‘Our staff were not at fault' they insist

 

THE dramatic human story behind Buncefield is revealed today after oil company bosses spoke for the first time about the disaster which literally shook the country.
In a candid interview, the men in charge of the site told how their staff were blown through the air by the explosion just seconds after trying to shut down fuel supplies.
They revealed that many other employees were saved by safety windows which had been installed just weeks earlier.
And for the first time they publicly backed the workers 100 per cent, saying that they had done ‘absolutely everything by the book’ prior to the December 11  blast.
Russell Poynter was hours away from flying off to Africa when a knock on his door alerted him to the disaster.
The company secretary of Herts Oil Storage Ltd admitted that at first he thought the problem would soon be under control.
But it took a very short time for him to change his mind when he grasped the extent of the inferno that was to change the face of Hemel Hempstead forever.
Mr Poynter remembered the events of that momentous Sunday morning as The Gazette became the first newspaper allowed in to the devastated site.
Monday’s visit took place against a background of scorched and twisted metal that would make a Hollywood set for a film about the end of the world.
Just hours before tank 912 began overflowing and the escaping fuel formed a highly flammable vapour Mr Poynter and his management team had been living it up at a black tie dinner in the West End.
They were there as guests of Texaco, celebrating a 50th anniversary, and Mr Poynter admitted to enjoying some of the fine wine on offer and not making it back to his Watford home until after 3am.
He said: “We had, of course, had a couple of drinks and I had hardly got to sleep when I heard this knock on my door. It was the company chauffeur and he told me there had been an incident at Buncefield.
“I was supposed to be flying out on holiday to Africa later that morning and thought to myself that I’d have time to sort out the problem and still make my flight. All the previous risk assessment had clearly shown the worst that could happen at Buncefield was a fire in a single tank.
“But after a couple of hours it became clearly obvious I had to cancel my holiday.”
His first thoughts were that it was a terrorist attack and a rumour quickly circulated that they had targeted the neighbouring oil tank - ominously numbered tank 911.
“That was the first of a dozen different horror stories,” said Mr Poynter, who spent most of the day watching the event unfold on the television screen at the company’s headquarters in Watford.
He and Buncefield site manager, Ray Sewart, frantically paced up and down because two of their supervisors at the oil terminal were still unaccounted for.
Mr Sewart had also been at the previous night’s dinner but left early because he wanted to catch the last train back to his home in Bourne End, Bucks.
He said: “I didn’t stay as late as the others and when I got a phone call just after seven I drove straight to HQ. The men on duty at Buncefield that night were well known to me and the supervisors are very good friends. It was an extremely anxious time before we heard that thankfully they were alive.”
Since the unprecedented depot explosion, that is already being used to teach oil companies and firefighters throughout the world how to prevent and tackle fuel blasts, Mr Sewart has been able to piece together the happenings on site that Sunday morning.
He told The Gazette: “My men did absolutely everything by the book and acted totally in accordance with safety procedures. When the vapour cloud became visible two of them went straight to tank 912 and immediately flicked the off switch that stopped any fuel flowing anywhere in the terminal.
“It was on their way back to the office that they were hit by the blast and literally blown into the air and sent crashing to the ground. They took the full impact and it is a miracle they lived to tell the tale.
“Another half dozen or so workers in the office were saved by special safety windows we’d had installed just a short time before. Those windows blew out instead of inwards and that certainly saved their lives.”
As reported at the time only two people at the site suffered serious injuries and both recovered after hospital treatment.
Mr Sewart’s personal theory about the cause of the explosion is that a solitary cyclist on a nearby country lane could have lit a cigarette that sparked the blaze which has entered the history books.
Standing before the awesome backdrop of warped wreckage Mr Sewart pointed to a cyclist on the boundary lane and said he thinks that is all it might have taken to ignite the vapour cloud slowly moving towards the buildings on Hemel Hempstead’s industrial estate.
Most people have believed their prayers were answered and there was no loss of life because Buncefield blew early on a Sunday morning when hardly anyone was around.
But top boss Mr Poynter  thinks it might never have happened on a busy weekday.
He said: “I think that the vapour cloud would have been seen much earlier because so many people would have spotted it and so we would have been alerted much earlier and could almost certainly have prevented the explosions.
“Of course, it is absolutely wonderful that no-one died and there were only minor injuries because at the end of the day people are the only thing that matters.
“All that is left now is down to money and compared with people’s lives that is nothing, nothing at all.”

