Tesoro Martinez Sulfuric Acid Spill

Accident Description

A sulfuric acid spill on February 12, 2014, burned two workers in the refinery’s alkylation unit, who were transported to the nearest hospital burn unit by life flight. The incident occurred when the operators opened a block valve to return an acid sampling system back to service.  Very shortly after this block valve had been fully opened, the tubing directly downstream of the valve came apart, spraying two operators with acid.