OSHA 2005 Citations (pdf,730.87KB)

BP OSHA Settlement Agreement (pdf,130.96KB)

Browne: Take Action to Put Safety First (pdf,652.78KB)

 

 

Safety Bulletins

Safety Bulletin: Positive Material Verification (pdf,318.38KB)

Management of Change (pdf,159KB)

 

 

Statements

Statement of CSB Lead Investigator Don Holmstrom Updating the Status of the Board's BP Texas City Re (pdf,214.06KB)

Statement of CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt on the Board's Urgent Safety Recommendation to BP North (pdf,25.5KB)

Statement of CSB Chairman Merritt to BP Independent Refinery Safety Panel (pdf,21.69KB)

 

 

Other

Trailer Blast Damage Information Table (pdf,27.82KB)

Federal Register Notice for Board Community Meeting, Texas City, TX, October 27, 2005 (pdf,52.88KB)

Transcript of Board Public Meeting, Texas City, TX, March 20, 2007 (pdf,245.89KB)

Transcript of Board Community Meeting, Texas City, TX, October 27, 2005 (pdf,128.84KB)

Text of CSB's Urgent Safety Recommendation to BP America and BP Global Board of Directors (pdf,37.01KB)

News Release October 31, 2006 - Statement of CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt (pdf,37.52KB)

Text of CSB's Urgent Trailer Siting Recommendations to American Petroleum Institute and National Pet (pdf,23.84KB)

Text of CSB Recommendations to OSHA, American Petroleum Institute (pdf,25.74KB)