Updated BP Texas City Animation on the 15th Anniversary of the Explosion

[@Fekillix]

I wish every disaster documentary on TV was like this and not the terrible clickbait-dramatizations they are now.

[@HuskyKMA]

Exactly. Real life is scary enough.

You're asking for a more intelligent audience.

[@boggy7665]

The folks who produced this are the national and world experts in the field. The average TV show is produced by people who know TV production, maybe, but are often clueless about science and nature. My dad was a college prof, always urged his students if they were interested in journalism or media, to be experts in something else first, not be only a journalism or media major. Unfortunately, that may not be what sells to the media executives.

[@FarnhamJ07]

@@boggy7665 Sure, most TV producers aren't experts on the matter, but they don't need to be: they hire consultants to boil down the information for them. That's exactly how this video was made, after all; a third-party production company made this, not the CSB itself! TV producers' lack of understanding isn't the problem, it's the commercialization. They've gotta make everything sound as dramatic as possible, leave huge cliffhangers, make misleading headlines, ask irrelevant rhetorical questions, &c.

[@boggy7665]

@@FarnhamJ07 Yes, the video craftsmanship is excellent. Without the 'consultants', the people who actually did the investigation, worked out what happened, made it into something that most laymen could understand, commissioned the video company.. the video technicians would have nothing.

[@Beardwhip]

Damn. 30 12 hour shifts in a row. No wonder these fellas were leaving early / coming in late.

[@marvinm5038]

Beardwhip that’s normal

[@Beardwhip]

@@marvinm5038 that's pretty hardcore, God bless all the refinery workers

[@nickaustin6616]

It may be common, but that doesn't mean it's safe or acceptable.

[@jasonoutman420]

Tell that to the military

[@greenyawgmoth]

I love how 3:39 so perfectly conveys that feeling of "I am so damn sick of this".

[@ArK047]

That coffee stain in that log book is a stamp of authenticity and realism for this video.

[@VoidHalo]

That's one thing I like about these videos. They have great attention to detail that other people wouldn't normally think to include. Or bother taking the time to include if they do think of it.

[@sturmovik5448]

The way that the guy put his head back against the chair as he started his 30th twelve-hour shift...

[@Legacymedia929]

@@sturmovik5448 I did 12 hour shifts once in my life (panama, so I never pulled 30 in a row). That is the same energy I had walking into day 3 of 12s.

[@hewi5659]

Seconds on the clock

[@SB-xt5jk]

@@VoidHalo Agreed. The corrosion of the metal inside the pipes. It really matters. It doesn't seem like it would and I probably couldn't justify it if I was the producer but it matters.

[@bloodhawk122]

"What if they put more than 9 feet in?" "Nah, they'll never do that"

[@theultimatehuman]

"Why would they do that? It would explode if they did that."

[@omkarbhalsing3821]

Nope.... Listen at 7.50 They started draining the tower but still kept the feeding

[@sauercrowder]

Well it did have two separate high level alarms, to be fair

[@FlameDarkfire]

@@sauercrowder One of which didn't work apparently.

[@sauercrowder]

@@FlameDarkfire Yeah and another was ignored

[@darrelchovanec9150]

I am retired after working in a chemical plant for 38 years, most of the latter years as a designated control room operator. In my area among other processes we had an Hydrogen plant for the making of hydrogen. As the senior operator on my shift at times I had one field operator with six months experience who probably couldn't have changed the oil in his car and one guy who had a little over one years experience. Both were eventually let go. The field operators had as their boss, an engineer who had very little chemical plant experience and no understanding of the H2 process. As a board operator, my boss was the plant emergency director who was in charge of all units in a huge plant and knew very little about our particular process. So having a supervisor there is not always going to make much difference. So I had to make all decisions during startups and shutdowns and everyday operations as far as how operational tasks were done. This is how many of our refineries and chemical plants are being run these days as plants cut workers and try to get by with less despite aging field equipment. Multiple people on our site worked 700 to 1200 hours of overtime per year besides the built in overtime of the 12 hour shifts. At times our plant that once had a rule of a maximum of 16 working hours soon had us working 18 hour days or nights in the middle of our 12 hour sets. It is not surprising that these type accidents happen at all. I'm surprised they don't happen more often actually!

[@greg4272]

This is what I felt too. No real skills and expert, but bloody certificates, papers and titles. They are then seen as the proper measures for doing the work. So corrupt! Also, the bloody company hierarchy is to be blamed too. The actual work and related decisions are not down to the man who actually does it, but instead he is treated like a robot, who has to carry out orders from a higher dickhead in the hierarchy, who knows fuck all about the process.

[@stonkwhisperer5590]

Yes. It's a hierarchical culture that creates this type of disaster. "Let's make sure those idiot blue collar tradesmen are wearing gloves because our insurance rates are what's most important. We don't need experience in the control room because: Experienced people are too expensive/hard headed, we can engineer experience into the system; and we can write books/procedures that contain experience. The educated control room people are too smart to make stupid mistakes with all this engineering in place."

[@whogavehimafork]

I'm surprised too. Sleep deprivation can really take a toll on your body and this can certainly be a major problem with more dangerous jobs. I mean just think about how many injuries, deaths, fires, and general disasters occurred back in the day when safety regulations didn't exist yet.