 

 

 

AT around 3am on Sunday, December 11, last year the level gauge on tank 912 stuck showing an unchanged reading, as if no longer filling. But fuel continued to pour in and by 5.20am the tank would have been full.
It begun to overflow and a separate switch system at the top of the tank, that should have automatically shut off the fuel supply into the tank to prevent overfilling, did not operate.
Around 300 tonnes of fuel escaped.
The cold, still weather conditions, the flow rate of fuel and the structure of the top of the tank and wall combined to allow a fuel-rich vapour to form and flow off the site.
Driven by gravity, the vapour would have mixed with air to become highly flammable by the time it reached the Fuji and Northgate carparks.
A progress report by the Health and Safety Executive, published earlier this year, says several likely sources of ignition have been discussed.
But the investigation team has yet to establish the sequencing of the explosions and is not yet able to explain how the vapour cloud generated such a massive explosion.

 

 

 

New technology will aid depot’s toxic clean up

 

 

 

BUNCEFIELD boss Russell Poynter has vowed that the safety of the people of Hemel Hempstead will be his company’s top priority during the multi-million pound demolition of the contaminated oil terminal due to start in November.
Work will last six to eight months and in preparation new technology commissioned by Herts Oil Storage Ltd (HSOL) has developed a complex filter system that claims to eliminate toxic fire fighting foam used to battle the blaze.
The perfluorooctance sulphonate (PFOS) contained in the foam poured onto 20 blazing fuel tanks cannot be broken down but Russell is confident the newly invented filter system will work.
He said: “No disaster on this scale has ever happened before so we consulted top experts and asked them to give us their best ideas.
“They have come up with this and in trials the filter successfully turns the PFOS into clear water that is not contaminated.”
He added that the geological composition of the clay on chalk site has helped
because tests show the
foam residue has not
penetrated through to the
underlying chalk.
The HSOL company secretary also promises that all the warped and charred remains of burnt out fuel tanks will be safely transported to a hazardous waste site and that drinking water supplies will continue to be closely monitored.
The demolition project is going out to tender next week and once it is completed aviation fuel will once again flow to Heathrow through an underground pipe at Buncefield.
A decision will also be taken on whether or not to re-build the disaster-hit depot.
The lesser affected nearby BP site is expected to re-open but the main terminal’s future still hangs in the balance as accountants weigh up the huge costs.
There seems little doubt the oil industry wants Buncefield back in business because since the blast the aviation and motoring fuels it supplied have had to go through other terminals causing much increased transport costs.
Russell said: “Buncefield is of key strategic importance to the UK because prior to the incident it handled eight per cent of overall UK oil supplies including 20 per cent of supply to consumers in the south east.”
He also forecast that if re-building does eventually go ahead: “Buncefield would be the most modern and safest fuel depot in the world.”
Since December 11 last year a Health and Safety Executive investigation has been carried out and a report on its findings with recommendations for the future are expected later this year.
As part of the investigation tank 912, where it all started, has been taken apart piece by piece and every scorched scrap of metal meticulously examined by experts.
The site was closed under the orders of the Health and Safety Executive but now Buncefield has been
transferred to the control of the Environment Agency
and the prohibition notice has been removed.

 

 

 

 

Reports, September 6


End in sight for fire water issue

Oil chiefs are close to plan to
dispose of contaminated water

 

THE BUNCEFIELD oil companies say they are close to submitting proposals for the disposal of contaminated water from the disaster.
Experts from Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL) have been carrying out tests and trials to discover the best way of dealing with the fire water, which is polluted with toxic chemicals including PFOS contained in fire fighting foam.
The Environment Agency has criticised the oil companies for failing to come up with a solution sooner and has sent two letters to HOSL urging them to submit their proposals.
HOSL says it has been working on the problem since the water was put into storage and has carried out several trials in a bid to find the best way to dispose of the water.
These tests have included the use of granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis, flocculation technology, physio-chemical techniques and 19 other proposals.
Hugo Nisbett a spokesman for HOSL said: “HOSL has run a month-long trial using reverse osmosis equipment at Thames Water's Maple Lodge site. Results are promising and we anticipate that a formal proposal for the large-scale treatment of contaminated water will be submitted to the Environment Agency for agreement shortly.”
He said it is likely that the water will have to be treated in several different ways as each batch of water contains different levels of contamination.
The Environment Agency has written to HOSL twice on June 29 and July 25, calling for the oil companies to put forward their plans.
Tim Abbott, a spokesman for the Environment Agency, said: “We understand they are working on it but we want them to get back to us as soon as possible.
“It has been almost eight months now and we find that unacceptable.”
HOSL says granular activated carbon beds have been the most effective in removing PFOS from pre-treated water and it is expected that this will be used along with other technologies.
In June 800,000 litres of contaminated water stored at Blackbird Sewerage Treatment Works, near Radlett was leaked into the River Colne.
Around four per cent of the waste stored in the tank was accidentally allowed into the plant's sewerage treatment system.
After the incident environment experts carried out their own checks of the storage tanks at Blackbirds and Maple Cross sewerage works to ensure the remaining toxic water was stored safely.
The Environment Agency says there is no further risk of the water leaking out.
Rain water which falls onto the Buncefield site is still being tankered off and into storage. Possible treatments p Activated carbon is often used in water treatment and is effective in removing PFOS from water. The carbon works by attracting and absorbing certain chemicals in water. The carbon particles can then be treated and reused.
p Reverse osmosis works by pushing a solution through a filter which traps the chemicals on one side and allows the filtered liquid to be obtained on the other. HOSL has said that so far this method has been the most effective in tests carried out.
p Flocculation technology and physio-chemical techniques uses particles to attract chemicals in a liquid to form a sediment at the bottom of the solution leaving a clean liquid above which can then be extracted.

