# "Huge Oil Refinery Explosion Yesterday: Zero Coverage on CNN" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565 "2015-01-11T20:01:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/1 "2015-01-11T20:01:43Z")
> **[​Explosion, fire shake Ohio oil refinery](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/explosion-fire-shake-ohio-oil-refinery/)** > > Blast shatters windows, fire triggers evacuations, but police say no one is hurt First, I hope our Ohio Dopers will please check in to make sure we know that you are all alright. Second, this story is unfindable on CNN. Their new “Multi-Media Format” has made their internet website unf-cking workable and damn close to useless for two weeks to find almost ANY story. I’m second to none in my admiration for the “Life Magazine” quality of their pictures and I find that the “Times Square Ticker” at the bottom of CNN’s site _is_ cutesy, but that wasn’t the problem here. The problem is that they never reported on it _at all_ (that I can find). Seriously, CNN, you can imbed unkillable video clips that bog-down our PCs and make it almost impossible to surf text-only news stories on every single page, but you couldn’t be bothered to send one reporter with a camcorder on a Greyhound bus to Ohio to cover this? \*\*Dammit People, This Was Important! This was News and your glossy new format Dropped The Damn Ball. \*\* Third, Why This Explosion DOES Matter To You (If you are reading this & live in the US or Canada): The US for years has been criticized internationally (and by oil interests) for [not having enough refineries to meet its needs.](http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/17/news/economy/refineries/) [Here is a link from just 3 years ago.](http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/US-East-Coast-Faces-Severe-Oil-Shortages-and-High-Prices-as-Refineries-Close.html) [Here is another Cite. (I’m trying to find links/reports from both ends of the US political spectrum)](http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059981655) We have modified old refineries, but we haven’t approved new ones for environmental concerns in almost a decade. [Cite.](http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=29&t=6) Gasoline now is incredibly cheap locally, but if there are huge delays in refining crude, what should be cheap gasoline for us will turn back into very expensive gasoline Very Quickly as the oil industry reaps a bundle with supply/demand. This won’t even be good news for Canadian or Texas crude either, because if crude is stuck in long lines to be processed, there won’t be any hurry to pump any more from the ground. Personally, I’d like to know how badly the Lima plant is damaged, who was hurt, how it happened, how soon we can get it back up and running, if it need to be rebuilt, if there will be delays rebuilding it, how likely this event is to affect gasoline prices, truck diesel fuel prices, and airline ticket costs and in what time frame. “The Lima refinery produces about 160,000 barrels a day” of gasoline [per this article](http://www.limaohio.com/news/local_news/article_b6f68804-9b19-11e2-84db-001a4bcf6878.html). It was planned to be refit to provide refining capacity of an additional 40,000 bpd of heavy crude oil [per this article](http://coking.com/husky-lima-ohio/). This means its going to badly affect Canada’s heavy crude market too, an industry already badly hit by the crude glut… **and to add insult to injury, CBC hasn’t reported on this explosion or how it affects Canada either. \*\* Sure, the Keystone vote is important, and the people who pay for politicians to get elected don’t get their money’s worth if they don’t have enough face-time and enough sound bites on TV. Still, whats it going to take to get two supposedly great sources of news moving on this? \*\* A Fireball In The Sky Ruining Your “Lovejoy Comet” View?** \*\*Oh, Wait… :smack: :dubious: :mad:\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/2 "2015-01-11T21:17:01Z")
No one was killed, no one was evacuated, and a refinery that processes less than 0.9% of the US crude oil will be shut down for an unspecified period of time. What’s the superlative of meh? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/3 "2015-01-11T21:18:42Z")
But…but… \*France! \*Terrorism! Charlie Hebdo! There’s _only_ 24 hours in a day, Man! ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/4 "2015-01-11T21:22:42Z")
By definition, ‘meh’ couldn’t possibly have a superlative? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/5 "2015-01-11T21:40:49Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > By definition, ‘meh’ couldn’t possibly have a superlative? 😕 Double-plus-meh? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/6 "2015-01-11T21:47:57Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > No one was killed, no one was evacuated, and a refinery that processes less than 0.9% of the US crude oil will be shut down for an unspecified period of time. What’s the superlative of meh? That actually sounds like a ton of oil for just one refinery. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/7 "2015-01-11T22:01:58Z")
CNN is kind of busy in France. In other news: [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ohio-epa-contamination-detected-refinery-explosion-28151089](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ohio-epa-contamination-detected-refinery-explosion-28151089) ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/8 "2015-01-11T22:11:32Z")
You wanna talk about news stories this week that are shockingly underreported? [Too many bodies to count: ‘Deadliest massacre’ in history of Boko Haram killed thousands, Amnesty International says](http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/01/10/too-many-bodies-to-count-deadliest-massacre-in-history-of-boko-haram-killed-thousands-amnesty-international-says/) > [@](#): > > Hundreds of bodies – too many to count – remain strewn in the bush in Nigeria from an Islamic extremist attack that Amnesty International suggested Friday is the “deadliest massacre” in the history of Boko Haram. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/9 "2015-01-11T22:15:55Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > That actually sounds like a ton of oil for just one refinery. Just slightly larger than the average. 139 operating refineries process 17,730,200 barrels a day, so the average is 127,554. The one in Lima processed 158,000. The economies of scale and the costs of capital equipment are so enormous that it’s almost always more economical to increase the production at an existing facility rather than build a new one. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/10 "2015-01-11T22:16:30Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Just slightly larger than the average. 139 operating refineries process 17,730,200 barrels a day, so the average is 127,554. The one in Lima processed 158,000. > > The economies of scale and the costs of capital equipment are so enormous that it’s almost always more economical to increase the production at an existing facility rather than build a new one. Thanks – interesting stuff to learn. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/11 "2015-01-11T22:23:32Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > By definition, ‘meh’ couldn’t possibly have a superlative? 😕 Of course it could, like extra medium or super ordinary or extreme average. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/12 "2015-01-11T22:39:57Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Double-plus-meh? Double _secret_ meh. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/13 "2015-01-12T00:07:57Z")