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

As a retired union industrial painter I have worked in numerous chemical and petro plant's, including Rubbertown in Louisville KY, and refineries in Houston Texas. I hated this part of my job more than anything, and quit for a year once due to repeatedly being sent to DuPont in Louisville, we called it the Russian front. These plants were an accident waiting to happen. Pipes, valves, and tanks so corroded we joked the only thing holding them together was the paint. The nasty smells, the leaking pipes, the choking vapors was widespread. I'm so glad I'll never have to work in a chemical plant again, and I seriously pray for those who do. Thanks

[@LastAvailableAlias]

I'm surprised by how few indicators they have in place in some of these systems. I'd think they'd want things like liquid level indicators, flow meters, pressure sensors, etc in every place there could be an issue and need to be monitored. How could this tower fill up like this with no warning?

[@IU_fanboy]

6:34 "to attend a company lunch celebrating a month without a lost time injury" oh how ironic

[@user-lz8wb6th2u]

Those were Contractors for BP who had nothing to do with the Startup. No experienced leadership and deviating from procedures caused this!!!

[@nazrac220]

The Deepwater Horizon had a safety celebration as well. Then they had a catastrophe.

[@dinkledankle]

@@user-lz8wb6th2u The irony is not blame, it is tragedy. The contractors were having a lunch to celebrate no injuries, just hours before they'd lose their lives. That is the irony.

[@pete4082]

That they thought it appropriate to celebrate only *30 days* without a severe injury is just callous. Think how long it had been with minimum 1 serious injury every month to make them want to party. Talk about warning flags...

[@HaXD1209]

It’s like a comedy show

[@chrisparkes]

Honestly, credit to the team who put this animation together: it's so coherent even to a layman, laying out complex chemistry, logistics and engineering in a way that makes the severity of the cascade of decisions and co-incidences completely transparent.

[@Exarian]

I think its important for the general public to really understand how accidents like this happen and why safety regulations exist. There's a tendency for people to write off a lot of these regulations as "paranoid bureaucrats trying to justufy their job's existence" but the reality is, common sense isn't adequate for industrial safety.

[@MajorT0m]

The new SFX are stupid though.

[@Misha-dr9rh]

​@@MajorT0m They're beautiful, not stupid.

[@nasanasa3415]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIbIgqBsjbqDkMk

[@jenniferlogan-porter9788]

Agreed 👏

[@trespire]

Regulations written in blood. Every detail presented needs to be taken to heart.

[@CharlesVanNoland]

More than one alarm failed to go off, unbelievable!

[@LeafseasonMagbag]

trespire not while industry lobbyists have their power

[@VoidHalo]

Not as long as corporations remain the way they are. The reason they play fast and loose with regulations is because money money money. As a whole, that's a corporation's primary goal is to make money. They are genuinely psychopathic entities that don't give two shits about human life when it comes to making money. Just look at the cases of white phosphorous poisoning among women who made matches in the 1800s and compare it with the women painting luminous paint made of radium on clocks who were poisoned in the early 1900s. The two cases have so many striking similarities. It's a sad, but true fact that history inevitably repeats itself. The only time things change is when these corporations finally end up with their backs against the wall when they go too far, and by that point people have already died. And even then, they'll drag their feet as much as possible and try to prevent things from changing. And even then, there's no guarantee they'll even follow new regulations. Just look how long it took for companies to stop using child workers after child labour laws were put into place. Most companies still use child labour, but do so in countries where it's still okay. So even regulations aren't enough. End rant.

[@willow091]

Regulations are just suggestions if you work for the wrong outfit.

[@immortanjoe9362]

Tell that to the people running the place. They say they care about regulations and rules, then ask you to go directly against them afterwards. The sad thing is when things go wrong and someone gets hurt or dies, they immediately assemble their lawyers and shift blame to the hurt or deceased. It's commonplace in union/nonunion shops across the US.

[@brotherjosh6243]

By watching these USCSB videos, I've learned so much about fill lines, hot work, process deviations, couplers, feeds, distillers, blowdown drums, ISOM units, and other industrial chemical mumbo jumbo I never knew anything about before. Very educational.

[@imjohnfreeman]

same, and i'm really looking forward to never using any of the knowledge i've gained from these vids

[@femolevsky]

As a Process Engineer and a Process Plant Operations Chief, I am seething with anger at all the process alarms that were ignored or that failed to go off, still the plant was being run. This video indicts me and my operations as well, where laxity has allowed a few "minor" process safety guidelines to be ignored and/or bypassed. This is instructive! Thank you.

[@hddbdbsbzb4026]

Same! I was in disbelief the whole video.

[@hddbdbsbzb4026]

Especially the "vent" high liquid alarm that failed, is there really a more important and scary alarm to go off in a plant? And imagine it vent to free air and not a flame stack! And that they allow ignitable items in a freaking highly flammable process plant. Sorry for coarse language I am just really upset😅

[@femolevsky]

@@hddbdbsbzb4026 WITH AUTO IGNITION!! LOL, I totally get this....

[@MatiasOrwell]

@@hddbdbsbzb4026 I was wondering too why there wasnt a flare. What kind of plant is that where hydrocarbons are driven to atm..its a suicide.

[@Y2KNW]

You buys could commission a video game where the player does after-accident analysis to find out the cause of an industrial accident and I'd buy that game in a heartbeat.

[@LC-qi5ff]

Me too

[@Luke14616]

Hey it would be better than COD lol

[@blackbird_actual]

Like L.A. Noire, but you work as a 1950s industrial disaster investigator and get to question plant managers about why they did this or that and threaten to "take them around back to jog their memory" 😅

[@Y2KNW]

@@blackbird_actual (Press X to Doubt. Press X and hold with something equipped to get further information)

[@greenyawgmoth]

CSB Investigation Simulator would be an instant purchase for me on Steam.

