Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310253620 - Marathon Petroleum Company

Inspection Information - Office: Baton Rouge Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 6:30 p.m. on August 31, 2007, Employee #1, a refrigerated butane storage (RBS) operator, was instructed to close the block valves at night fall, following a hydrostatic test of Tank 300-1. Employee #1 closed the block valves as instructed. At approximately 8:45 p.m., Employee #1 was instructed by the supervisor to open the block valve drain on Tank 300-1 to stop the flow of water to the baffle pond due to high water. Another operator was instructed to close the valve on Tank 300-1 to stop the flow of water to the pond. Employee #1 traveled in a Ford F150 pickup truck to the pond, when he encountered high water, but he continued to drive the same route and drove into the pond. Employee #1 notified his supervisor by radio that he drove the vehicle into a "ditch", when actually Employee #1 was in the pond. He stated he was OK at approximately 10:30 p.m. Employee #1 called the supervisor again to inquire on how long it would be before someone would get to him. The supervisor stated an arrival time of a few minutes. Employee #1 replied again that he was OK. The approximate time was between 10:45 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. This was the last radio transmission between Employee #1 and other employees. Follow-up transmissions could not reach Employee #1. At approximately 11:00 p.m., attempts were made by employees who arrived on the scene to locate Employee #1. The water was high and there were no lights in the area except the headlights of the two vehicles searching for Employee #1. Employee #1 and the F150 he was driving were not visible. At approximately 11:05 p.m., a request for rescue personnel to respond to an incident at the north pond was made. Employee #1 was found at approximately 3:00 a.m. on September 1, 2007, drowned in the pond.

Keywords: DROWN, PICKUP TRUCK, TANK