Crowley Tanker Truck Bursts Into Flames On Loading Dock At Valdez Petro Star

5,000 Gallons Of Low Sulfur Diesel Released By Truck Onto Ground In Incident 

Fire Brought Under Control By Valdez Fire Department & Alyeska Fire & Rescue 

Crowley Truck damaged by explosion on Valdez Petro Star loading dock. (Photo, DEC) 

Petro Star refinery personnel shut down the valves at the facility and built dikes to keep the diesel from spreading after a 5,000 gallon spill. They transferred spilled liquid to storage tanks. 

The fire took the loading rack out of service. There were no reported injuries, and Alyeska says the refinery was not hurt. 

Here is the Department of Environmental (DEC) report on the incident:

ALASKA DEC REPORT: CROWLEY TANKER TRUCK FIRE

 JUNE 29, 2022

POTENTIAL RESPONSIBLE PARTY (PRP): Crowley Fuels Alaska is the tanker truck owner and Petro Star Inc. is the facility owner/operator 

INCIDENT LOCATION: Petro Star Valdez Refinery, 2.5 Mile Dayville Road, Valdez, Alaska. (Lat/Long 61.0794585, -146.250629) 

 
DATE/TIME OF SPILL: June 27, 2022, 5:04 p.m. 

HOW/WHEN SPILL WAS DISCOVERED AND REPORTED: An explosion and fire in the Truck Loading Rack on site was reported at 5:04 p.m. 

TYPE/AMOUNT OF PRODUCT SPILLED: The tanker truck released approximately 5000 gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel as a result of the fire. An unknown amount of fire suppressant foam and water mixture used to put out fire was released onto a gravel surface. 

CAUSE OF SPILL: Crowley Fuels Alaska was loading a tanker truck at the tanker truck loading rack at the Petro Star facility at the time of the explosion and subsequent spill. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. 

SOURCE CONTROL: Source control for the contaminated fire foam/water mixture was achieved at approximately 6:00 p.m. when the fire was brought under control. The truck loading rack has been secured. 

RESPONSE ACTION: The Valdez Fire Department and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company Fire & Rescue team responded to control the fire caused by the explosion. Petro Star refinery personnel responded by closing the canal valves and built dikes to mitigate the spread of diesel and contaminated water. The fire consumed an unknown amount of the diesel released from the truck. Vac trucks were used to recover a combination of 5000 gallons of liquid with ultra-low sulfur diesel and fire foam/water. The recovered liquids were transferred to interim storage tanks. The refinery operations have not been impacted. The truck loading rack has been taken out of service until inspections and repairs have been completed. At this time, it is unknown how long the truck rack will be out of service. There were no reported injuries. 

RESOURCES AT RISK OR AFFECTED: Impacts to wildlife were not observed. Sheen was not observed on surrounding surface water. 

FUTURE PLANS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Consultants will be conducting characterization and developing a cleanup plan to be submitted to the Department for review and approval.