[@prayformojo1117]

RIP to the Fluor and Jacobs Employees killed in this disaster. They worked safely on their turnaround scope and paid the price for BP's negligence.

[@Y0uMayCallMeV]

I've had a chance to work with some Fluor crews on the gulf coast. For the most part they were decent, hardworking guys. Such a terrible price they had to pay for BP's negligence.

[@FromThe3PointLine]

@Def Tones can you ask your father if he knows who the 2 employees in the diesel pickup were working for for me please. Maybe Brock?

[@raymondweaver8526]

The deficiencies of the level indicators should have been caught in a good PHA

[@cowboywoodard2569]

I agree, so much with you I survived a pipeline explosion, hate when others ignore safety!

[@frankc5385]

I worked with quite a bit of people that were in that explosion, the stories are crazy. One man told me the only way they identified his helper was by her teeth….

[@antoniobranch]

"Your animation is flat out outstanding".

[@Abbottanimation3D]

Many thanks!

[@SupSupa10]

​@@Abbottanimation3D Hi Abbott Animation, Did you use Fumefx ?

[@MikeF1189]

Just amazing. Well done

[@jacobgold5845]

@@Abbottanimation3D Really impressive. Especially noteworthy is the explosion itself with the shock front and the particle effects of air being pulled back toward the explosion.

[@Abbottanimation3D]

@@SupSupa10 No, we used PhoenixFD from Chaos Group for all of our smoke, fluid and most of the fire fx. Additionally, it primarily made use of Autodesk Maya for the modeling and animation, Vray for the textures, and was composited using Blackmagic Fusion, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere.

[@TheColinRegan]

3:35 The board operator plopping down in his chair, leaning back and staring at the ceiling is an entire mood

[@mixail267]

Big respect for you from a common worker on the oil refinery in Russia. You materials are very interesting and very informative. Keep up the good work!

[@Bundaboy90]

Now this is the voice that can get us throught this corona virus isolation.

[@em1osmurf]

and in 3 years he'll maybe make a vid about how certain agencies flubbed it and got us to where we are now. my wife and i are in the "catch covid and die" group. a very real comment, Joey.

[@LORD-xg2ks]

Explain your view of flubbed.

[@michaelmccarthy4615]

The voice of reason

[@ReverendTed]

I can just hear Sheldon narrating, even if COVID-19 isn't really under CSB's jurisdiction: "Warnings regarding coronaviruses existing in Chinese bat caves went ignored for over a decade," "As a cost-cutting measure, the pandemic response team was disbanded in 2018", "as the infection was ravaging China and taking hold in the United States, the president downplayed the severity of the outbreak," "a lockdown was instituted, but by then it was too late..."

[@canamxmr4760]

Up there with Morgan Freeman’s narration and forensic files narrator. Very good.

[@Ryvucz]

People saying its a reupload, but fail to notice it is an updated video for an interactive training program.

[@FarnhamJ07]

It's both. They originally uploaded this remake several hours ago, but apparently forgot to include the credits at the end. So they reuploaded it!

[@LeafseasonMagbag]

I watch these with my father, who worked on a BP oil rig in the Gulf for many years. He likes to try and count all the mistakes and lapses that lead to these incidences, but this time he had to stop about a quarter of the way through. Just couldn't keep track.

[@MultiTurbospeed]

Theirs so many mistakes that I'm surprised that they don't just shut everything down

[@LeafseasonMagbag]

@@peterk1821 Many countries have regulatory requirements that make it so they need multiple layers of protections, but in the US those tend to be viewed as "unnecessary drags on production" On paper, one alarm should work, but anyone even cursorily familiar with industrial accidents knows thats bullshit. In the end, these industries are wealthy enough that they don't really care in part of a plant blows up, and a load of people die. They have to *be made to care* or else nothing happens

[@thefridgeman]

Two words buddy: deepwater horizon. Another BP jewel.

[@LeafseasonMagbag]

@@thefridgeman I lost a distant relative when the Deepwater blew up. I didn't know him personally, but I remember the effect it had on my family

[@fort809]

@@MultiTurbospeed why would they shut down? The plant was still profitable, and the corporation knows if it goes bad all that’ll happen is a few expendable work drones will die and their buddies in Congress will keep them from suffering any real consequences

[@vg8527]

The level of realism is insane with the minor details such as the coffee stain in the notebook to the seagulls outside

[@ComradeCovert]

the quality on these videos has become so good I keep coming back and waiting for more

[@aaronnoyb]

This disaster was set in motion years before. Restreaming a heavy ends processing unit, as a light ends unit and not connecting it to the refinery blowdown system, to save money. There's an entire theme of BP's cost savings, producing dead bodies. Had it had blowdown connection to the flare, it would have been a nothing. An atmospheric release knockout drum, on a light ends unit, was a grenade, waiting to go off.

[@bretatvs]

Aaron Noyb yup not Hooked up to the flare

[@BlowsTube]

Check out this line from the CSB report: The CSB found evidence to document eight serious ISOM blowdown drum incidents from 1994 to 2004; in two, fires occurred. In six, the blowdown system released flammable hydrocarbon vapors that resulted in a vapor cloud at or near ground level that could have resulted in explosions and fires if the vapor cloud had found a source of ignition. So for TEN YEARS before this incident this blow down drum and the instrumentation on this tower were known to be faulty.

