This is sort-of an article about something else, but I thought it was just kinda interesting and thought I'd post it here. For any of you who've driven by this thing and wondered about it.
http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto...1_news_01.html
Company considers Whiting, Texas plants as sites for its $1 billion expansion project
Oct. 16, 2005
by lisa shidler / Post-Tribune staff writer
At night, the stretch of land straddling the Indiana Toll Road looks like an enchanting city of twinkling skyscrapers. But during the day, it screams industry.
In some respects, the BP Whiting refinery is both — a symbol of industrial strength, yet also a city all to itself.
Its metal grid-work and 220 oil tanks pique the curiosity of passersby. ItÂ's a mystery to many of those in Northwest Indiana whoÂ've never set foot inside the 1,400-acre plant.
In just one day, the refinery produces enough gasoline to fuel 430,000 automobiles, more than 10,000 farm tractors 22,000 semitractors, 2,000 commercial jet liners and enough fuel to fill 350,000 propane cylinders. ItÂ's a massive collaboration, and itÂ's as much a part of this region as Lake Michigan, the dunes or the steel mills along the shore.
And it could get bigger.
Planning for an expansion that could cost more than $1 billion is in the works at what is already the nationÂ's largest inland refinery.
ItÂ's not yet a sure deal, though.
Company officials also are considering building that expansion at the Texas City refinery.
Whiting Mayor Joe Stahura says heÂ's been in talks with BP officials about the possible expansion and knows there are still hurdles to final approval.
Meanwhile, even in the age of sprawling oil plants, the Northwest Indiana BP plant retains a small-town feel — where instead of loaning one another a cup of sugar, here, theyÂ'll hand out advice.
Â"One of the unique things about the work force is if you have a question, you can always find someone to answer,Â" said Bill Phillips, whoÂ's been working at the plant since the late 1970s. Â"We have a habit of looking out for each other. ItÂ's the only way to live out there.Â"
A secret city
BP officials have carefully organized the plant like a tightly gated community where each person must be accounted for.
Even WhitingÂ's police chief alerts plant security before he enters the gates.
Â"We stay out unless they need us,Â'Â' Whiting Police Chief Stephen Miller said.
Â"We have an excellent working relationship with them. For one of my officers or myself to go into the refinery and figure out where weÂ're going, we donÂ't have a clue. I wouldnÂ't know where to go, and I wouldnÂ't want to jeopardize an officer,Â" Miller said.
BP straddles three cities, but inside the gates itÂ's impossible to tell when youÂ're in Whiting, Hammond or East Chicago. The only real border that stands out is Lake Michigan.
Once in the plant, guests and visitors arenÂ't allowed to drive unescorted, and workers and contractors must abide by plant driving rules or theyÂ'll be ticketed by plant security.
BP officials say 9-11 forced them to beef up security. Long-time employee George Toth said he used to think it was charming when visitors to Northwest Indiana would stand outside the gates and take pictures; now it makes him uneasy.
Â"ItÂ's just not like walking into a public building,Â'Â' Toth said. Â"We have to have accountability for our people.Â"
BP doesnÂ't need much assistance from public agencies because it has its own security department, fire department and even a medical clinic. Firefighters attend the Texas A & M Industrial Fire School.
The company, with its own emergency phone system, usually doesnÂ't need to call 911 operators.
Instead, when an accident or small fire happens at the plant, BP officials handle it on their own, and the event goes undocumented in public police and fire reports.
Inside the plantÂ's gates
Upon entering the plantÂ's gates, all visitors must sign in to a newly built welcome center, which is equipped with a TV set-up to run a 15-minute safety video.
Visitors arenÂ't allowed in the plant without their driverÂ's license and must watch the video and take a quiz on safety.
This is a casual reminder that sets the tone of how dangerous life can be at BP.
Â"ItÂ's a dangerous place to work. ThereÂ's no doubt about it,Â" Phillips said. Â"YouÂ've got to come to work with your eyes open and your head screwed on. ThatÂ's for sure.Â"
Even with a guided tour of the complex plant, itÂ's hard to know where you are most times. Equipment like the catalytic cracker and ultraformer look the same to a newcomer.
Employees like Toth, Tom Keilman and Phillips know the plant inside and out, but to others, the maze of pipes is like trying to put together a 10,000-piece puzzle.
Â"ItÂ's very complex,Â'Â' Phillips said. Â"ItÂ's mind-boggling to a new employee. That first day, you wouldnÂ't even know how to get out of the plant. It all looks the same.Â"
BPÂ's Whiting refinery is one of the largest in the nation and first constructed in 1889 on 235 acres. At the time, 600 barrels of crude oil daily were processed. Now, more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil are processed each day.
Charlie Vesolowski, craft foreman for the Local 150 Operating Engineers, describes the plant as a maze.
Â"This is a pipefitterÂ's Disneyland,Â" he said. Â"Everywhere you look, there are pipes. If you stop and stare, youÂ've got to wonder what kind of mind created this. The pipes are running in every direction conceivable and somehow it all works.Â"
It takes a large, orchestrated effort to run this plant — so much so that some workers are required to go from one end of the plant to another and do so by bicycling. ItÂ's just easier that way.
Phillips has often ridden around on a bike to get to another piece of equipment.
Â"The units are so large itÂ's hard to get from one side of the unit to another,Â'Â' Phillips said. Â"Sometimes, youÂ've got to cover that whole area, and itÂ's an easier way of getting around.Â"
Pipes wind around the plant together in a puzzle that fits together to process the oil into gasoline. Trailers dot the plantÂ's landscape, providing work stations for contractors and some workers.
It takes new employees at least a year to be trained on a job.
And to distinguish one another — all workers are dressed in special attire.
The companyÂ's 1,275 employees wear blue overalls, which they call FRCs, fire retardant clothing. An additional 2,000 contractors dressed in green could be working at the site on any given day.
The 2,000 contractors could be from a wide range of unions, including the Carpenters, Pipefitters or Operating Engineers.
BP takes the crude oil and processes it into a number of products. The crude oil winds around the plant into a maze of processes while itÂ's been turned into products such as Ultimate gasoline, Silver gasoline, jet fuel or furnace oil.
The entire plant is run from one office called central control. The workers call it Â"The Cube.Â" Here, about 15 operators watch monitors filled with numbers explaining every aspect of the gasoline process.
Just feet away, workers have set up their own oasis in a coffee shop, complete with stainless steel refrigerators. TheyÂ've even got their own exercise equipment.
Phillips started at the plant in 1979, and his father had worked there for 37 years before him. HeÂ's now risen in the union ranks to become president of the local, but still works at the refinery several times a month.
Â"It keeps me familiar with the work going on in the plant.Â"
Keilman, who has worked at the plant since 1998 in government affairs, had been familiar with the oil industry his whole life because of relatives who worked for such companies. But when he began working at BP, it was the first time heÂ'd been to the plant.
Â"It was an interesting time of my life. I had the opportunity to spend a few days just visiting units to understand the more technical aspects of how things work,Â" Keilman said. Â"I got to climb up on a couple of units. ItÂ's very interesting and definitely gave me a better perspective.Â"> |
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