National Cooperative

The National Cooperative Refinery Association (NCRA) is a cooperative energy company that focuses on processing crude oil into end products such as gasoline and diesel fuel for farm use. The NCRA is a three-member cooperative comprised of CHS, Inc., Growmark and MFA Oil Company. Each of these three member-owners in turn serves a large number of farmer member-owners.

The NCRA's operations encompass both refining and shipping. Its main base of operations is the McPherson Refinery in Kansas, which has a capacity of 85,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The NCRA's operations also include nearly 650 employees, 1,000 miles of pipe and a fleet of 60 trucks.

About McPherson Refinery

The McPherson Refinery is located in McPherson, Kansas. Approximately 15 percent of the refinery's workload consists of transforming heavy sulfur crude oil into diesel fuel, gasoline and other distillates. The remaining 85 percent of the refinery's workload consists of processing low- and medium-sulfur crude oil.

The low- and medium-sulfur crude oil used at McPherson Refinery generally comes from Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, while the heavy sulfur crude originates in Canada.

In the News

In April of 2002, the McPherson Refinery made news with its belabored efforts to comply with federal regulations regarding equipment and facility upgrades. Changing requirements forced the refinery to find ways to remove additional sulfur from its petroleum-based products, at a projected cost of some $325 million.

Asbestos in Oil Refineries

In the majority of the 20th century, when excessive heat or fire was a danger, the mineral called asbestos was used as a building material. Asbestos-containing materials, therefore, were frequently utilized when constructing oil refineries like McPherson Refinery in Kansas. In addition to being temperature-resistant and non-flammable, certain types of asbestos are also especially resistant to reactive chemicals. Because of the kind of work that occurs in oil refineries, asbestos, therefore, appeared not only in factory buildings, but also in lab equipment, counter tops and protective clothing. Asbestos, however, had a notable downside that was either not known or sometimes deliberately ignored: serious and sometimes fatal medical conditions were caused by asbestos exposure.

Most of this asbestos was of the amosite variety. Frequently referred to as "brown asbestos", amosite is especially resistant to acidic chemicals like those manufactured in Oil Refineries because of the iron molecules in its chemical makeup. This amosite, in the form of asbestos transite, was utilized in chemical plants, oil refineries and labs across the country for many years before it was banned for construction purposes in the 1970s.

Asbestos transite could be molded into working surfaces and sprayed onto pipes and ductwork in the same way cement could. This form of asbestos did not present a health hazard so long as it was solid. As this transite gets older and become prone to becoming powdery, however, lethal, tiny particles can flake off into the air. Asbestos when it is in this condition is considered friable, which means easily crushed. Laboratory and chemical plant kilns also often were constructed with friable asbestos as part of their insulation linings.

The Dangers of Friable Asbestos

Friable asbestos is dangerous since in this state the fibers can be readily dispersed into the air. When someone breathes these particles, they can damage the lungs, resulting in asbestosis. Another unusual, but generally deadly, asbestos-related disease is mesothelioma. The pleural form of the illness, one which attacks the tissue that lies between the lungs and the pleural cavity, is the most common. If the particles of asbestos in the air settle on food or drinks and are subsequently swallowed, peritoneal or pericardial mesothelioma can result, though they are rarer than pleural mesothelioma.

Increased pressure from the medical community and the press forced the creation of laws regulating the use of asbestos. However, when McPherson Refinery in Kansas was first operating, asbestos was more commonplace. And even now, asbestos from long ago may be the source of danger when it is not properly handled during remodeling jobs.

The Lurking Danger of Asbestos

As opposed to many job-related injuries, which are easily observed and known about immediately following the incident, asbestos-related diseases may take ten, twenty, or even thirty years to appear. With such a lag between exposure and the appearance of the resulting disease, the worker may not associate his or her current condition with work done many years ago. People who worked at or lived near sites like McPherson Refinery in Kansas should, therefore, ask their health care for mesothelioma information. Such information can enable doctors to make accurate diagnoses; especially with mesothelioma, the earlier it is caught, the better the odds of survival or eligibility for treatments like mesothelioma surgery.

Sources

Grist - Oil Refineries are full of asbestos, not just carbon
http://www.grist.org/article/it-was-asbestos-times-it-was-the-worst-of-times

Highbeam Research - McPherson, Kan., Commissioners Approve Bonds for Refinery's Use
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-120490727.html

NCRA - Welcome
http://www.ncrarefinery.com/Main/PresidentGreeting/PresidentGreeting.asp

Reuters - CHS Inc.
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?rpc=66&symbol=CHSCP.O

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