First I heard of it was “EPA reports no pollution.” The paranoid in me raised an eyebrow. What, the oil companies told you to say that so they could get Keystone approved? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/14 "2015-01-12T01:06:42Z")
I’m still waiting on cites about that less than 1%. Cite? Yeah. **ALL** of those claims please. Before the Costanzas re-start their mutual-meh-fest. Thanks! 1% of all US crude processed? 1% of Canadian crude? 1% of all gasoline processed? Diesel fuel? Jet fuel? (Because they do them all in Lima, from both light and heavy crude.; feel free to read my cites.) Lets see… it was the same day that links on page one led to stories that Beyonce may be pregnant, Justin Bieber Might have new Body Tats, and someone at the Globes actually wore… some garment district poseur’s clothes. These were all Front Page News the day after a refinery explodes… because CNN is Too Busy in Paris? CNN, which takes in millions a year and it can only [del]over-do[/del] handle ONE big news story a day? Well, sorry I interrupted all your Comped Vichyssoise. Did Obama attend? Didn’t Obama attend? How will that affect the price of your gas? So sorry if MY story actually Will. Don’t forget to suck down the your Mehs at the bottom of your soup …they’re good for your character. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/15 "2015-01-12T01:50:28Z")
All right, although the name of the forum is In My Humble Opinion. Humble, I don’t think that word means what you think it means. [Here’s a list from Wikipedia with oil refineries in the US.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oil_refineries#Ohio). You’ll note the Lima Refinery, one of four in Ohio, refines 158,400 barrels of crude oil per day. You could do the math and add up the capacities of the individual facilities, but [this site](http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_cap1_dcu_nus_a.htm)has the 2014 capacity of all refineries in the US (139 operating) as being 17,730,200 barrels a day. There are three facilities currently idle, but not permanently shut down. So, it’s 0.89% of all crude oil refined in the US every day. It’s a non-zero amount, but it’s not a big piece, and all of these refineries have duty cycles and periodic shutdowns and it really shouldn’t affect your ability to get gasoline. It really did make the news **Count** , I looked it up when it happened because I own stock in a couple of oil companies and I was kind of hoping I didn’t own a piece of a smoking pile of twisted pipe and distillation columns. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/16 "2015-01-12T03:43:29Z")
Oddly, news coverage has been slim on this even in Lima. I have a good friend that lives a few miles from the refinery. Their local news didn’t even report anything until approx 10 am (it exploded around 6 am). They were listening to police scanners throughout the morning and almost all conversations were redirected to cell phones rather than over the air. After seeing the video, the smoke and flames were tremendous and worthy of news coverage. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/17 "2015-01-13T13:17:54Z")
Although the OP seems to have abandoned this thread here’s an update. [The facility will be closed for about a week.](http://seekingalpha.com/news/2217045-husky-energys-ohio-refinery-to-suspend-production-for-a-week-after-fire) We are apparently not about to enter a period of Mad Max style fuel shortages, gangs of mutants and motorcycle terrorists will not roam the highways, methane produced from pig shit will not be used to fuel the last remaining enclaves of civilization. Well, I for one am relieved. Not surprised, but still, relieved. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/18 "2015-01-13T13:56:15Z")
Meh or not, i can get behind the rant against CNN’s website, which is now atrocious beyond all measure, having been redesigned by a crack team of blind chimpanzees to ensure a consistently shitty and infuriating user experience across all platforms. CNN was for many years my first source for breaking news, but now it’s off-limits. Deleted the bookmark. There’s a Facebook page about the redesign, which last I checked had hundreds of complaints, and not a single vote of support. Super job, guys. Worth every penny of the thousands (millions?) you spent. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/19 "2015-01-13T14:07:16Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > By definition, ‘meh’ couldn’t possibly have a superlative? 😕 We’ll need a bigger goat. So I check BBC’s news and what do I find? > **[The goats fighting America's plant invasion](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30583512)** > > The US has discovered that one of the best ways of fighting invasive plants is also one of the oldest - goats. Coincidence? I think not. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565/20 "2015-01-13T14:07:16Z")
I’m curious about national news coverage of the [refinery that blew up](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Refinery_explosion) in Texas City back in 2005. Fifteen workers died & many more were injured. investigations revealed BP’s long-standing policy of cutting corners & ignoring safety procedures. The disaster & the followup were pretty well covered here in Houston; what did the rest of the country hear? BP financed an ad campaign, consisting of cloying fake woman-in-the street “interviews” on generally touchy-feely topics. Most of which made me mutter “fucking BP.” The Deepwater Horizon disaster, in which BP played a big part, was shocking but hardly surprising. Now the company is spending even more millions–on tv spots. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-oil-refinery-explosion-yesterday-zero-coverage-on-cnn/709565.md?page=2)