UNITED KINGDOM: British court fines five companies for 2005 explosion at the Buncefield oil depot
Record ID:
344058
UNITED KINGDOM: British court fines five companies for 2005 explosion at the Buncefield oil depot
- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: British court fines five companies for 2005 explosion at the Buncefield oil depot
- Date: 17th July 2010
- Summary: HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (CONTAINS 4:3 MATERIAL) (FILE - DECEMBER 11, 2005) (REUTERS) ==NIGHT SHOTS== == AMATEUR VIDEO CAMERAMAN COMMENTARY== VARIOUS OF HUGE FLAMES AND SMOKE RISING INTO NIGHT TIME SKY VARIOUS OF DESTROYED BUILDINGS WITH DEBRIS LYING ON GROUND / FLAMES AND SMOKE IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF FLAMES AND SMOKE RISING FUEL TANKER SURROUNDED BY FLAMES ==DAY SHOTS== MASSIVE PLUME OF SMOKE SEEN FROM ACROSS FIELD PLUMES OF SMOKE AND FLAMES RISING FROM DEPOT ENORMOUS COLUMN OF THICK BLACK SMOKE RISING INTO SKY / PAN DOWN TO DEPOT FLAMES AND AIR THICK WITH BLACK SMOKE DEPOT ON FIRE WITH AIR THICK WITH SMOKE THICK PLUME OF BLACK SMOKE RISING INTO BLUE SKY, WITH TRUCK DRIVING DOWN STREET WORKERS INSIDE TRUCK WEARING FACE MASKS TRUCK DRIVING DOWN STREET, WITH POLICEMAN DIRECTING TRAFFIC / PAN TO THICK PLUME OF SMOKE RISING INTO BLUE SKY HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - DECEMBER 11, 2005) (REUTERS) AERIALS OF OIL DEPOT IN HEMEL HEMPSTEAD WITH SMOKE RISING
- Embargoed: 1st August 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Legal System,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA6LKLCZY6P3YPZSY44F224VONT
- Story Text: A British court fines oil major Total and four other companies over their role in an explosion at the Buncefield oil depot in 2005, which resulted in Europe's biggest peacetime fire.
A British court fined oil major Total and four other companies on Friday (July 16) over their role in an explosion at the Buncefield oil depot in 2005, which resulted in Europe's biggest peacetime fire.
Total was fined 6.2 million pounds (9.5 million U.S. dollars) for the involvement of its joint venture with Chevron, Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL), according to a BBC report.
HSOL was separately fined 2.45 million pounds (3.7 million U.S. dollars). Other companies fined were Motherwell Control Systems 2003 Ltd, TAV Engineering Ltd and British Pipeline Agency Ltd.
The blast occurred when a huge vapour cloud from the spillage of petrol from the top of a storage tank ignited. It caused widespread damage to the area north of London and injured 43 people.
The destruction at the Hertfordshire depot came after a massive vapour cloud ignited when 250,000 litres of petrol leaked from one of its tanks.
The Environment Agency (EA) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the explosion. HSE's Gordon MacDonald addressed the waiting news media after the court ruling.
"Five companies have today been held to account publicly for the failings that led to the Buncefield explosion, of the devastation that that wrought on the local community and the environment," he said. "This is the culmination of a thorough and complex investigation carried out by the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive into what was Britain's most costly petrochemical accident. Incidents like the explosion at Buncefield are extremely rare but they should not happen at all. Society rightly demands the highest standards from these high-hazard industries. The risks created by these industries must be managed effectively because when things go wrong in this sector the consequences are severe and can destroy lives, shatter local communities and cause damage to the environment that can last generations.
He said the court ruling was a message to high-hazard industries that they would be pursued and prosecuted in the event of an accident.
"From the boardroom down, companies must ask themselves these questions: do we understand what could go wrong? Do we know what our systems are to prevent this from happening? And do we have information to assure us they are working effectively?" he said.
Judge Calvert Smith said that the after-effects of the blast had taken a huge toll on the local community and that the "name Buncefield is now inextricably linked to the explosion."
TAV Engineering Ltd, of Guildford, Surrey, and Motherwell Control Systems 2003 Ltd, which is in voluntary liquidation, were both found guilty last month of failing to protect workers and members of the public, contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited (HOSL) was found guilty of failing to prevent major accidents and limit their effects.
It also pleaded guilty to causing pollution to enter controlled waters underlying the vicinity around Buncefield, contrary to the Water Resources Act.
The verdicts followed a joint prosecution by the HSE and the EA which the bodies described as the "biggest and most complex criminal inquiry" they worked on together.
Total UK had already pleaded guilty to three charges - of failing to ensure the safety of workers and members of the public and of causing pollution to enter controlled waters.
British Pipeline Ltd also admitted two charges in connection with the explosion - failing to prevent major accidents and limit their effects, and causing pollution to enter controlled waters. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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