1. Ken Bloch
Flint Hills Resources
PO Box 64596
St. Paul, MN 55164
RE: JAME’ T. CHRISTIANSON LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
To Whom It May Concern:
I work with Jame’ Christianson at Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend Refinery in
Rosemount, MN. I consider Jame’ one of my employer’s most productive employees for
the reasons discussed below. I was pleased that Jame’ selected me to write a letter of
recommendation in his behalf.
Before July 2010 I worked as the refinery’s Lead Process Reliability Engineer. In that
role I was often asked to investigate process safety and equipment failures. My first
encounter with Jame’ was in 2004, while investigating a major process release that
occurred in a production unit where he was working. Jame’ provided direct and
constructive input to the investigation. His participation made it possible for the refinery
to adjust decision rights policies in the event of an emergency. These improvements have
been instrumental in bringing fast closure to, and preventing, situations that could result
in a process safety failure.
In December 2006, the refinery was suffering from a chronic sulfide leak into a major
cooling system. The persistent contamination event had the entire process engineering
staff puzzled. The refinery had exhausted all reasonable explanations over three months
and began speculating on unscientific phenomena that might explain the issue. I met
with Jame’ to discuss what we knew and to request his support. Based on this discussion
Jame’ was able to identify the leak source in less than thirty minutes. This assisted the
refinery’s ability to meet environmental and production targets.
More recently, Jame’ has been recognized for troubleshooting and solving a compressor
problem. This prevented an unnecessary unit shutdown that would have resulted in a
significant economic penalty.
I am writing this to recommend a person who I respect based on the performance I have
observed. I regret that this individual may seek employment elsewhere but am happy to
provide a personal recommendation if this is his wish.
Sincerely,
Ken Bloch
PHA/Loss Control Engineer
(651) 437-0978