 

Reduced to rubble

 

RUBBLE is all that remains of the former Hemel Hempstead base of Northgate Information Solutions, as demolition crews continue their work to level the building gutted by the Buncefield blasts.
The headquarters of the IT firm on Boundary Way were all but destroyed by the December 11 depot disaster, forcing the company to move into temporary premises outside Hemel Hempstead.
Northgate returned to the town in May, moving to the Peoplebuilding office complex in Maylands Avenue.
Demolition and clearance of the firm's former headquarters is due to
finish soon.
A Northgate spokesman said: "A decision on returning to the Buncefield site in the long term has not yet been made.
“It is a matter which we continue to discuss with all affected parties."

 

Looting victim to quiz police chief

 

A VICTIM of the devastating Buncefield explosions, who feels let down by police after his home was looted several times, is to meet with police chiefs.
Ian Silverstein will put questions to Chief Constable Frank Whiteley, during the meeting on Friday.
He will ask for details about police training for such a disaster and will question the way the police acted to protect properties in the aftermath of the explosions.
During the first week after the disaster in December Mr Silverstein says his home was looted three times with £35,000 worth of goods stolen.
Mr Silverstein spent £350,000 refurbishing the house - built in 1911 as a country retreat for the Fry family of chocolate fame - when he bought it in 2002.
The home worth around £1.3 million before the blast is now a worthless shell.
Warren Patten, aged 22, of Claymore, Grovehill, was given a four-month suspended sentence and a 180-hour community punishment order after pleading guilty to stealing £5,500 worth of electrical goods from Mr Silverstein's home on December 14 - three days after the explosions.

 

Have a heart and leap for fire crews

 

FIRE service heroes were in the frontline in the fight against the Buncefield blaze and now a brave fundraising event planned for Hemel Hempstead industrial estate will aid a fund for firefighters.
Heroes of a different kind are now being called upon to demonstrate their courage by abseiling off the top of the 100ft DSG International building in Maylands Avenue, close to the Buncefield blast site.
The event is on Saturday, September 30 and organisers want to hear from people prepared to take the plunge and raise cash for the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund (FSNBF).
National fundraiser for the fund, Cathy Clark, said: “We are offering a fantastic opportunity to experience a genuine buzz and raise money for a great cause.”
There is a £10 registration fee and £90 minimum sponsorship is required. For more information or to sign up to take part call 079797 58026 or email cclark@fsnbf.org.uk

Reports, August 16


Bosses say bakery hit by Buncefield explosion will shut down

Workers feel ‘cheated' after bakery closes

 

REDUNDANT employees have said they feel cheated after decades of loyal service to a bakery blown apart by the Buncefield blast.
Dozens gathered at the gates of the devastated East Balt Guenther Bakeries (EBGB) factory on Cherry Trees Lane on Thursday, to explain why they feel let down by the company that many of them have dedicated their working lives to.

