ANACORTES, Wash. (AP) — A Tesoro Corp. official has announced plans to start bringing the Anacortes oil refinery back online as early as next week — roughly six months after an explosion and fire that killed seven people.
In a statement, Tesoro Safety Superintendent Jeff Waldron says the refinery units will be brought back into operation on a staggered basis, beginning Oct. 4. The goal is to have the entire refinery operational by Oct. 15.
Waldron acknowledged that’s “an aggressive schedule and there are still some unknowns which could slide our startup schedule a week or so.”
An investigator for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board confirmed in June that the April 2 blast occurred when a heat exchanger ruptured on the unit that processes naphtha, a highly flammable chemical used to make finished petroleum products.
