Chevron Utah

The Chevron Corporation built the Salt Lake Refinery along US Highway 89 approximately three miles north of Salt Lake City shortly after the Second World War. At that time, major oil reserves were discovered in northwestern Colorado near Rangely. Since that time, crude oil from Wyoming and Alberta has been processed at the facility as well. Two major pipelines, one from Rangely and the other from Kimball Junction about 15 miles east of Salt Lake City, supply the facility.

The Salt Lake Refinery produces a wide range of petroleum products that include gasoline, jet aircraft fuel, diesel, kerosene and propane. Current capacity is approximately 45,000 barrels per day.

Environmental Concerns

In 1991, the Utah State Department of Environmental Quality ordered Chevron to conduct an onsite investigation regarding waste disposal and release of toxins into the local environment and to take whatever corrective action might be deemed necessary.

Chevron has long had a poor record when it comes to the environment; the company currently faces a $28 billion lawsuit filed by the government of Ecuador over the corporation's complete disregard for the environment and the health of indigenous peoples.

Chevron Corporation's Salt Lake Refinery and Asbestos

For much of the last century, in cases where heat or fire was a risk, various forms of asbestos were chosen as insulation. Materials that contained asbestos, therefore, were commonly utilized when building facilities like Chevron Corporation's Salt Lake Refinery. Resistance to reactive chemicals is perhaps a less well-known property of some forms of amphibole asbestos. Because of this, asbestos was used in coating materials, benches and safety clothes. There is no question that asbestos was excellent at safeguarding against flames or high temperatures. This ability, however, came with a tragic cost in terms of human health.

In general, amosite was the type of asbestos utilized. The brown color of amosite is a result of iron molecules in its chemical makeup; this also causes amosite to be resistant to acidic chemicals like those used in plants like the Chevron Salt Lake Refinery. Used for decades in the form of asbestos transite in laboratories, refineries and chemical plants across the country, amosite was eventually disallowed for construction purposes in the 1970s.

Asbestos transite could be sprayed onto pipes and ductwork and laminated in the same way cement could. For the most part, new items made with transite were innocuous since the asbestos particles were encapsulated in the transite. However, as this transite got older, it was prone to becoming powdery, which caused the lethal, tiny fibers to flake off into the atmosphere. Asbestos in this state is considered friable, or able to be reduced to powder by hand pressure alone. Laboratory and chemical plant kilns also almost always contained friable asbestos in insulation linings.

Why Friable Asbestos Is a Problem

Friable asbestos is dangerous since in this form the fibers are easily dispersed into the atmosphere. Breathing asbestos fibers can cause conditions like cancer or asbestosis. Another rare, and often fatal, disease linked to asbestos is mesothelioma. The pleural variety of the disease, one which affects the tissue that lies between the lungs and the pleural cavity, is the most prevalent. Peritoneal and pericardial mesothelioma are caused by swallowing fibers of asbestos, which happens when the microscopic particles become airborne and land on food or in beverages.

In the past few decades scientists and researchers have learned a lot about the risks that accompany asbestos exposure; therefore there are stringent laws regulating its use. The use of asbestos was more prevalent, however, when oil refineries like Chevron Corporation's Salt Lake Refinery were built. Any asbestos that remains from that time may still pose a health hazard if care is not taken during demolition and remodeling projects.

Asbestos Exposure - a Hidden Danger

Unlike many on-the-job injuries, which are easily observed and known about soon after the causing incident, asbestos-related diseases can take ten, twenty, or even thirty years to manifest. With such a lengthy time between exposure to asbestos and the manifestation of symptoms, the worker may not associate the current health problem with work he or she did up to 40 years earlier. People that worked in or lived near oil refineries like Chevron's Salt Lake plant should, therefore, ask their doctors for a mesothelioma treatment guide. Experimental treatments mesothelioma are being developed in effort to find a mesothelioma cure, and early detection provides the patient the best chance to beat the once deathly disease.

Sources

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) - Laboratories and Shops
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/ASB/acmimages3.html

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Disposal
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/HAZEXCEPTIONS/a.html

US Department of Energy - Petroleum Best Practices Plant-Wide Assessment Case Study
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/pdfs/petrol_cs_chevron_utah.pdf

Utah State Department of Environmental Quality - Chevron Products, Salt Lake Refinery
http://www.hazardouswaste.utah.gov/HWBranch/HWMSection/HazardousWasteManagementSection.htm#Small

UtahRails.net - Utah's Oil industry and Utah's Railroads
http://utahrails.net/industries/oil.php#chevron