Staff outside the bakery

The McDonald's burger bun supplier's decision not to rebuild the bakery in Hemel Hempstead and centralise its resources in Manchester has left more than 100 workers facing redundancy.
Dissatisfied with their government-minimum redundancy packages, staff feel they have been left out in the cold since they were offered the choice to permanently move to Manchester with the firm or lose their jobs.
EBGB supplies every McDonald's branch in the UK and makes more than six million burger buns a week during its busiest periods.
The company, which has an annual turnover of £40 million, has been commuting Hemel Hempstead workers to its factory in Manchester, since the Buncefield depot explosion destroyed its site at Maylands industrial estate in December 2005.
Liam Courtenay, 47, has worked at the factory for 29 years and received a redundancy package of just £6,670 with a £1,000 loyalty bonus for 15 years' service.
He said: “I have worked 18 and 20 hour shifts not once or twice but hundreds of times. It has been three-quarters of my life. But it means nothing. We have campaigned at forum meetings for some kind of service to help people move on and find employment and we have argued the money, but we just get told that what we have been offered is ‘fair'.”
His colleague Said Rasool, 58, has also served at the factory for 29 years. He has worked every Christmas shift and even left a family wedding in Birmingham to attend work when a problem arose that only he could fix.
He said: “We're disgusted at the way we have been treated. We still believed that service and loyalty would count for something but not with this firm.”
Gill Rance, 45, representing her husband Mark, 46, while he was at work in Manchester said: “Mark has given so much and has now been basically dumped by the company. He works nights and has not had a Christmas Day off in 27 years.
“He has put the company before his family life many times. Travelling to Manchester since December means we haven't seen him for half a year.”
Gary Leech, 50, a maintenance team leader said: “We are really on our own. It's a very sorry state of affairs. Nobody here wants a fortune, but I can't understand why it's the government minimum. What price can you put on 30 years of people's lives?”
A representative from East Balt Guenther Bakeries said: “We are extremely grateful for the support and cooperation of these employees.
“The company has offered positions to our Hemel employees at our Manchester and Olen sites and the company has offered a loyalty bonus based on years of service. The company has provided all of the Hemel employees with full pay and benefits since late December despite the fact they only worked every other week.
“We have enlisted the support of the Hertfordshire Response to Redundancy Service who are supporting Hemel employees in looking for alternative work in the local area.
“While this is an extremely unfortunate situation that was caused by an unexpected event beyond the company's control, we are working hard to ensure our employees are being looked after.”

 

Roy takes on blast recovery

 

A NEW Maylands recovery chief has been appointed to steer through regeneration of the area following the Buncefield disaster.
Roy Bain will work with Dacorum Borough Council to restore confidence in the Maylands industrial estate, help businesses hit by the blast, and bring new companies to the town.
Many have been left without jobs following the disaster and companies with damaged buildings have been forced to move out of the town.
Mr Bain, whose salary will be paid by the East of England Development Agency, will be working as the Maylands regeneration programme director.
He said: “Hemel Hempstead is clearly a town that is going places. The Hemel 2020 Vision presents the local community and businesses with an exciting future direction.
“The economic development of Maylands Business Park is a key component of this.
“Our success will support business competitiveness, secure the future for local jobs and contribute to local prosperity.
“I am delighted that I have been given an opportunity to play a part in this.”
Maylands is the largest industrial area in the East of England and is home to 630 businesses employing an estimated 16,500 people.
Eighty-eight of these companies, employing around 4,000 people, are still without their premises following the disaster.
Mr Bain was previously executive director of the Hertfordshire Learning and Skills Council from 2000 and before that he was chief executive of Hertfordshire TEC.

 

Oil giant BP's bid to get on blast site

 

WORKERS could be allowed back on the Buncefield site to start the mammoth task of clearing up.
BP is expected to submit a site safety report today (Wednesday) to the Buncefield Investigation team outlining its plans to begin removing damaged materials.
Safety inspectors have so far banned everyone from Buncefield while they carry out examinations into the blast last December. They will now decide whether the BP workers are allowed back in.
BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams would not comment on whether the company's request to get back on site means they want to get their oil terminal up and running again. She said: “We will be issuing a statement within the next week or two. At the moment we haven't permission to go on the site to do any work although we do know we luckily suffered minimal damage probably because the road saved us.”
Badly-hit Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd, however, said it had not made any request to get back on site. A HOSL spokeswoman said: “Our priority at the moment is to work with the Health and Safety Executive to ensure it can complete its investigation as quickly as possible.”

