Delaware City Refinery fire under investigation

An equipment problem touched off a fire in the Delaware City Refinery Friday, sending smoke billowing from the site. No injuries were reported.

A compressor malfunction caused the fire at about 1 p.m., said state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control spokesman Michael Globetti.

Michael Karlovich, a vice president for refinery owner PBF Energy, in an email said the problem involved the factory’s catalytic cracking unit “that resulted in flaring and a subsequent fire.”

“Flaring” generally means that there was a disruption in one or more refining processes that caused an automatic diversion of hydrocarbons and other gases to one of two large open-air incineration towers.

“All refinery personnel are safe and accounted for, and appropriate public officials and government agencies have been notified,” Karlovich said. “Offsite air monitoring indicates there was no community impact.”

The affected unit processes hydrocarbons left over after fuels are extracted from crude oil in the 191,000-barrel-per-day first-stage crude unit.

Other production units unaffected by the fire were operating at reduced rates, officials said.

DNREC officials said “the fire was quickly brought under control and extinguished by the refinery’s fire brigade with assistance from the Delaware City Fire Company.”

The incident is under investigation.

The 4500 Wrangle Hill Road refinery has been in operation since 1956.

On July 17, 2001, a 415,000-gallon tank at the site exploded while containing spent sulfuric acid, a mixture of sulfuric acid, water and hydrocarbons. The explosion killed worker Jeffrey Davis and injured eight others.

On Nov. 5, 2005, two contract employees, John Lattanzi and John Ferguson, were overcome and asphyxiated by nitrogen as they performed maintenance work near a 24-inch opening on the top of a reactor. One of the workers died attempting to rescue the other. At the time, the refinery was owned by Valero.