[@jefftheriault7260]

A thousand lb. bomb waiting to go off.

[@sup2069]

"Tries to process industrial speak, gives up and gives like anyhow." 🤣

[@WadcaWymiaru]

What was need were overflow with huge-dump tank not the flaring system. Fire is the last thing you need in the rafinery.

[@sinbadaz]

This one is definetly a killer for CSB drinking game. But also whole time I was waiting for someone to use admin override password.

[@LeafseasonMagbag]

I watch these with my father, who spent years working on an oil rig. He likes to try and count all the mistakes sometimes, but this time he just stopped about a quarter of the way through.

[@microdesigns2000]

The way it looks, there was hardly anyone there to use any password.

[@testy462]

That and didn't see anyone silence an alarm.

[@WadcaWymiaru]

All systems should have radio-automated valve shut-down if excessive amount of hydrocarbons were detected in the air.

[@JoeSkylynx]

It just kept getting worse and worse. As soon as the "oh yeah, and gas fumes" came up I was like, "oh boy... Here we go"

[@microdesigns2000]

Going home early, coming in late, half days, shitty logs, shitty sensors, sounds pretty bunkin' to me.

[@jefftheriault7260]

Sounds like corporate attitude sinking in at the operational level.

[@dev0random]

Probably one guy doing everything and being overwhelmed with the sheer complexity of the system. Run into this every plant I have been too lately and of course their bosses blame them for things breaking down.

[@richardduplessis3023]

Sounds very BP to me.

[@dev0random]

They'll run out of miracle workers soon.

[@rexjolles]

When you work 12 hour shifts you want to get out.

[@djohnsto2]

The 3D work in these videos is consistently very high quality - Some of the best I've seen in the industry. Amazing job!

[@isbestlizard]

God this is so good, like whoever did this you've got a artistic talent as a director! That shot of the office chair just spinning in the foreground evokes such loneliness for the poor operator in the blurred background desperately trying to cope on his own. Wow

[@ronniewall1481]

BP has long history of violating rules and proceedures.

[@lfrankow]

And just to think, they did it all again with the Horizon only 5 years after this one. Money allows all kinds of eyes to turn the other way.

[@summerrr1]

lfrankow That was Transocean not BP. BP just got the blame from Obama because he hates the British.

[@BlowsTube]

@@summerrr1 I have no clue about Obama's personal love or hate towards the British, but your statement is too simplified. Transocean, Haliburton, Cameron and BP all had a role to play in the accident. An industrial accident is never one factor, it's multiple factors that all happen to align at exactly the wrong moment. In this case, BP just happened to have the deepest pockets. If the brakes go out on your Ford vehicle, you're not going to see the brake caliper company, you're going to sue Ford. BP had the contract with Transocean to drill the well so they were ultimately responsible.

[@Bacony_Cakes]

you don't say

[@ffandrewd2986]

That’s why I would never work for them lmao

[@br6768]

Boy you know you messed up when the government makes a safety video out of you.

[@ffandrewd2986]

FOR REAL THOOO 🤣

[@dossube]

LMAO

[@michaelstout776]

"It's only 3.6 BTUs, not great, but not terrible."

[@kamaumau]

3 mins in..lol

[@BenjaminGSlade]

Funny, I thought was from a different real life disaster: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZSlh3-DfbBpmZo

[@R2k2]

“It is at 9 feet, but that’s only as high as this indicator goes”....

[@moriallen643]

@@R2k2 sounds like we should add a little more.... to be safe it doesnt empty

[@mackenzieowens161]

oh god xD

[@kummer45]

The quality of this VIDEO is absurdly high. The documentation, animation, presentation, narration and scripting is a complete documentary of the highest standards. I consider this video EXTREMELY rare. Quality like this doesn't happen so often.

[@RealMyrmidon]

These videos are highly educational. No drama (clickbait titles and such), straight facts, great narration. Terrible accidents explained very well. It almost sounds like David Attenborough...

[@PulsePersonalTraining]

A terrible tragedy, but this animation and voice work are top-notch. This is how almost everything should be explained.

[@peterkwolek2265]

This guy could narrate Planet Earth nature documentaries.

[@mattmarzula]

Yeah. For people who can't read.

[@hippityhoppityyourchildiso8803]

Can we agree that we’re glad our tax dollars are going to this?

[@moriallen643]

Yes! I'd voluntarily give them my money to keep this shit up lol. Best federal administration ever

[@Nicholas-f5]

And to oil profits

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

@@Nicholas-f5 Oil is still a vital strategic resource, like it or not. It will continue to be critical for the next 50 years. You don't remember the 1970s. The oil crisis can never be allowed to happen again.

[@Vaderghost20]

No. their a British company.

[@bretthepler722]

I literally just commented this.

[@ddlyman]

quality of these videos just keeps rising!

[@nopegaming2117]

Quality is these videos is rising faster than that vapor cloud expanded

[@unintentionallydramatic]

Kinda hoping they're gonna switch to Source Film Maker. Would allow them to crank stuff faster and cheaper.

[@TheCarson116]

@@unintentionallydramatic Not sure what animation software Abbott Animation is using to produce these videos, but I know that it's a THOUSAND times better than SFM. (videos like these show that clearly) And besides, the CSB's a government-related agency with a lot of money, so why wouldn't they hire a professional animation company like Abbott to animate these segments? They want these videos to look good and professionally-made after all, and therefore they can't be using free off-the-shelf software like SFM.