 

 

Reports, August 9

 

Buncefield ‘caused no ill-effects'

New report concludes depot's smoke plume did not harm people or the environment

 

A REPORT on the Buncefield disaster concludes there were 'no serious public health effects' following the fire.
The report, by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), pulls together data from accident and emergency departments, surveys and environmental information.
It says the black smoke plume created by the immense blaze did not have any harmful effects and just 244 people went to hospital.
However, because the report deals only with 'immediate effects', scarcely any mention is made of the contamination of the ground water at the site.
The Environment Agency has declared the incident a 'major accident to the environment' because an area of groundwater greater than a hectare, or more than four football pitches, has been polluted.
Testing continues and Three Valleys Water insists drinking water has not been affected.
An HPA spokesman said: “The report is about the immediate effects of the plume. It's not looking at long-term issues.”
Of the 244 people who went to casualty, most were emergency service professionals but there were also depot workers and members of the public.
Around half were suffering respiratory problems while the second most common reason was injuries, followed by headache and anxiety.
A number of people complained of a ringing in the ears following the blast.
Extensive testing was carried out on grasses and soil following the disaster but the report says 'pollutant levels were unexceptional and typical of UK urban environments'.
Similarly, air quality tests showed 'none of the concentrations of pollutants monitored close to the site were above background concentrations'.
Questionnaires sent out to householders revealed the disaster did cause 'slightly higher' reporting of physical symptoms and psychological distress but it was 'concluded that there were little if any measurable health affects from the fire'.
The report says the heat of the fire 'punched a hole' through the air strata and the plume was trapped at a height of around 3,000 metres, reducing the potential for ground contamination.
Professor Pat Troop, chief executive of the HPA, says: “It was lucky that due to exceptional circumstances such as time of day and the weather conditions no one was seriously injured following the fire at the Buncefield oil depot.
“The findings reported here indicate there were no serious public health effects from exposure to the fire.”

 

Fixing the disaster damage

 

HAPPY with the rehabilitation work to her Apsley home which like many others suffered damage following the Buncefield disaster is Samantha Thomas who has nothing but praise for the local builders engaged by Dacorum Borough Council to carry out repairs.
Samantha was away in Italy on a self defence course at the time of the explosion and when she came back to her house in Orchard Street was not aware of anything wrong.
“I checked over the house briefly and everything seemed to be in order but as the months went by more and more splits appeared, cladding by the staircase split and all the time cracks in the wall plaster became bigger and bigger,” she said.
“Worktops in the kitchen dropped, tiles came off, the door twisted in its frame, lumps of plaster dropped from ceilings, render on the front of the house cracked and now the porch door frame has split from the wall.”
As time went by hairline cracks in wall plaster widened and lengthened and, up to now, only one part of the house, a bedroom, remains without any obvious need for remedial work.
Samantha contacted the council around the end of February when she realised the widening cracks, which she had at first thought were due to the age of the house, were more serious.
“They came to see me reasonably quickly and it seemed to me they could see I had kept the property in good order and would provide a good contractor to carry out the work,” she said.
It now looks as though the end is in sight, and she has been impressed by the smooth operations of the builders, RA Bayliss, who kept her informed about each stage and ensured the work was of a high standard.
“I expected things just to be patched up, but these guys have been so good. You hear so many bad stories about builders, but these guys were great,” said Samantha, who also praised council building inspector Richard Woods for keeping an eye on progress.
A mother of two, 32-year-old Samantha is currently studying languages and the art of Kravmaga in which she has international and British diplomas with a view to her future career.

 

Hong Kong mill to fight depot plans

 

A HONG KONG steel company is scouring articles about Buncefield in the Gazette archives to back its campaign against plans for a giant fuel depot.
Shiu Wing Steel Ltd operates from a steel mill just 100 metres from a site where the Hong Kong Airport Authority has proposed to build a vast depot for airport aviation fuel.
Workers at the mill have campaigned tirelessly to have the proposal denied and now Shiu Wing managing director David Teng Pong has turned to the devastating Buncefield depot explosion for proof of the dangers it could pose.Mr Teng Pong was horrified when an environmental permit was granted for the depot without a risk assessment to address the danger of a potential fuel leak.
The chance that the tanks' contents could spill onto the hot steel mill's site and ignite was deemed so unlikely by Hong Kong environment experts that it was excluded from the original risk assessment.
Building work came to a halt last month (July) when Hong Kong's highest court demanded that the Airport Authority addressed the possibility of a major fuel leak scenario.
Mr Teng Pong is now researching back editions of the Gazette to collect details of how fuel escaped from an overfilled storage tank at Buncefield after the alarm systems did not work and bunding failed to contain the spill, consequently leading to the giant blast.
The concerned MD is using Buncefield as an example to hurriedly build a case against the Hong Kong depot, as building will resume if the Airport Authority can produce a report that “reveals no unacceptable risk to human life.”

 

IT firm bounces back

 

A COMPANY badly hit in the Buncefield disaster has bounced back with plans to open extra offices in Hemel Hempstead.
Steria Ltd, one of the top 10 European IT services companies, plans to expand the business by taking space at the new Workhotel in Maxted Road.
The firm is also based in Three Cherry Trees Lane, just yards from the oil depot, and its building was severely damaged in the blast.
An official opening of the new offices, for 200 extra posts, was due to take place yesterday evening.


