RESPEC Project

Tesoro Refinery in Mandan, North Dakota, was undergoing their 15-year refinery upgrade and had 1,400 contract workers on site along with dozens of cranes and other expensive large equipment when they realized that their early-warning lightning system was not functional. Because of the severe threat of lightning in a refinery environment, the refinery is required to be able to detect lightning strikes within a 10-mile radius. Without a functional early-warning lightning-monitoring system, the Tesoro Refinery would have to stop working whenever anybody spotted a cloud.

Tesoro Refinery turned to the manufacturer of the lightning equipment, Campbell Scientific, who contacted RESPEC in Rapid City, South Dakota. RESPEC deployed personnel on the next business day and repaired the system that afternoon. RESPEC assisted the Tesoro Refinery in protecting 1,400 contractors and several hundred employees and saved the company from sidelining their workers and extending the schedule.