[@gekfurian]

The explosion scene is mindblowing

[@TheCarson116]

@@gekfurian If you ask me EVERYTHING about these newer videos is mind-blowing, including realism and attention to detail. Also is that a (rather cruel) pun?

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Damn it CSB, as a foreigner I don't even know who you are, but your videos/modelling/comments are the cream of the crop ! =) Wayyyyy better than _Seconds from Disaster_ and many other programs !

[@aholegunner]

This video was FANTASTIC. Whoever made this animation deserves some serious credit. You have beyond amazing skills! Just simply... WOW!

[@JPG23]

"Complacency kills!" We see it it on hard hats, bumper stickers, lunch tents, and even hear it in safety meetings daily, but some never take it seriously until an incident occurs. Hopefully these new videos will help reduce complacency in these unforgiving environments

[@kirgan1000]

contradictory requirement kill, the level is not to be to low, so the operator want to be safe and raises the level......

[@313comput]

Really need that inside upper management's offices.

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

​@@kirgan1000That's why upper and lower limits exist. "Don't go under this, and don't go over this." It's not that hard to understand

[@chillmolder]

I'm just amazed at the detailed summary of events, animations, explanation. It's like watching a Discovery show from the 2000s that actually educated you. This is something we need more than ever in today's world.

[@84953]

It's a training film.

[@Innerbrave]

I'm a simple man. I see a new USCSB upload with my favorite narrator, I immediately click.

[@catpawjack7367]

name of the narrator?

[@Exarian]

Glad my taxes go to this stuff. worth every penny.

[@cuz129]

I ran a refinery. We always brought on a second board operator for starting up units after extended maintenance and always had 24 hour supervision as well. Most safety issues happen on start-up and shutdowns, just like most plane crashes happen on take off and landing.

[@BachiroH24]

Hats off to the accident investigation team members🎩🎩🎩

[@performa9523]

Brilliant stuff- good to know that someone is looking into these accidents and working to highlight safety system shortcomings and failures! I'm glad my taxes fund work like this!

[@jmannUSMC]

Now if we could only get the refineries to stop half arsing safety. I'd happily pay a bit more for gas if it meant less disasters like this happening again.

[@boggy7665]

The Trumpublicans have tried to eliminate this agency. Apparently they've not totally succeeded as of the date of this posting.

[@performa9523]

@@boggy7665 No surprise there unfortunately. If only we could somehow roll the USCSB into the Department of Defense- then the GOP would fund them forever! ;)

[@br6768]

To be fair though an accident is rarely this bad.

[@agoniaXdunya]

Rd now this is distasteful

[@TheOwenMajor]

Reupload? Doesn't matter watched it a second time!

[@playful1510]

Anyone wondering about the reupload, it looks like it's because they forgot to attach the credits to the end

[@ForumArcade]

I can respect that.

[@edyflak]

Gotta give credit to Sheldon Smith’s boomy, velvety voice.

[@scorpio6587]

Thank you

[@SecretSauceyjuice]

At least they did it on the 15th anniversary. Makes it somewhat significant.

[@roxanne533]

Wow, the "clarity" of the animation is dramatically different than the ones before. Really outstanding.

[@isbestlizard]

OH MY GOD you gave the explosion a refractive index blast front this is the BEST

[@gregorymalchuk272]

The guy who narrates these videos is awesome and needs some recognition. He is like the David Attenborough of chemical disasters.

[@DumbledoreMcCracken]

👏

[@VelocityLP]

His name is Sheldon Smith!

[@FatalShotGG]

No David Attenborough is the Sheldon Smith of nature docs

[@anasnoor1108]

Nobody noticed the column pressure; column temperature. Nobody bothered to purge out the local gage glasses. So many misoperation clues. It seemed as if people weren't actually interested in their job. Nobody since 1950's thought to connect the relief valves to the flare system. The vapor blow down drum had no pump out provision. That's like inviting a disaster to party with them.

[@CraigWinsr]

Anas Noor they noticed the pressure/temperature that’s why they closed in two burners, that’s why product was rerouted to storage tanks which brought the temperature up in the effluent/reflux exchanger. Blowing down the local LG wouldn’t of done anything other then confirming the liquid was still above 9’ as already indicated. Old design, poor engineering, lack of PM especially on the toilet bowl float inside of the tower lol and very little redundant fail safe equipment. You’re right, tying in your flare to a BD drum open to atmosphere is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

[@anasnoor1108]

C W Yes, you're right; they noted. But to dismay, their actions weren't sufficient. I meant to say that they should have manually checked and cross verified the level once they noted increasing pressure and turned two burners off. They could have avoided the catastrophic party that followed.

[@anasnoor1108]

C W Had they estimated the true level, they could have avoided the rise in temperature and could have bypassed the pre heat exchanger; or could have locally drained the contents to API sewer (although that is hazardous too). Lack of engineering design is coupled with operational negligence.

[@DrMemory667]

BP makes money not by working smarter or with better equipment. They get rid of people and "unnecessary tests" till they blow up a place. This refinery. Deepwater Horizon. That was A BP operated barge for oil spills that wasn't ready when the Exxon Valdez ran aground.

[@AKAtheA]

I find it pretty impressive that they even could fill the whole 90ft tower without it buckling and the same goes for the blow down drum. What's even more impressive is that nobody seemed to be missing over a tanker truck worth of gasoline until it geisered out of the blow down drum smoke stack.

