The Murphy Oil USA refinery spill was an

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

that resulted from the failure of a storage tank at the Murphy Oil USA

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

refinery in the residential areas of

Chalmette Chalmette ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in, and the parish seat of, St. Bernard Parish in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The 2010 census reported that Chalmette had 16,751 people; 2011 population was listed as 17,119; however, th ...

and Meraux,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, on August 30, 2005, the day after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

made landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast. On August 29, 2005 the

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

from the hurricane caused massive failure in the levees along the

Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...

, inundating St. Bernard Parish with of water. The Murphy Oil refinery was flooded with of water, and a above-ground storage tank at the refinery was dislodged from its moorings and damaged in the flooding. At the time, the tank contained approximately of mixed

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

; a breach in the tank's side wall released up to , though the pressure from the floodwaters kept the oil inside of the tank until the waters had receded to about , five days after the storm had passed. As the oil was released, it mixed with the floodwaters and flowed from east to west. The spoiled water impacted approximately 1,700 homes in adjacent residential neighborhoods of Chalmette, over an area of about . Several canals were also impacted, including the 20 Arpent Canal, the 40 Arpent Canal, the Meraux Canal, the Corinne Canal, the DeLaRonde Canal, and various unnamed interceptor canals. According to the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

, there were about 44 oil spills in the area affected by Hurricane Katrina, though most occurred in areas of

Plaquemines Parish Plaquemines Parish (; French: ''Paroisse de Plaquemine'', Louisiana French: ''Paroisse des Plaquemines'', es, Parroquia de Caquis) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 23,515 at the 2020 census, the parish ...

which do not have large populations. The Murphy Oil USA spill was the exception.

Preparations

Major industries in St. Bernard Parish, including the two oil refineries, had disaster mitigations plans that were filed with the local government. However, the local government lost most of its files in the flood that followed the levee failure. Employees of oil refineries in the disaster area have stated on online forums that their refineries filled tanks with water in order to prevent them from floating away. However, typical pre-Katrina industry standards on the Gulf Coast were based on a heavy rain event, and did not anticipate a full inundation of water around the storage tanks. Another refinery employee commented that these large oil storage tanks are sometimes purposely floated in order to move them. The containment levees around the tank are generally filled with water and tanks are moved in this way around tank farms. This is done on a planned basis with all oil removed from the tank being moved.

References

* * {{cite web , author= , title=Murphy Oil Spill , url=http://www.epa.gov/katrina/testresults/murphy/ , publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency , date=24 March 2008 , accessdate=28 May 2010

External links

Murphy Oil USA official website
Oil spills in the United States Effects of Hurricane Katrina St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana Disasters in Louisiana Environment of Louisiana 2005 industrial disasters 2005 disasters in the United States 2005 in Louisiana 2005 in the environment

Preparations

See also

References

External links