Refinery drill involves 90 participants

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
At least 90 people, representing 11 agencies and multiple businesses, participated in a Sept. 19 command post drill put together by the Wyoming Refining Co./Wyoming Pipeline Co., according to Mike Baldwin, manager of health, safety, security and environment at the refinery. 
What initially started as emergency/spill response training over a three-day period became a multi-agency drill involving two different scenarios, evacuations and interactions with the public that would occur in any real-life emergency situation. 
“This was a great exercise that included multiple agencies that worked well together. It was great to see all participants engaged in their work scopes,” Baldwin said. “It was great to see everyone working together for a common goal.” 
According to Baldwin, 90 people participated in the drill, with 43 of those representing the Wyoming Refining Co., the Par Pacific corporate office in Houston and Par Refinery in Hawaii. The 11 agencies involved were Weston County School District No. 1, Newcastle Volunteer Fire Department, Weston County Fire Protection District, Weston County Sheriff’s Office, Newcastle Police Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Weston County Health Services, Newcastle Ambulance Service, Weston County Public Health, Weston County Homeland Security and the Wyoming State Homeland Security office. 
“This is a good turnout for a community our size. We have had some good fortune in the way our agencies have played roles in unified command,” said Don Steveson, process safety manager for the refinery. “It is amazing to see everyone step in and play their role. We all take it serious because we want to handle our emergency the same way we handle our business: safe-thinking of human life first.” 
According to Baldwin, Marine Spill Response Corp., with spill response equipment, a communication system and integrated command system support also participated. Others included Gallagher, with integrated command system support, and the Center of Toxicology Environment and Health, with air monitoring equipment and support. 
“The drill covered two scenarios. The first event was a vapor release from the refinery, which headed towards the high school/middle school and resulted in the school activating their shelter-in-place program and working with local responders to evacuate these two schools when conditions allowed,” Baldwin said. “The second event that occurred shortly after the vapor release was a release of diesel fuel to Cambria Creek, which resulted in the refinery activating its spill response plan and deploying spill containment equipment along Little Oil Creek.” 
Baldwin said that the drill took nine hours, with the timeliest components involving the school district. 
“Working with the school district to stay within their time lines as this was homecoming week and to schedule the evacuations to get done in the times they wanted and to be ready for teams coming in for the volleyball games was timely,” Baldwin said. “These evacuations were supported by the Newcastle Police Department and the Weston County Sheriff’s Department who were part of the incident command team for this drill.” 
According to Steveson, these drills are held to meet EPA standards for emergency response to a spill or release from the refinery or pipeline. Every year, the company plans and trains for what it calls “a worst-case discharge scenario for the refinery and pipeline.” 
The purpose of the drills, according to Steveson, is to train the company’s first responders and employees, while also exercising how they will respond during containment and cleanup of the spill in cooperation with other agencies. He said that the overall goal is to contain the spill, identify probable real situations that could occur and not have off-site impact. 
“Our employees get into the scenario, confirming that they can properly deploy equipment like booms in the creek area. We ensure we can recover the material to bring it back on-site to reprocess it,” Steveson said. 
“These opportunities allow us to fine tune our emergency response and allow us to better plan on scenarios for the future. Our worst-case scenario drills are performed every year to make sure everyone receives training on a large scale and ensure they are ready to respond safely, and react to the emergency with professional knowledge and skill,” Steveson said.