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Natech Accident
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Type
Natech Accident
Date
2015/04/17
Time
13:00
Duration
5 hour(s)
Natural Hazard
Lightning in Greeley, Colorado, United States, 2015
Site
NGL Energy Water Solutions - Wastewater injection facility, United States
Status
Published

Units Involved

  1. Name
    Fiber-glass wastewater tank
    Type
    Storage: Atmospheric storage tank
    Description
    The tanker was near an injection well where wastewater from hydraulic fracking is pumped into the ground.
  2. Name
    Other storage units
    Type
    Storage: Atmospheric storage tank
    Description
    Several other atmospheric storage tanks, either made of fiber-glass or steel, containing wastewater or liquid hydrocarbons.
  3. Name
    Two road tankers
    Type
    Transport: (Un)loading

Event Sequences

  1. Name
    Explosion and fire
    Unit
    1. Fiber-glass wastewater tank
    Description
    A lightning strike set off an explosive chain-reaction fire at the oil and gas wastewater injection site.
    A wastewater tank, containing hydrocarbons, was hit by lightning and caught fire.
    Substances Involved
    1. Name
      Wastewater containing hydrocarbons
      Description
      Light hydrocarbons dissolved in wastewater, such as propane, butane and pentane, are extremely flammable.
    Initiating EventCritical EventMajor Event
    Natural Hazard: Sparking
    Lightning struck the water storage tank, launching it into the air, which was landed 60 feet from the site.
    Due to hydraulic fracturing, the water contained traces of hydrocarbons and petroleum that ignited.
    		-
    Explosion: Deflagration
    Fiber-glass tank explodes.
    Contributing Factors
    Organisational: Design of plant / equipment / system: Inadequate
    The presence of flammables in a tank without a blanketing system is not recommended. Additionally fiberglass tanks shouldn't contain flammable substances at all.
    Event Sequence: Fire spread and explosions
    The flammable content spread and fire engulfed nearby tanks.
  2. Name
    Fire spread and explosions
    Unit
    2. Other storage units
    Description
    The fire spread to other flammable materials and nearby tanks at the site, which eventually exploded.
    Initiating EventCritical EventMajor Event
    Event Sequence: Explosion and fire
    The initial fire spread to nearby units.
    		-
    Fire: Pool fire
    The fire spread to many other tanks.
    Contributing Factors
    Organisational: Management attitude: Inadequate
    The management have the attitude to accept failures and risks as part of the business, without properly assessing them in advance (as per statement of Vice president of NGL Water Solutions, Dough White reported in GreeleyTribune).
    Explosion: Deflagration
    A series of explosions and fires.
    Fire: Conflagration
    Fireballs erupted from the site during the day as the tank failed.

Weather Conditions

Description
Lightning storm and heavy rainfalls, which caused floods in the nearby cities.

Emergency Response

Difficulties in Response to the Natech Event
Insufficient personnel and equipment to respond to both emergencies: No
Damage to lifelines (e.g. water, power, communication, transportation): No
Response Teams and Equipment Involved
  • Local fire fighting team
  • Regional / national fire fighting teams
  • Regional / national hazmat teams
Response to the Natech Event
In the surrounding area, the four homes closest to the site were evacuated as a precaution.

35 firefighters and eight fire-trucks from Greeley were on scene, along with five firefighters from Eaton Fire Protection District. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission also had two people on scene monitoring the fire. Deputies from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office helped control traffic around the fire and the Weld County Office of Emergency Management supplied equipment to assist fire containment efforts. Firefighters on-site had to wait for the explosion risk to subside so they could use fire suppression foam to extinguish the fire (i.e., cuts off the fire’s oxygen supply and cools it down).

Consequences

On-site People At Risk
3
Human Health Impacts
Three workers were on-site.
No injuries were reported.
Environmental Impacts
Smoke and production products where massively released into air.
By Friday night (the day of the accident), it was unclear how much of the fracking wastewater seeped into the ground or if it got into irrigation ditches and farmland.
Economic Impacts
Substantial damage. The injection site suffered a total loss.

Remedial Activities

Decontamination Activities
Crews built a dam to try to contain the run-off from the fire in an attempt to keep the contaminated water out of nearby farms and irrigation ditches.

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned on Equipment
The containment measures on site have worked as intended and kept the fire from spreading further to neighbouring fields.
Lessons Learned on Organisational Aspects
-Hazards and associated risks should adequately assessed - acceptance of unknown risks can lead to disasters.

-Learning from past accidents can be useful in preventing similar accidents (e.g., several accidents in Texas as per the statement of the Vice president of NGL Water Solutions, Dough White reported in GreeleyTribune).
ID: 65, Created: Amos NECCI, 2016-09-22 14:17:28 – Last Updated: Kyriaki GKOKTSI, 2023-10-20 16:05:43

Attachments

NoDescriptionFile Size
1.CBS 1.38MB
2.CBS News5.33MB
3.News article - Mail Online22.31MB
4.Tribune 364.38KB
Last update: 2024/04/17 | Top