The Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery in Northern California recently completed a massive conversion project in just 19 months, making it the fastest such refinery modification ever. Completed under a National Maintenance Agreement (NMA) by Cherne Contracting Corporation and members of affiliated trades unions, the project finished ahead of schedule with over 2.4 million man-hours worked and zero reported injuries. The refinery's modification from a fluid unit to a four-drum delayed coker will allow it to process more diesel and create new jobs while producing more environmentally friendly fuel.

1. April 10, 2008 01:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time
ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A massive conversion of the Tesoro Golden Eagle
Refinery in Northern California recently finished, making it the fastest refinery modification
project ever completed with a project timeline of just 19 months. Completed under a National
Maintenance Agreement (NMA) by Cherne Contracting Corporation and members of all 14
affiliated trades, not only was the refinery finished in record time with a whopping 2.4 million
man-hours, the project was the safest completed in recent history with zero reportable on-
the-job injuries.
“A safe job is a productive job. People aren’t hurt. They’re at work and
more productive. You give them the tools, the equipment, the
information and you plan safety into the work. You cut them loose and
they’ll take care of business for you”
The Golden Eagle Refinery processes 166 thousand barrels of crude oil each day.
Modification of the refinery from a fluid unit to a four-drum delayed coker will let the site
process diesel, creating new jobs and producing more environmentally friendly fuel. Such a
project required immense skill, solid training and coordinated communication from all the
trades that worked on the 2,300-acre site.
“We use the NMAbecause it encompasses all crafts, and it’s a national agreement that’s
accepted locally,” said Tom Van Oss, vice president of operations at Cherne Contracting
Corporation. “The NMAhas been a real benefit to the jobsite,craftsmen and to Cherne. The
response we got from using the NMAwas tremendous out here.”
The National Maintenance Agreement is designed to provide clients unbeatable productivity
and unparalleled safety. “Asafe job is a productive job. People aren’t hurt. They’re at work
and more productive. You give them the tools, the equipment, the information and you plan
safety into the work. You cut them loose and they’ll take care of business for you,” explained
Van Oss.
The Golden Eagle project was demanding both in terms of its accelerated timeline for
completion and the sophisticated work that was required. The NMAprovides world-class
productivity and safety for jobs like this by combining skilled workers from members of 14
participating international building trades unions to provide a dependable workforce that can
handle the most complicated, demanding construction projects in the country.
For more information about NMAPC, visit www.nmapc.org. To watch a video on this story, go
to www.improvingplantlife.com, click on previous spotlights, and select edition 1.

2. Contacts
For NMAPC
Grace Hu Markley, 917-549-3246
gmarkley@philosophycommunication.com