Feeling fines

The record fines issued to five companies involved in the Buncefield (Hemel Hempstead, UK) oil depot disaster of December 2005 have led to some angry responses.

According to the Commercial Court Judgement in relation to the Buncefield Litigation Case: ‘It is thought to have been the largest peacetime explosion in Europe ever to have occurred. It measured 2.4 on the Richter scale and could be heard 200km away. Apart from damage to a large proportion of the Buncefield site, significant damage and disruption was also caused to both commercial businesses and residential properties outside the perimeter of the depot. The claims that have arisen are said to amount to over £750m.’

The cause of the explosion was the ignition of a vapour cloud that had developed from the spillage of around 300 tons of petrol from a storage tank.

Total received the largest fine at £6.2m, while Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited (a joint venture company established between Total and Chevron) was ordered to pay £2.4m and the British Pipeline Agency was told it would have to pay £780,000.

Meanwhile, Motherwell Control Systems 2003 (responsible for installing and maintaining tank level equipment) and TAV Engineering (the manufacturer of the ultimate high level alarm fitted to the tank) were both fined £1,500 each.

According to the Environment Agency: ‘The £1.3m in fines for pollution offences are a record for a single incident in the UK. The £3m fines for Total are the second highest to be handed down for safety offences.’

Solicitor Des Collins, representing some claimants affected by the explosion, said the sentences were ‘hardly even a slap on the wrists for endangering the lives and livelihoods of so many’. He added: ‘The sentences in this case do not even begin to punish the companies, given the extent of some of their profits. Total’s fine, plus court costs, is around 0.003 per cent of its profits in the first three months of this year.’ In a similar vein, Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning branded the fines an ‘insult’.

It’s hard not to feel sympathy for the claimants, workers and local residents, particularly in regard to the horrific risks posed by this incident. As Mr Justice David Calvert-Smith, sentencing at St Albans Crown Court, said: ‘Had the explosion happened during a working day, when large numbers of people would have been at premises close to the site, whether outside or inside, the loss of life may have been measured in tens or even hundreds.’

So, this is a modern-day horror show with an incalculable impact on reputations. I understand that this wouldn’t necessarily be agreed to by people in Hemel Hempstead but sometimes we need to look beyond the slight impact of even record fines. Sometimes it’s more than just the money and the companies involved know this only too well.

Lyndon White
Editor, Processingtalk

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