Marathon’s billion dollar expansion project will increase oil production at Garyville plant to 425,000 barrels per day

By KEVIN CHIRI

Editor and Publisher

GARYVILLE – When Rich Bedell was named refinery manager for the Marathon Refinery in 2001, it was a big enough deal to keep most engineers happy for the rest of their career.

So you might wonder how Bedell feels these days now standing at the forefront of the massive $3.3 billion expansion of the St. John refinery, which has just gotten underway at the Garyville site. For many, it might seem overwhelming, but apparently not so for Bedell.

&#8220This is what engineers like to do,” he said. &#8220It’s like the World Series for someone like me.”

Marathon made big news all the way across the country with the announcement last year that their board of directors had approved the multi-billion expansion that will increase oil production at the plant from 245,000 barrels per day to 425,000 barrels per day. Marathon expects to add 200 full time jobs.

After obtaining all the necessary permits early this year, the expansion has recently begun with land work on the adjacent property to where the current refinery operates. Plenty of dirt will be brought in and there will be 25,000 piles driven into the ground before the foundation should be poured by the end of this year.

Bedell said that steel structures should begin going up in 2008, with a work force peak of nearly 4,000 construction jobs during the year, before things slow down with the expansion targeting October, 2009 as its completion time.

With Marathon sitting on approximately 3,000 acres of land, and currently taking up 900 acres with its current facility, the expansion will use another 350 acres. However Marathon continues to do all they can to keep a large buffer from their operation to any residential areas. Currently on the west side there is a 2,000 foot buffer before encountering residential, with 2,400 feet on the east side.

A neighborhood buyout program was begun in 2003 to try and purchase any homes in the area, with premium dollars being offered. While many people accepted the buyout, Bedell said there are about 10 homes in the area where people just don’t want to leave.

&#8220They have lived there all of their lives and they don’t seem to mind being next to a refinery,” he said. &#8220But we still have made the offer to them just to help keep the residential areas as far away from the plant as we can. We feel good about the proximity of our refinery to any homes, and have tried to keep the public informed of everything we do. At the public meeting we had about the expansion, we really didn’t have any organized opposition to what we are doing here, so I think we continue to do the best we can.”

The prospect of having a large expansion for Marathon at any of their plants across the country was considered years ago, with several of the Marathon plants in the United States viewed as possibilities.

But the land availability in St. John made this a prime area, and with the demand for more oil in the United States, the opportunity to expand finally seemed just right for Marathon.

&#8220You have to remember that we are importing two million barrels of oil a day in the United States, so the demand is here,” Bedell explained.

Once the final approval came through in October of last year, Bedell said a project team was put together by Marathon to design and build the refinery. His job is to train people to be ready to run the refinery, assist the project team to make sure the project stays on track, as well as oversee all necessary permits needed here to do it.

He views the labor situation as somewhat of a challenge, not only since 200 full time employees need to be added, but also because he sees an older population of workers at Marathon retiring soon.

&#8220We began here 30 years ago so we are at a point where a lot of those people are retiring. Plus, the labor situation in the region has been tougher since Hurricane Katrina,” he added. &#8220But I think we will do fine since we have a good relationship with the Technical College here to train people, and we offer very good pay and benefits.”

Bedell said the average salary for workers at Marathon is $75,000 a year, along with excellent benefits.

The Marathon manager likes to brag up the fact that his plant has been rated among the best nationally in terms of safety. Marathon in Garyville has been entered into the OSHA Voluntary Protection Plan since 1994, which is OSHA’s top safety group that means Marathon goes above and beyond normal safety standards. They have also received the National Environmental Performance Award from EPA, and currently have gone five years without any lost time from an accident.

The biggest event in the history was one fatality from an accident in the past 30 years.

Bedell said Marathon will have lots of activity on Airline Highway with more big trucks coming and going than normal, but he plans to run public notices to keep the public informed of what is expected, as well as to offer as many jobs as possible to local people.