Valero refinery, others fined over deaths

BENICIA, Calif. — This state’s workplace safety regulators fined a San Francisco Bay Area refinery and three contractor companies more than $1.75 million for safety violations in the death of a worker who suffocated while trying to clean a well, officials said Thursday.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited Valero Energy Corp.’s refinery in Benicia and contractors JT Thorpe & Son Inc., TRSC Inc. and Total Safety a combined $1.75 million for safety violations after the Nov. 12 death of Luis Gutierrez.

Messages seeking comment from the companies weren’t immediately returned.

The 35-year-old Gutierrez, an employee of Richmond-based contractor JT Thorpe & Son, lost consciousness after descending into a regenerator overflow well at the refinery to evaluate the condition of the well interior and to perform cleaning operations in advance of a welding crew, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health said in a statement.

Inspectors determined that a welding torch left in the well was leaking argon, an odorless gas that displaced oxygen inside the confined space, the agency said.

Gutierrez was found suspended by fall protection equipment inside the regenerator. A refinery emergency rescue team got him out, but emergency workers could not resuscitate him, the agency said.

“Working in confined spaces is extremely dangerous, as is working with argon,” agency Chief Jeff Killip said.

“The employers involved had a responsibility to keep their workers safe. The first step to preventing a completely avoidable fatality is to identify hazards before a worker enters a confined space.”

In 2000, San Antoniobased Valero bought the refinery, which processes crude oil into gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and asphalt.