Reports July 26

 

Buncefield sparks call solution to disruption

 

A UNIQUE telephone answering service has been
developed in the wake of the Buncefield disaster by a
company whose boss lost his home in the blast.
Hemel Hempstead company Telephonetics has launched the new product because its workers were so close to the disruption to business caused by the blast.
Telephonetics has developed its own solution that can be invoked remotely to ensure all calls would still be handled effectively even when evacuated workers were at another location, at home or travelling.
Managing director Bill Burgar said: “Our solution can ensure an organisation continues operations effectively with minimal disruption to their customers, suppliers and staff.”
Telephonetics specialises in speech recognition call answering and is based at Hamilton House in Marlowes so did not suffer directly from the Buncefield fire.
But Bill saw his own home destroyed at Cherry Tree Lane in Hemel Hempstead and has since moved with his family to Hastoe, near Tring.
Bill spoke from experience when he said: “The Buncefield oil terminal fire showed what havoc an unforeseen event can cause.
“Many organisations found that although their telephony equipment was intact they could not re-enter their buildings and therefore could not function effectively.”
A Chartered Management Institute survey shows that despite events such as Buncefield more than 50 per cent of firms have no business continuity plans in place.
Some analysts estimate that 80 per cent of commercial transactions are conducted by phone, but this is often overlooked in business continuity plans. 

 

Critical committee is planning for disaster

 

THE Buncefield disaster has left politicians asking if the borough is properly prepared should another catastrophe take place.
Councillors at a meeting of Dacorum Borough Council's environment scrutiny committee sought assurances about the state of readiness.
Criticism was levelled at the Buncefield depot for not having enough water on site to fight the fire, which meant water had to be piped in from a lake some distance away.
Councillor Graham Sutton told the meeting: “Surely the oil company should ensure there is enough water to fight a fire of this size on site rather than having pipelines two-and-a-half miles down the road.”
Committee vice chairman Alan Anderson said: “Dacorum performed extremely well. The key question is are we better equipped for next time.
“If we have another large-scale civil emergency are we ready?”
Head of public protection John Clarke said the size of the Buncefield blaze was never predicted, but he replied: “The answer is yes.
“We are already a long way down the route of an improvement plan, which will enforce our position as a planning authority.”
Concerns were also expressed about the stored firewater left over from the disaster, 800,000 litres of which leaked into the River Colne from Thames Water's Blackbirds sewage treatment works near Radlett.
Councillor Richard Roberts said: “There was a massive release of firewater so it is not entirely safe at the moment.
“It may be this council wishes to send a message we are not happy to still have firewater causing problems for the environment.”
Committee members also expressed fears about a toxic chemical used in the firefighting foam, perfluorooctane sulphonate or PFOS, which has been found in watercourses, but not drinking water.
The Environment Agency is continuing to monitor the situation.


News Reports July 20


Buncefield – minister comes to town on day oil tank takes its leave

‘Nobody in area wants that site to re-start’

But inspector says he won’t help to rush in changes

by Will Green
will.green@ccnltd.com

INVESTIGATORS have outlined three areas of concern that need to be addressed following the Buncefield disaster.
The latest report from the Buncefield investigation board highlights:
l planning controls,
l the emergency response
and,
l the design and operation
of oil storage sites.
Investigation manager Taf Powell said it was too early to make exact planning recommendations, but a balance had to be struck between ‘public prosperity and public protection’.
“We now know that the worst that can happen at such sites is considerably worse than a pool fire around a single tank,” he said.
“However, the board has made it clear that it is not helpful to rush into changes that are not properly considered.”
Mr Powell said an automatic firefighting pump at Buncefield, designed to cool tanks in the event of a fire, was destroyed in the blast and thought should be given to moving pumps further away from potential hazards.
“There was no firefighting capacity because of the explosion,” he said.
“It could be the pumphouse was one of the first things destroyed.”
He also said the design of the tank helped the vapour cloud to form by cascading overflowing fuel down its sides.
Investigators now believe there were two sources – the pumphouse and an air-conditioning unit - that caused the vapour cloud to ignite.
“We are quite confident there was more than one explosion,” Mr Powell said.
However, mystery still surrounds why the cloud detonated as it did and with such violence.
Scientists at the Health and Safety Executive’s laboratories in Buxton are using computers to understand the physics involved. “It was not planned for, that there would be such a large vapour cloud which would explode with such violence,” Mr Powell said.
“To come up with a fairly infallible computer model of the explosion could take a very long time and possibly may require the involvement of the international scientific community.”
A team of 70 at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is working on the investigation into the Buncefield disaster.
“We will consider evidence, come to a conclusion and hand it over to the prosecuting authorities,” Mr Powell said.
Meanwhile, the HSE is in control of the entire site and no oil industry activity is taking place at Buncefield, even on those parts that were relatively undamaged.
“I have not been notified of any plans by the operators to recommence handling and storage of fuels from their former sites,” Mr Powell said.
“Nobody in the area wants that site to restart – that is quite clear.”