[@drewsteitz6321]

FANTASTIC graphics... Great jump in quality...

[@Theonlyoneleft1000]

This has got to be one of the most successful government youtube channels

[@colleenross8752]

And should be mandatory viewing for everyone planning to work at plants like this

[@RepayEvilWithGood]

I still think about how I was going to apply for a job here in early 2005 and how if I had not continued on the path to creating an online store with Yahoo for 12 hours over two days, I could have been one of the injured or killed! Watching this literally sent chills up my spine and I feel really bad for all those injured and those who lost loved ones because of the lack of controls at this plant

[@TheCarson116]

While the disaster itself is very unfortunate, it is nice to see the USCSB going back and re-animating older videos. I'm sure they won't do this with every single of their older ones, because that of course would take too long and too much work, but still, nice to see they did one at least. They've actually made three animations of this same incident: one all the way back in 2005 (though posted in 2007) when their channel was just getting started, one a year later in 2008 with slightly upgraded models, textures, etc, and finally this one, which of course is the best of them all (quality-wise at least). Again, sad that 15 workers lost their lives as a result of this incident, but just the same nice to see this incident updated to 2020's animation quality standards. Also nice to know that Sheldon Smith's still narrating, he actually narrated the 2008 version of this animation almost word-for-word with what you hear in this version. ALSO also nice to know that the CSB's developing an interactive training program: the best they can do is educate the public about these incidents to help prevent them from happening again. After all, the employees of every company in the world are also members of the public, and therefore the best thing anyone can do is spread the word about these incidents to the public which may help them prevent a disaster at their company

[@x--.]

Unbelievable, so many chances to prevent an accident. At least as many as lives lost on that day. I cannot imagine the hubris of these corporate leaders -- these plants are monsters, yeah, most of the time you've got them tamed and under control but when you forget... when you forget the beasts you are dealing with they smack you in the face. Everyone from the designers of the system, to the maintenance team that didn't make sure overfill alarms were working, to their supervisors, to the people dealing with the system on the day. It's like they all collectively forgot that they were dealing with these giant bombs and figured their little screw-ups would never be a big deal, same with the accountants who cut a 2nd chair.

[@haza123b4]

*What was wrong with the design? Except maybe plant layout.*

[@x--.]

@@haza123b4 Having not read the CSB report I'm going to dare to infer some design flaws: The fluid level gauge that could fail in such a way that it would read lower level of fill than present, the over-fill mechanisms that could fail without being readily apparent, the failure to include more than 2 overfill devices given the propensity of the devices and the fill gauge to fail, a fluid gauge that could only measure a small percentage of the tank-fill, not planning for the gas relief system to handle an overflow; in the control room with the SCADA (I think) the failure to show input amounts next to fill amounts, the failure to clearly identify an overfill event as a root cause when there were multiple alarm events, and I'm sure there are some I'm missing. The tl;dr is when a failure case includes, "then it explodes and kills people," it needs to be planned for instead of what I'm used to hearing from designers, "Well, no one would ever do that," or it's friend, "Well, don't do that."

[@x--.]

@Jangus Roundstone You, sir, are far beyond me. I had to Google dfmea. I'm glad someone out there is modeling solutions.

[@Y0uMayCallMeV]

@@haza123b4 I'd argue that the fluid level indicator being incapable of reading more than 10% of the tower's available volume is a design flaw, as is the lack of redundant sensors. The lack of volumetric calculation in the DCS is also a flaw. It's pretty simple to have a control system calculate the current volume of a vessel using the input and output flow rates. That would have been another positive indicator of overfill.

[@haza123b4]

@@x--. *The vessel was not supposed to fill beyond that level so having such as large level range might have been deemed unnecessary. Also is there any guarantee that an operator would have seen that level? If someone did check, they already saw it was at its max level and would have investigated further.* *They obviously should have had a compressive system (probably including automated) to prevent overfilling.* *It seems there were a litany of mistakes which weren't related to equipment design.*

[@Central_CoastRotors]

I worked in refineries, paper mills and shipyards for 40 years as a pipe fitter.....this is an excellent animation.....great job..!

[@stingsbaseball1]

I live in Texas city and my dad worked at BP/Marathon for 35+ years. I was 8 when this happened and I’ll never forget sitting in school and the explosion blew all the outside doors open and shook everything.

[@bahamut256]

This is an excellent animation, you guys are improving in leaps and bounds.

[@TheJttv]

USCSB please protect Sheldon Smith at all costs! ❤

[@lewiemcneely9143]

And remember John Bresland.

[@oglo2011]

And Harambe

[@FromThe3PointLine]

@@lewiemcneely9143 who's John B?

[@lewiemcneely9143]

@@FromThe3PointLine The chairman from the UK.

[@FromThe3PointLine]

@@lewiemcneely9143 oh okay I thought it was a life lost due to the incident

[@twokharacters]

My word is this ever an impactful production. These CSB peeps are stepping up their game.

[@crandria2001]

Honestly, this might be the best educaitonal video I've ever watched.

[@kdevus]

This is the most to the point documentary perfection I've ever seen. The narrator is perfect, the droning ambient music, perfect. The visualization is perfect. I could watch these all day.

[@socialcivilian2703]

Thank you, USCSB. This is an eye-opening demonstration and I appreciate your continued efforts in creating this content.

