Pine Bend Refinery
Flint Hills Resources owns and operates one of the largest oil wells in the world, located in Pine Bend, Minnesota. Koch Industries is the parent company for Flint Hills, and the refinery is often referred to as the Koch Refinery. The plant has the ability to produce 265,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which is a remarkable feat for a state that is not known for having natural oil wells.
The Great Northern Oil Company originally built the refinery in 1955. It was purchased by Flint Hills Resources in 1969, and ever since they have worked hard to expand the facility. One of the primary ways they have accomplished this goal is to pump crude oil in from Canada through a long and intricate series of pipelines.
In the late 1990's, Flint Hills Resources came under fire for having a dangerous level of hazardous emission at the Pine Bend plant. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) forced the company to pay $19 million in fines for the pollution they allowed, and to upgrade their equipment with better methods of monitoring and controlling toxic emissions. After this, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) worked with the plant to set up an independently operating watch group to keep an eye on the emission levels from the plant. Within one year the level of emissions were cut in half.
A fire halted the regular production of petroleum products for a few hours in March of 2004. The blaze started within the plant, and the in house fire department was called to put out the flames. Thanks to a quick reaction time, they were able to subdue the fire in just over three hours. Minimal damage was sustained, and no one was injured during the incident.
Owners of the Pine Bend refinery also had to deal with the elimination of all products that contained asbestos from the facility. This involved many items, because asbestos was, at one time, a very commonly used component in insulation and other products that are found in industrial settings such as a refinery. This was before experts realized that asbestos is hazardous, and can lead to respiratory troubles and asbestos cancer. Anyone who has breathed in tiny particles of asbestos is at risk for these diseases, so every individual who worked at this plant while products created from this toxic substance were in use should consult with their healthcare practitioner.
Last modified: December 09, 2009.
