Lightning strike leads to fines
15 Jan 2000
An explosion at a South Wales oil refinery three years ago has led to fines of almost £200 000 for refinery operators Texaco and Gulf Oil. The companies were guilty of failing to ensure that their safety systems were adequate and operative, according to the Health and Safety Executive.
The explosion at the Pembroke Cracker Company refinery in Milford Haven, jointly owned and operated by Texaco and Gulf, occurred in July 1994, causing 26 injuries. It destroyed the refinery's catalytic cracker unit, caused widespread damage to the site, and even damaged property two miles away in Milford Haven town itself. The ensuing fires burned for two days. After pleading guilty to four charges brought by the HSE at Swansea Crown Court, the two companies were fined £100 000 each, and ordered to pay joint costs of £143 700.
According to the HSE, the problems at the plant began with a `severe process upset' following a lightning strike. Some parts of the plant were shut down, operators did not notice that the outlet valve of the catalytic cracker had become blocked. Flammable hydrocarbon liquid was pumped into the cracker and, though safety systems vented the excess feed to a flare, the system could not cope with the amount of liquid. Moreover, the flare line was heavily corroded, and gave way at this weakened point. Some 20 tonnes of flammable vapour escaped, then exploded.
`Proper control of the plant was lost and, over a four-hour period leading to the explosion, the cause and seriousness of the problem was not diagnosed,' said Phil Scott, the HSE's principal investigator for chemical plants in Wales and Western England. `A number of systems that should have prevented to explosion failed to do so.'
The fines will ensure that Texaco and Gulf learn an expensive lesson, commented Gareth Dykes, the head of the HSE's Chemical and Hazardous Installations Division's Wales and Western England operation. `Management must accept the responsibility to ensure that it has systems to maintain control under all situations.'