[@viebien79]

The quality of this video is much better. I hope they reupload a few other videos with this quality.

[@NorBdelta]

I don't know why KZbin Recommends me these videos, but I am glad it does. A lot of disasters you see broadcasted are completely opaque to the general public and these videos fill in all the gaps in understanding.

[@robotslug]

Damn, you all are stepping up these graphics. I hope it brings awareness to those who need it most. To the rest of us, we can learn a lil somethin while eating our lunch. Thanks for keeping the watch.

[@oo-bb4qs]

This KZbin channel is a beacon of the strength of democracy. Brings a tear to the eye.

[@ptonpc]

A near perfect example of the chain of events leading to an accident. This could have been prevented at any stage, including the budget cuts from 1999.

[@1978garfield]

If the BP Amoco merger had been stopped I suspect this accident would not have happened.

[@SynthD]

Bet the money they saved with those budget cuts was nothing compared to the amount they had to pay out to the families of those lost and the fines accrued

[@ptonpc]

@@SynthD You would hope but it's often not the case.

[@kelly2631]

@@SynthD Oftentimes you only pay out a few million in these cases, and lawyers can bullshit you out of any legal repercussions. The biggest cost to the company that occurred here was probably damaged equipment and a bit of bad PR. It's important to remember that we are just numbers to companies.

[@TheBanjoShowOfficial]

"they went to go eat lunch for a one month celebration of no injuries" damn.

[@apl175]

4:06 - I like how "CHINA KING" is one of the soft button speed-dial presets on the display of the IP Phone.

[@SYH653]

Ya gotta eat on your mandatory overtime shifts.

[@jslade5180]

Highly recommended viewing for anyone working in the fields of operations, I&C (Instrumentation & Control) and process control graphics and alarm design - regardless of their current industry. Also recommended is the hour long 2008 version (CSB Safety Video: Anatomy of a Disaster) where they go into greater detail for those who are interested.

[@leonelmartinez2486]

I work at the plant as a security guard and i know one person who was there during this. A lot of other workers told me that bp contractors were horrendous at doing their jobs, often dropping screws and tools from various towers. Marathon now owns that part of the plant and rebuilt ultracracker. Recently though there was a propane gas leak that no one reported but luckily was caught in time. They also now have blast resistant buildings for security as when the incident happened workers suffocated from fumes and were pinned down by large pieces of shrapnel.

[@UserNotFound-mw4hp]

"Qualified supervisor" Shows up late 1 hr+ Leaves early bullshit excuse Yeah, highly qualified

[@Ryarios]

Or simply exhausted...

[@Hertz2pp]

Hell yea, this guy definitely got fired lol

[@timmccarthy872]

Since when is a family medical emergency a "bullshit excuse"? Of the reasons why this disaster happened, that's the most legitimate. We Americans don't get universal healthcare, you know, because of the idiots we elect.

[@jfnotk255]

Whatever the reson was, that can allways happen. And it's up to the company to handle that.

[@willow091]

@@timmccarthy872 All these people make so much money they could afford to buy YOUR healthcare as a rounding error on their bank accounts.

[@LurkMoar101]

We have now reached the next level of quality here. Magnifique \o/

[@moutrap]

Wow the chain of event is so sad with so many mistakes and equipment failure. Great narration, great animation

[@oreoisntacat]

I love this video so much and can’t stop coming back to it every few months, everyone who worked on this did an outstanding job and I, so happy it’s available to the public. I can’t thank you enough

[@xW01F]

I clicked on one of these videos and now they appear in my recommendation daily. I feel like a safety expert now.

[@monteclark1115]

@4:05. Great attention to detail, they even included a realistic coffee stain on the note book..

[@chrisgsauce]

Props to your animation staff; this is incredible work!

[@em1osmurf]

"Doing it better, faster, more efficiently, costing less and with fewer people". how many places I have worked at with this mindset, that collapsed one way or another? i remember this happening. how terrible. i would be willing to bet that somewhere (if not everywhere) to this day this BS is still occurring.

[@boggy7665]

Yes, front-line workers are stretched to the limit, and if that's not good enough, figure out how to pile on more. Gotta make the quarterly numbers, gotta buy back the stock to enrich the already rich.

[@kieranhimself9124]

Happening rite now with chevron in western australia

[@robertdog]

3:33 This animation is absolutely incredible. The body language when the guy sits down for yet another 12 hours! That's totally me right now although I don't work a dangerous job requiring so much skill and attention to detail.

[@colleenross8752]

Why am I here again?

[@medic7989]

I was about 1/4 mile away from the Isom unit, in my office when the explosion occurred. The vapor cloud flashback created enough atmospheric vacuum that the HVAC system stopped blowing through the vent in my office for about a second. I worked in the Alky 3 unit. A unit that used hydrofluoric acid to manufacture alkylate. The refinery is a very congested facility and there was no available open areas further away from the turnaround site yet close enough for practicality for turnaround activities. This video is very good.

[@johntrombley2647]

As posted on the other video: Abbott Animation did an amazing job!

[@PearlJellyz]

absolutely incredible @USCSB, I hope and wish with all my heart that you can keep your funding up to keep producing these amazing videos, which seemingly improve tenfold with every one!!

[@mhsa4383]

The animation is unbelievably incredible, wish I could do like those

[@danconser6709]

Updated video is great and builds on an already well done narrative. Good Work!

[@godnacho1000]

I have no idea what is being said or explained but the sheer quality of the video was amazing enough to keep me occupied.

