Refinery cited in past years

The Silver Eagle refinery in Woods Cross where a fire Monday injured four workers had been cited for 13 serious safety violations in recent years, including one that was deemed by inspectors to put workers at a high level of risk, according to officials with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The four men injured in the fire remained hospitalized Tuesday night at University Hospital. Robert Benoit, Alex Bloomfield and Phillip McSwain were listed in serious condition, and Timothy Harter was listed in critical condition.

According to the OSHA Web site, the refinery was cited for 10 "serious" violations in 2005, two "serious" violations in 2004, and one in 2002. One of the 2005 violations was assigned a "gravity" rating of 10, meaning it carried the highest possible risk to workers' safety.

The violation concerned "process safety management of hazardous chemicals," and OSHA initially assigned a penalty of $3,000. The issue was informally settled in March 2007, with the company paying a fine of $2,000, OSHA said.

OHSA records indicated that since April 2002, the facility has been cited for 23 violations overall.

The safety citations were issued locally by the Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division, which is responsible for inspections of facilities like Silver Eagle and other Utah refineries, said the division's operations manager, Bill Adams.

Division investigators are working to determine the cause of the blaze, and Adams said he could not comment on whether any safety citations would be issues or penalties would be assessed until the probe is completed.

"This out here is what is referred to as a catastrophe," he said. "The area was evacuated. Four people went to the hospital."

Krege Christensen, vice president of finance and legal affairs for Silver Eagle Refining Inc., said the company would not comment specifically on the previous violations. But he said that sometimes violations occur despite a company's best efforts.

"If there is a violation, we try to comply with OSHA, or we pay a penalty," he said.

The company has worked to make safety the highest priority at the refinery and hired a full-time safety expert in 2008, he said.

Silver Eagle is the smallest refinery in Utah and sells the gasoline and diesel it produces to "jobbers," or middlemen, in the fuel industry who then distribute the fuel to gas stations. The company employs about 50 people at its Davis County facility and about 25 at its Evanston, Wyo., operation, Christensen said. He declined to name the company's clients.

Prior to Monday's blaze, there had been four other fires reported at the Woods Cross refinery since 2003.