 

Politicians promise more cash

CABINET minister Ruth Kelly visited Hemel Hempstead to speak to residents and businesses about the Buncefield disaster.
Mrs Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, also announced more cash would be made available to Dacorum Borough Council.
“There are concerns about the future, about whether there will be an oil depot and how close buildings will be to that,” she said.
The minister could not say how much money would be provided as it would be provided under the Belwin Formula - the government method for compensating local authorities for disasters.

 

Maylands now case of ‘support for firms’

THE LESSONS learned from the Buncefield oil blasts were discussed by council chiefs last week, along with how the town could best plan the future of housing and business near to the devastated depot site.
Planning chiefs at Dacorum Borough Council were briefed on the successes and failures of the council’s response to the Buncefield blast last December.
Councillors asked planning officer Graham Winwright if the outcome of the official investigation into the Buncefield blasts was likely to affect plans to build hundreds of homes near the fuel depot site.
Mr Winwright said recommendations by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on building houses near the depot would depend on the future use of the site and advice would be clearer when investigators published their final report.
On business, Mr Winwright said the focus of plans for the Maylands Industrial Estate had switched from improving the area to supporting damaged or displaced businesses.
He said: “All of the larger employers have returned to Hemel Hempstead - with the exception of East Balt Guenther Bakeries (formerly Golden West).
He said it was also important for the council to continue support for small and medium-sized companies affected by the blast.

 

Caravan site plan boost for economy

A BRAND new caravan site is being planned at Breakspear Way, Hemel Hempstead, adjacent to the stricken Buncefield area.
It would replace the existing Caravan Club site that has already re-opened for business following the Buncefield disaster.
Fiona Bewers, Caravan Club spokesperson, said: “Once up and running, based on membership
research, caravanners staying on site will contribute £1.1million in off-site spend per annum to the local economy.”
Fiona added: “There was only minor damage to site infrastructure after the Buncefield blast and the Caravan Club is moving from the site due to the expiry of the lease.
“The move was envisaged before the Buncefield event and the Caravan Club has been in negotiation with the council for a number of years.”
The plans are in support of Dacorum Borough Council’s 20/20 Vision Statement for Hemel Hempstead and its bid to attract more tourists to the area.
Dacorum Borough Council confirmed the move was part of the Maylands Gateway project into a brighter Hemel Hempstead and had been under discussion before December’s explosion .
The Caravan Club this week lodged a planning application for a 118 pitch site with toilet block, warden’s accommodation, replacing the 60-pitch site.
It will be accessed by an internal road from Bedmond Road and be available for caravans, motor caravans or trailer tents.
The whole English Partnerships-owned site occupies 12 hectares and the caravans would take up four hectares of that.
The Caravan Club has 325,000 members and 200 sites in its nationwide network.
The new venue would attract more spending power in local shops and would improve the local economy, the clubs says in its report. Its closeness to the M1 would make it an ideal out-of-town spot for low-cost accommodation for visitors to London and local places of interest.
Of the 118 pitches, 80 are expected to be all-weather, the remaining 38 on grass.

 

Oil firms' £100k for blast victims

SOLICITORS acting for victims of the Buncefield disaster hope to be back in court this month while the oil companies on the site have stumped up a further £100,000 to help with
recovery efforts.
Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL) has pledged to give the Mayor's Recovery Fund £100,000 on top of the £150,000 it donated days after the explosions.
The money will be used to help people worst affected by the disaster through cash grants.
Dacorum Community Trust, which manages the fund, held its annual review at the Peoplebuilding in Maylands Avenue last Wednesday (June 28) where latest facts and figures about how cash from the recovery fund has been used were revealed.
HOSL is made up of Total (60 per cent) and Texaco (40 per cent). Other companies on the Buncefield site include BP, Shell and the British Pipeline Agency.
By the end of March this year the Mayor's Recovery Fund, set up by Cllr Jane Hogg, had raised £221,000 and 478 grants had been handed out.
Out of all the applicants, 60 per cent have been by people who have lost jobs, 30 per cent have been by people whose homes were damaged and 10 per cent
relate to other problems.
Meanwhile, Collins Solicitors, which is acting for more than 200 people in a joint damages claim against HOSL, will be submitting a case progress report to the High Court next week, as all parties in the case were asked to do by the judge at the last hearing.
Des Collins said: “We will be preparing a report on the developments that have taken place and how we propose to move forward.”
Those helped by the mayor's fund include a disabled man, who had his aviary destroyed in the blast causing his parrot to die. He was given a grant to buy another bird.
Cash was also used to buy Christmas presents for youngsters at a Hemel Hempstead children's home. By the end of June £116,000 had been dished out in grants.

