Underground pipes linked to Foot and Mouth outbreak
6 Sep 2007
Expert says virulent virus should have been destroyed within building and not transferred by pipeline
London -- Last month’s outbreak of Foot and Mouth at two farms near disease in Guildford could have been prevented, according to Keith Plumb, a chartered chemical engineer and biosecurity expert.
The outbreak, which impact the entire UK livestock industry, was apparently caused by the virus escaping through a leaking underground pipe before being brought to the surface by July’s flooding.
The pipe connected the private pharmaceutical company, Merial Animal Health to the UK government run, Institute for Animal Health (IAH). Experts believe that floodwater spread the virus onto the tyres of vehicles using the site.
According to Plumb, the incident indicate that there were lapses in safety, maintenance and virus handling, in particular the way in which Merial was apparently allowed to transfer untreated effluent from their premises to the IAH.
“Transferring dangerous liquids through underground pipes is undesirable because leaks are difficult to detect. Best practice in process engineering suggests running the pipe above ground, making leak detection much easier. A further layer of protection would be provided by a double pipe system that contained any leaks and this could be backed up by an automatic leak detection system.
A set-up like the one at Pirbright, where an underground pipe transfers harmful liquid from one site to another, can also lead to confusion about who is responsible for maintenance. The best way to overcome this problem would be completely separate effluent systems ensuring that liquid waste containing live virus travels the shortest distance possible,” Plumb concluded.
