At least five hurt as Wisconsin refinery blast: officials

[turbinetree]

Source: Raw Story

An explosion at Husky Energy’s refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, injured at least five people while sending smoke billowing into the sky and shaking a building a mile away, officials at the local fire department and a hospital said on Thursday.

Four people were being treated at nearby Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center and a fifth was on the way, said a hospital spokeswoman. She described their injuries as varied, but said she could not offer further details.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities.
“The whole building shook. The lights flickered three times and the whole building shook,” Jim Ronning, owner of Hudy’s Tavern in Superior, located about a mile (1.6 km) from the facility.

Local media had earlier reported 20 people injured.
The company was responding to an incident at the refinery and emergency crews were on site, Husky spokesman Mel Duvall said, adding, “We are aware an individual has been transported to the hospital.”

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/least-five-hurt-wisconsin-refinery-blast-officials/

[lkinwi]

1. From Nick Milroy-Assembly Representative for the 73rd district

5TH UPDATE - ANOTHER TANK HAS CAUGHT FIRE AS OF 15:15. THE DECC IN DULUTH HAS BEEN INCLUDED AS A MUSTERING POINT FOR EVACUEES.

YELLOWJACKET UNION IS NO LONGER A MUSTERING POINT. THE DECC HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE PRIMARY MUSTERING POINT.

[Leghorn21]

2. From link, oh man:

[ProfessorGAC]

5. That Looks Like Heavies!

It's black and tarry and isn't flaming when it hits the air. That's very odd! Deferred internal tank inspections to save money???? It's happened before and people died. Gladly, no fatalities this time!

[Leghorn21]

6. On another thread, DUer WhiskeyGrinder said thats asphalt - is that the same thing as

“heavies”? Glad it’s not bursting into flame, though, oh I can’t imagine -

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Could Be, But Not 100%

It looks like it could be Bunker C or D which are very high molecular weight naphthenics. They used to be used as very low cost fuels, but they burn dirty and both pollute badly (lots of carbon monoxide and soot) and foul boilers.
Mostly today they are hydrocracked a second time to recover kerosene and diesel and some light "anes".
Then what's left is asphalt.
That storage tank has no obvious heating system and the junk is pretty fluid which is why I think it's something prior to asphalt.
Once it asphalt, a refinery will generally air/belt cool and convey either directly to trucks, railcars or barge, or at least have more of a silo with a cone bottom to prevent funnel flow.
That's why I think distillation heavies.
All that said, while they'd be really hot, they're not that volatile and low corrosion, so tank failure is unlikely unless the tank was already compromised. That's why I'm speculating deferred inspection. Which is, of course, illegal if the inspection deferral exceeds OSHA PSM regs.

[Leghorn21]

10. Oh good heavens, Professor!! You sure know your stuff, holy cow!!! ... I do appreciate your

extremely knowledgeable reply, oh my goodness - Thank you!!

[Stargazer99]

11. you can bet that inspection was delayed because of cost...business knows that you can use employees

like Kleenex there is always more to come on line

[democrank]

3. Kick

[KY_EnviroGuy]

4. More info here...

WDIO TV: http://www.wdio.com/news/superior-refinery-fire-emergency-/4882232/?cat=10335
(snips)
The Superior Fire Department says there are no fatalities in the explosion at the Husky oil refinery, at least 15 Injuries have been reported. Duluth News Tribune reports that a second, larger fire erupted just after noon. Douglas County authorities said another tank caught fire at 3:15 p.m.

At a press conference, Scott Gordon with the Superior Fire Department said crews were in a "defensive" mode in fighting the fire. Husky Energy says local air quality is being monitored. Superior Mayor Jim Paine says the city of Superior was in a state of Emergency Thursday.
----

and KBJR TV: http://www.kbjr6.com/story/38049655/explosion-injuries-reported-at-husky-energy-superior-refinery
(snips)
SUPERIOR, WI - 1:10 P.M.: A ten mile area south of Husky Energy is being evacuated, and a one mile radius around Husky Energy is also being evacuated.

6:49 p.m. UPDATE: Superior Mayor Jim Paine announced the fire at Husky Energy is out. Paine says there is still a potential health risk due to the smoke, so the evacuation order is still in effect for two hours.

To ensure safety for everyone in the refinery area, SWL&P shut down natural gas service to the refinery, which also stopped service to nearby customers, affecting between 1-300 customers.

......an asphalt spill caused the explosion at Husky Energy. The black smoke is caused from the asphalt burning, and environmental groups are monitoring air quality.

-------
.....

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Fire's out, evac is up for a few more hours; last I heard, five people were injured. Could have been

a lot worse.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Yep! Think Texas City BP

Or, Citgo Romeoville. Bunch of deaths in those.

[Stargazer99]

12. employees are expendable you know