[@dragonrider4253]

I remember watching the seconds from disaster episode for this on TV a few years ago. Similar info, but spread out over a 1 hour time block for animations and IRL footage.

[@aaronfeyh4502]

The quality of work you produce is so far beyond anything else I've ever seen. Finishing my chemical engineering degree, I couldn't think of a better job than to be apart of your team!

[@Ryan-dj5ku]

The best way to be knowledgeable and work for the csb is to work in industry for 5-10 years (preferably some at an EPC doing design work and a few in plants). Then you will be well versed in plant design and can make a meaningful impact. Or doesn't help to just go straight into safety, you can miss a bunch. Like professors never working in industry.

[@CraftySasquatch]

They have an unlimited budget using your tax dollars. IMO these videos need to be shut down as they are a implore waste of my tax dollars. These videos serve no one and will never save a life or prevent an accident.

[@bmkoster24]

​​@@CraftySasquatchone of the stupidest comments I've ever seen 😂 just do the world a favor and shut up...

[@bmkoster24]

​@@CraftySasquatchthe fact that you're too inept to learn something from this doesn't mean everyone else is

[@CraftySasquatch]

@@bmkoster24 Lived in the industrial atmosphere most of my life and I know for a fact these types of videos do nothing but instill unnecessary fear in humanity. The respective industries have their own training videos and they never prevent humans from doing ill morel and unethical things in the work place. The mentality of banning guns as if that will stop humans from killing humans. Something that goes back to before the bible we think we can put an end to by making some sort of law. You think by informing the general public of industrial accidents will prevent industrial accidents? It's a waste of money to produce these videos plain and simple.

[@dmeemd7787]

Animations look great!! It's just sad that nearly all safety rules and process are written in blood :( Thanks for all the work you guys do!

[@LastAvailableAlias]

The quality of these videos, the details of the event, the clarity of the descriptions and visuals, the quality of the graphics, is impressive. This is hollywood quality except it educates.

[@cherryJ0lt]

I watched the much older video about this earlier today, and I’m blown away by the quality improvement! I know it was a matter of technological advancement between now and then, but it’s still fascinating.

[@monghuni798]

Agreed!

[@neilwilson5785]

That was really, really clearly explained. Excellent visuals. A story worth telling. When they described that worker who has worked 30 twelve hour shifts, my Air Crash Investigation buzzer went off. There always seem to be at least three really bad things that are allowed to go wrong in these disasters.

[@keith6706]

Disaster dominoes: at almost any point had someone done something, hell, _anything_, starting with the design that wouldn't allow such overfilling to occur to begin with, it wouldn't have happened.

[@JackCobalt]

Aye notification squad square up

[@davyt0247]

Here!

[@nopegaming2117]

@Jack Cobalt cool profile picture

[@VentusTheSox]

Cute pfp

[@Гарристоит]

This animation was crazyy good every scene had such attention to detail.

[@btrlucknxttime]

These tragedies are horrible but the way they make these animations and break everything down makes the videos extremely addictive. I’ve learned so much about chemical engineering and disasters that I feel well prepared for when I become a paramedic in a year. I’ll already have insight into how to respond to these emergencies. It’s kind like free college or something.

[@asbestosman]

3:29 the working clock on the wall is a nice touch

[@LeafseasonMagbag]

The animation improved so much it took way longer than I am willing to admit for me to recognize this incidence is one the CSB already made a video on. Years and years, and about a dozen graphics and sim packages ago.

[@scottyPsychotty]

CSB animations: The Special Edition You got my vote!!!

[@Dblock-gv9df]

30 days in a row and 12 hrs shift WOW

[@Y0uMayCallMeV]

That's pretty normal in a lot of industries. I've done it personally for 45-60 days a few times working in the power generation industry, and I've seen it done in steel production and paper mills as well.

[@Dblock-gv9df]

@@Y0uMayCallMeV do you think that's safe for somebody to work all those hours and days

[@Dblock-gv9df]

Hell no that is so dangerous

[@theanarcho-luthierist2882]

@Nick Maclachlan i don't need to ask, i can tell you're not an american...

[@ryanashcraft2474]

@@Dblock-gv9df the actual plant operators have different schedules than contractors and can run this many days without any time off. The "normal" now for contractors is you're allowed to work 13 days straight and you must take the 14th day off as a fatigue day. There are places that don't have these regulations but it has been being pushed over the last 10 years to make it more of a common safety practice.

[@dfdemt]

I love these CSB videos. They’re mini documentaries. The animation here is better than what you see at the movie theater!

[@boarattackboar]

You guys have really stepped up your game on the animation, bravo.

[@broden4838]

Family medical emergency = supervisor's son broke his arm at school

[@TheMouseAvenger]

How do you know that? :O

[@broden4838]

@@TheMouseAvenger When the NatGeo show Seconds From Disaster showed the Texas City Oil Explosion, they mentioned that a supervisor's kid got a broken arm at school

[@pramodmathur20]

Are you saying that son's broken arm was not an emergency for the supervisor? Remember, he is a father - what would you do if you receive a phone call at work that your son broke his are? Won't you rush out to take care of your son? Is it supervisor's fault that BP tried to save money by eliminating second supervisor's position?

[@gladitsnotme]

@@pramodmathur20 And thank God he did leave, otherwise he might be dead. Then his son wouldn't have a parent.

[@doctormcboy5009]

a bullshit excuse he went to a bar