When twenty-seven-year-old Jared Philips lands a job as an engineer at the Apex Oil Refinery in Texas, he looks forward to the adventure. After all, his father worked around refineries most of his life and passed the passion and the knowledge onto Jared. One of the country's largest oil refineries, Apex Oil is the company's flagship refinery. But it doesn't take Jared long to determine that not all is well in this competitive business environment. Top management is pressing the refinery to become more profitable. Downsizing, outsourcing, and neglected maintenance and improvement of the facilities are just some of the tactics employed to save money. Word is out that the plant isn't as well maintained as it has been in the past. These allegations worry Jared, who has the best interests of the industry at heart. But his misgivings are not taken seriously by upper management, and disaster strikes. Jared is plunged into the depths of the drama of human existence, and he experiences firsthand the power of both human pain and heroism.

Refinery

A NovelBy Jim Killen

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Jim Killen
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-6027-5

Contents

Acknowledgments.....................ixPrelude.............................xiChapter 1...........................1Chapter 2...........................26Chapter 3...........................45Chapter 4...........................53Chapter 5...........................66Chapter 6...........................82Chapter 7...........................98Chapter 8...........................106Chapter 9...........................114Chapter 10..........................131Chapter 11..........................153Chapter 12..........................167Chapter 13..........................179Chapter 14..........................189

Chapter One

Six weeks before the disaster, Jared had driven down Highway 225 in Pasadena, Texas, for the first time. He was on his way to begin his career as an engineer with Apex Oil and Refining Company. Jared found himself being more impatient than usual with the morning traffic. He was not late, but he was eager to get to his destination. He felt that he was on his way to keep a date with destiny. Since he was a young boy, Jared had wanted to be an engineer. It had taken him seven years of hard work and heartbreak to get here. Now he wanted to get on with it.

Finally he drove through the gate of the Apex Oil Refinery. This was the flagship refinery of one of the country's biggest oil companies. He admired the orderly way in which the tanks and towers and buildings and abstract sculptures made of pipe were built. Jared thought it looked deceptively serene. He knew about the alchemy that was going on inside of those towers and pipes to turn sticky black crude oil into thousands of products needed by the people of the world. By comparison, the plant where his father had worked was much smaller and looked rather old and rusty.

Jared felt fortunate to be going to work at Apex. This had not been his first choice for a job. In college, he had thought about working for a big engineering firm. He had applied to several big firms and interviewed with a few. But the only job offer had come from Apex. Now that he was here, he was getting excited. He thought, All right, this is where I belong!

Jared had been told to meet Al Scardino, the senior process engineer, in the company cafeteria. As he stepped out of his car, he caught a whiff of the smells that always seemed to hover around an oil refinery—smells that sent most people looking for a residence in some other part of town. Jared remembered how his father had always said, "That just smells like money to me." He heard the muffled sounds, the low rumble, and the hiss that let him know that industrial processes were going on all around him.

As Jared approached the glass door of the cafeteria, he thought for a fleeting second that he saw his brother, Arthur, coming to meet him from the other side. He quickly realized that he had caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the glass. Jared thought, Boy, I wish he could be here going to work with me today. I'm afraid it's gonna be a long time before he can go to work anywhere. Jared shook his head and brushed away a tear that had come to his eye. He used the reflection to check his appearance, a habit left over from his navy days. He had tall and athletic build. He had a fair complexion and light brown hair. He knew that many people thought he looked younger than his twenty-seven years, but he had decided not to let that bother him. He wore khaki pants, a golf shirt, and a new pair of oxfords with steel toes. His new plant security badge hung on his shirt. He thought he would pass inspection for his first day of duty. He opened the door and went in.

The cafeteria was a large, pleasant, plain-looking room. A large coffee urn stood next to the door so that those who came early could get free coffee. There was a cafeteria line, and an assortment of tables and chairs. Jared noticed a group of tables pushed together in one corner as if in preparation for a meeting.

One man sat eating breakfast and reading a newspaper. A woman, dressed for office work, sat at another table eating pancakes. The man didn't look up. The woman did. Jared nodded to her and smiled. She nodded back. Jared got a cup of coffee and found a place where he could sit and watch the people coming into the cafeteria without being too conspicuous. He had to wait for Al Scardino. He also wanted to get his first look at the other people with whom he would be working.

As Jared was cooling his coffee, a fidgety little man came in wearing blue coveralls with a company logo over the pocket and a white hard hat, the company uniform. All but the management and technical personnel wore it. Jared knew that the coveralls were probably made of Nomex, a fire-retardant material that was a safety requirement in most petrochemical plants. This man also wore motorcycle boots with his pant legs tucked into the boot tops to make them more conspicuous. He glanced around as if he were looking for someone, filled his cup with coffee, and sat down at the group of tables that were pushed together.

People continued to drift in alone or in small groups. Some filled their coffee cups and then left the cafeteria. Some sat to visit. Jared noticed that a group of men had joined the man in the motorcycle boots in the corner. Eventually an older man came in wearing the blue Nomex coveralls. He seemed to be an especially energetic person for his age. His grey hair was cut in a military burr. The little man in the boots called out, "Ten-hut!" and stood and saluted. Everyone else laughed. The older man sat down, and the conversation in the corner got a little livelier. Jared heard the men poking fun at each other, each one determined to give as good as he got.

The cafeteria was gradually filling up with people and the sounds of conversation. Jared heard an explosion of profanity from behind him. The man who had been reading his paper when Jared came in had stood up and was shouting at another man, who was filling his cup at the coffee urn. The man by the coffee urn answered with a blast of profanity of his own. He advanced across the room toward the other man. His right hand was clenched in a tight fist, and his arm was cocked as if to deliver a knock-out punch. His left hand held a cup of coffee. As he advanced across the room toward his adversary, they both turned the air blue with cuss words. Jared noticed that everyone was watching this display and smiling. Nobody seemed worried. When the man reached the table where the other stood, they sat down and drank coffee together. Jared imagined that this might be a traditional ritual for these two friends.

Jared went to get some more coffee. He bent over the coffee urn to refill his cup. When he stood up and turned around, he found himself looking at two young women in blue coveralls who had just come in. One was a pleasant-looking redhead, a little overweight but attractive. The other was a real beauty, a brunette. Her company coveralls really showed off her spectacular figure. She had dark brown hair that had been brushed until it shined and a face that looked like a model in a cosmetic commercial, even though she wore no makeup except a little lipstick. Jared thought she was even prettier than Judy, his ex, had been. The thought of Judy still stung a little bit, but Jared reminded himself that he had decided to put that behind him and move on. That brunette sure looked good to him.

Jared stood facing the two young women and feeling a little...