The following information was received from the State of
Louisiana via fax:
Event date and Time: [On] 09/13/2012, the RSO for Marathon Petroleum called to be in compliance with Condition #4 of his radioactive material license.
Event Location: Production/process field at the refinery located at 4663 Airline Highway, Garyville, LA 70051
Event type: Fixed gauge, stuck shutter
Event description: On 09/13/2012, the RSO for Marathon called to report a stuck shutter on a fixed level gauge utilized in a process in the refinery. There was no possible exposure to the plant workers because the gauge was installed on process [equipment] and the shutter remaining [open] was not a problem. [The RSO] called in the incident to comply with Condition #4 of Marathon's Radioactive Material License. The gauge is an Ohmart Vega gauge Model SHFBI, loaded with 20 mCi of Cs-137. The gauge has been [exposed to] the elements in excess of 10 years and the shutter malfunctioned due to corrosion in the mechanism. Eight [gauges] were evaluated and only one needed repair. The manufacturer stated that it appeared to be from being in the elements. The manufacturer stated that they were looking into finding a modification to shield the shutter mechanism from the elements. The Department [Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality] considers this item closed.
Event Report ID No.: LA 12-0005