After responding to a major explosion and fire at the NuStar Energy plant in Crockett on Tuesday, rescue workers found only one person inside the facility — a contract worker who had been brought in to perform maintenance and was reportedly unable to tell firefighters what material was inside the tanks that were ablaze.
A spokesman for California’s Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) said the worker was found trapped at the plant and had to be rescued by firefighters in the moments after emergency responders arrived.
Chris Cho, a NuStar representative, confirmed on Friday that the worker was not employed by the energy company, but declined to reveal the name of the worker’s employer.
“Unfortunately, since the contractor is not our employee, and part of the ongoing investigation, we are not at liberty to release that information. The contractor was at our terminal that day performing scheduled routine maintenance,” Cho said in an email.
An entry, added just an hour after the fire, to a California Office of Emergency Services hazardous spills database, described the situation before the worker was rescued.
“The facility was evacuated but there is one contract employee that could not get out of the building and they are in the back of the facility. Caller stated that the fire department is aware of the contractor location,” the entry stated.
The worker was not seriously injured, Cal/OSHA spokesman Frank Polizzi said Friday.
NuStar on Friday afternoon released its 72-hour follow-up report to the county. The report notes the cause of the fire, which started at approximately 1:48 p.m. on Tuesday and was abated at about 9 p.m., is still unknown and under investigation. There were less than 3,000 barrels of denatured ethanol in each of the two tanks that caught fire, plus “an unknown quantity of other potential fuels (diesel and jet) released through broken lines,” according to the report.
The report also states that the terminal was evacuated within approximately two minutes, with the exception of the lone contractor, who was rescued within 20 minutes. There were no employee or contractor injuries and one firefighter sustained a minor burn injury.
“I think it’s important to understand what training workers, whether they be contractors or employees, went through,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who said the contractor was unable to give emergency workers any information about the tanks’ contents.
A petrochemical facility, he added, needs to have a system in place for people who understand the plant to meet with first responders on arrival during emergencies.
“It’s less important whether it’s a contractor or an employee and more about ensuring everybody there, however long they’ve worked there, is sufficiently trained to maximize safety and reduce harm at the facility,” said Gioia, who sits on the board of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the California Air Resources Board.
Gioia said the front gate of the NuStar facility was locked when firefighters arrived and that its emergency fire suppression system was not activated.
NuStar has said there was “initial confusion” about which tanks were involved because the explosion and fire erupted so quickly.
