Murphy Oil USA, Inc.
Superior Refinery Community Advisory Panel
October 2, 2003
Minutes
Attendees: Bob Browne, Megan Corbin, Bobbi Germond, Doug Finn, Mark Johnson, Keith Kesler, Carol Lindberg, Assistant Chief Tad Matheson, Sister Genevieve Schillo, Jessa Wicklund.
Industry Representatives: Liz Lundmark, Corey Mead, Dave Podratz.
Guests: Jim Hosch, Wisconsin DNR, John Robinson, Wisconsin DNR, Rhonda Reynolds, Wisconsin Department of Emergency Management.
Facilitator: Tod Lyons, Ann Green Communications, Inc.
Minutes: Tod Lyons.
The regular meeting of the Superior Refinery Community Advisory Panel (CAP) was held on Thursday, October 2, 2003 at WITC. Facilitator Tod Lyons called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. All present re-introduced themselves as Tod becomes familiar with everyone on the CAP.
Tod reviewed the agenda and team agreement. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as presented.
Dave Podratz started his Plant Update with a joke.
Refinery Update
Dave Podratz reported on refinery activities since the last meeting. (A copy of his report is attached for those not present.) Dave mentioned an 80-gallon oil spill in September. A mixer seal leaked and spilled into the containment area which then overflowed. The spill is expected to be cleaned up by October 3, as some soil still needs cleaning.
Also, Dave said they continue to have problems with the Tail Gas Unit. In order to fix the problem, the unit was scheduled to be shut down in a couple of weeks. Murphy’s Waste Water Treatment plant is 100 percent compliant and Dave was pleased to announce the refinery had it highest monthly throughput on record, 41,500 barrels per day.
Other highlights of the presentation are included in the attached report.
Bob Browne asked about the fines Murphy has to pay: Does the money stay in Douglas County? Dave explained under Wisconsin law the money cannot stay within Douglas County although the plant is located there. The state and the federal government receive the money from the fines.
Committee Reports
Communications – Jessa Wicklund said the Superior CAP website is up and running. She sent an email to CAP members and asked for input, suggestions as to what else can be included on the site. The site address is: www.superiorcap.org.
Emergency Preparedness – Tad Matheson reported shelter-in-place and First Call information should be published in the phone book in the community portion. Tad said he has not seen the final product and explained it could cost up to $1,000 to have the Shelter-In-Place page in the phone book. He has not received any bill as yet.
Keith Kesler said the Department of Emergency Management is in a transition period. Also, he mentioned the Telephone Emergency Notification System was tested and they were able to confirm 3,800 residents responded in 14 minutes out of a possible 4,200 on the list. Bob asked if cell phone users were considered when doing the test. Keith explained there is no way to know if cell phone users are in the radius of the test area so they have not done anything with the cell phone users yet. He further explained that the call down system is set for listed phone numbers, both business and residential in the radius of the area tested. Unlisted numbers are not called.
Carol Lindberg spoke of the Annual Campus Safety Days for students where they teach students about personal safety. She was pleased with the students’ interest and received several questions from them.
Lastly, Keith mentioned the 12-second delay people in the area might experience with the 9-1-1 system. This is not unique to Douglas County, but it is of concern as some people hang up if they feel they are waiting too long. Douglas County is in the process of updating the system, but 9-1-1 callers may still experience an 8-10 second delay.
Youth Education – No report.
Odor Complaint Monitoring Update
Dave said Murphy is still trying to get the Odor Complaint Monitoring process set up. There was some discussion about using the CAP website as a tool to field complaints. If they could use the website, perhaps passwords could be given so people would have to log on and the complaints would go directly to a database. The Murphy Oil computer department is working on it.
Doug spoke to a few people who are willing to help out. It was determined by the CAP that this would be a regular agenda item until it is resolved.
Jim Hosch and John Robinson of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources were present to give a PowerPoint presentation about the Newton Creek cleanup progress. Jim was the primary site manager for the operation. (A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is included for those who missed the meeting.) Several CAP members expressed their appreciation for the cleanup presentation. Sister Gen suggested a video production be done to show the creek improvement. She will follow-up with the local media to see if they are interested in doing something.
To summarize: The Newton Creek Project was done in three phases: 1) Murphy Oil cleaned up their impoundment pond and the upstream segment of the creek, 2) DNR spearheaded the Newton Creek cleanup and restoration, 3) The next phase is Hog Island which also will be done by DNR. The overall cost to date is about $750,000. Jim took questions from the panel following the presentation.
CAP members discussed some topic options for the next meeting. Jessa and Megan mentioned they would like to see something about oil spill cleanup and response, because their High School AP Chemistry class recently conducted a lab about oil spill cleanup. Dave suggested a representative from Enbridge be invited to speak at a CAP meeting later in the year since they recently experienced a large oil spill. Tod suggested a Coast Guard representative be invited as well. It was determined after some discussion that the students would give a presentation on results from their lab and Corey Mead would have some examples of response equipment at the next meeting.
Bob Browne asked John Robinson if DNR would provide a representative for the CAP. John said it would not necessarily be the same person at each meeting, but they would try to have a DNR representative at the CAP meetings particularly if they know the topic of discussion ahead of time so they can have the right representative at the meeting.
The next meeting will be Thursday, November 6, 2003 at WITC. Tod will follow up with Corey and Jessa to ensure they are prepared for their presentations.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
WITC
5:30 p.m. - Dinner
6 p.m. – Meeting