Fire at INEOS site in Germany

Runcorn, UK - The INEOS petrochemicals site near Cologne, Germany, has been hit by a major blaze following an escape of ethylene from the main pipeline that feeds the plant. The fire, which broke out at around 14:30hrs on 17 March, was tackled by 600 firefighters with another 600 members of the emergency services in support. 

According to INEOS, the ethylene pipeline was isolated and the fire extinguished at around 19:00hrs on the same day, while a secondary fire on an acrylonitrile stock tank was brought under control at 23:50 that evening. A precautionary advice for local residents to remain indoors was lifted the following evening. The company said it has apologised to local residents and anyone else affected by the incident and will implement a full investigation into the causes of the incident.

The site is operated by Dormagen-based INEOS Köln GmbH, a 1,800 employee company that became part of the INEOS Group in 2005. The site manufactures products such as ethylene, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, polyethylene, propylene, propylene oxide, propylene glycols, acrylonitrile, butadiene, C4 oligomers, isoamylene, toluene, ammonia and nitric acid.