ANACORTES — The Shell Puget Sound Refinery faces $109,600 in fines for 23 “serious” safety violations found during a comprehensive inspection, the state Department of Labor and Industries announced Wednesday.

The refinery’s problems ranged from inadequate training and improper documentation to specifics such as unguarded rotating shafts and a lack of emergency eyewash in areas where employees deal with chemicals, according to the citation.

“The violations are pretty serious regarding training and emergency procedures,” said L&I spokeswoman Elaine Fischer.

The refinery has been given deadlines to correct the issues — all before June 27. Meanwhile, the refinery has until July 1 to decide whether to appeal the citation or pay the fines.

Company officials have not yet decided whether to appeal, said Shell spokesman Brian Sibley.

“We’re still reviewing the findings,” he said. “Until we have finished that review, I’m not going to be able to say anything else. It would be premature.”

The goal of the recent L&I inspection was to reduce the possibility of catastrophic accidents in petroleum refinery operations. The finding of “serious” problems at the Shell refinery indicates that those issues carry a potential of death or physical injury.

L&I inspectors were on-site for two days per week over a two-month period looking at equipment, safety procedures and reams of paperwork.

“We were looking at their maintenance records, all their documentation for everything that they’re required to do,” Fischer said.

It was all part of the National Emphasis Program, which was set up after a 2005 explosion at a BP America refinery in Texas that killed 15 employees and injured 170.

In 1998, the Shell refinery in Anacortes, then known as the Equilon Refinery, had its own tragedy when six workers died in an explosion that occurred as the refinery was restarting operations after a shutdown. An investigation after that incident identified numerous violations and resulted in an unprecedented $4.4 million compliance agreement designed to improve safety at the refinery, according to L&I documents.

State law allows L&I to set a maximum fine of $7,000 per serious violation, unless it was a willful violation, Fischer said. In that case, the penalty can be multiplied by 10, she said.

In the citations against Shell, the largest individual penalty was $6,600 (for each of three violations), while several other violations carried no monetary penalty.

Shell is the first of Washington’s four large refineries to go through the federal program’s inspection, Fischer said.

The others, including the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, will also be inspected, though times will not be announced in advance, she said.

* Colette Weeks can be reached at or 360-416-2132.