Tesoro explosion
Employees who died are heros
Dear Editor:
The explosion at the Tesoro Refinery at Anacortes during routine maintenance, caused five deaths with two additional burn victims.
I would like to say a few words for those who work under very hazardous conditions such as those encountered in the oil industry.
A refinery is a bundle of pipes, pumps, valves, condensers, heaters and storage tanks. It is the most complicated system known to man — more complex than a space rocket.
In order to make gasoline from crude oil it is necessary to heat the hydrocarbons up to about 400 degrees and pass it through a series of fractionating columns which enable the separation of many fractions such as the stuff we put in our gas tank, our airplanes, and burn to heat our houses.
It becomes the material that the petrochemical industry converts into the plastics that we serve our milk in and that Boeing uses to make the 787, including polyethylene, PVC, high strength artificial fibers, nylon and Teflon as well as pharmaceutical intermediates and other stuff. The giant petrochemical industry grew up along the Texas Coast in the 1950s.
During World War II, when we had a shortage of rubber we made synthetic rubber from butadiene and styrene, all derived from oil. During the war, the Germans made gasoline from coal.
But the best source of hydrocarbons is oil.
I take my hat off to all of those who sweat and serve in this dangerous environment.
I send my condolences to the wives and husbands of those who have given their all. These people that gave their lives for us are no less heroes than those that serve in our armed services.
I have a son who served 20 plus years in special services. I worked with Dupont in a dynamite plant, making nitric acid, sulfuric acid, PETN, and many other very dangerous chemicals. But nothing outside of war is tougher and more dangerous than the oil industry.
I watched the Gulfstream G4 leave the Skagit Airport a little after 4 p.m. today returning to Tesoro/San Antonio and tears came into my eyes.
I knew how tough it had to be for the key personnel of Tesoro.
Bob Hooper Camano Island
