Tank explosion at Pennzoil Oil City refinery

~1998 (15 years before 2013). Old riveted 1920s tank exploded killing a welder, blowing her across the river. Facility had 80 years of oil-soaked gravel; Tom realized the plant stayed open to defer EPA cleanup obligations. Includes reference to 1859 Drake well (corrected from Tom's "1856" slip) and Titusville-to-Oil-City riverine oil transport.

It's the environmental police — they're changing a lot of the rules. My example on changing the rules: I once had to investigate the explosion of a storage tank at a refinery in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Oil City is just down the river from Titusville, where Edwin Drake drilled for oil in 1859. That was the beginning of the oil industry. This plant had been built around 1900. The tank that blew up — killed the welder and blew her across the river when it exploded — was an old riveted 1920s tank. This was a Pennzoil facility, now closed. About 15 years ago, at the time it was open. These old riveted tanks, and small-scale production compared to any big refinery in Texas or the West Coast.

Forensic consulting case ca. 1995. 1920s riveted storage tanks, oil-saturated tank farm ground. Tom figures out at breakfast that Pennzoil keeps the refinery running not for production economics but because shutting it would trigger EPA cleanup assessment. Used to illustrate economic externalities.

Economic externalities. I had an explosion — someone was welding on an oil storage tank in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Oil City is just down the river from Titusville. Do you know what Titusville, Pennsylvania is famous for? Edwin Drake discovered oil in 1857 — he drilled for oil. Before that, the only oil one had was bubbling up out of the ground on the North Slope of Alaska or the oil sands in Alberta, where oil is right on the surface. But Edwin Drake actually drilled for it, found it, rather than drilling for water. They built a refinery there around the 1890s in Oil City, Pennsylvania.