Fashion house profits boom despite blaze

WHEN the Buncefield explosion blew the roof off an internet fashion firm's warehouse and destroyed all its Christmas stock few would have dreamt it could turn that disaster into unprecedented success.
But that is just what the Maylands Avenue company ASOS (formerly As Seen On Screen) has achieved.
This week chief executive Nick Robertson reported a 49 per cent rise in annual pre tax profits to £1.65million. Annual sales surged 39 per cent to £18.8million last year and in the first six weeks of the new financial year those sales soared by a staggering 74 per cent.
Nick recalled: “We had only moved to the Hemel industrial estate in August last year and just when we had practically doubled our stock for the Christmas rush, Buncefield blew up. The bang blew our roof off and the agency security guard on site was blown off his feet but luckily he was unhurt.”
It took just five weeks for Nick to fit a temporary false roof and get back to providing cheap copies of designer clothes and accessories worn by models and film stars such as Kate Moss and Sienna Miller.
“We don't hang about and managed to re-open on January 16. Luckily we have a fast fashion turnaround and change our stock every five weeks,” said Nick.
Builders are currently replacing the roof of the 50,000 sq ft warehouse and 20,000ft offices while business booms beneath the temporary false one. More than 130 workers are kept busy checking and sending out orders to its fashion-conscious online customers.
One of the factors that enabled the company to re-start so quickly is its low rise warehouse.
Nick said: “We were shielded by four taller buildings in front of us so we were fortunate in that respect. As far as Buncefield is concerned it was just a blip and one of those things that has encouraged us to try even harder.”
Nick believes that if his firm had not been hit by Buncefield his sales could have hit the £25million mark with pre tax profits of £2.2million.
“We lost 30 per cent in the big burn but luckily we were well insured. We will collect £600,000 compensation this year and there will be more but, sorry, we are not disclosing the final figure,” he added.

UPDATES June 28

Back to Hemel for Fuji

The moving back cake is cut at Fuji

Along with the office's at Eaton Court FUJIFILM has also entered into an agreement with another local business, Steria, located on Three Cherry Trees Lane to provide space for Fuji 's design laboratory workshops. There will be 12 FUJIFILM design engineers based in the area within the Steria facilities.

‘We are delighted to return the Maylands business area and we look forward to supporting the long term regeneration of the area' .

Prince's tea and sandwich sympathy for Buncefield victims

PRINCE Charles offered a slice of support to Helen Morrell after she told him how her sandwich business had been hit by the Buncefield blast.
The prince, who visited Maylands last week, listened intently as Helen told how she juggled her work while caring for disabled son, Jack, 11.
She explained how she had lost half her trade at Morrell's Sandwich Bar in Maylands Avenue because damage to buildings had forced companies to move away.
Clearly touched by her story, the prince told guests to ‘keep the sandwiches going, eat for England'.
Prince Charles flew into Maylands by helicopter on Friday morning. He circled over the wrecked remains of the Buncefield oil depot site before landing near the Peoplebuilding offices where he met residents and businesses affected by the disaster as well as dignitaries.
Helen, who employs four staff, said: “I thought he was the most charming man I have ever met. He really had time to listen to what I had to say.”
Shortly before leaving the reception, the prince gave a speech, where he mentioned Helen's difficulties.
He said: “I feel dreadfully for the lady who has the sandwich bar, who I know had particular difficulties as she provides sandwiches to everyone on the estate.”
Helen and husband Phil, who have two daughters, Hannah, 14 and India, five, are fundraising to buy Jack, who suffers from Dachenne Muscular Dystrophy, a wheelchair which will allow him to sit and stand up at the push of a button.
Helen took the royal visit as an opportunity to hand over to Prince Charles a letter urging him to back the Race Against Time - a campaign for more research into muscular dystrophy.
Jack's condition means he is no longer able to walk alone. He needs the wheelchair for more independence when he goes to senior school in September but it costs up to £25,000.
Helen said: “Things like equipment and wheelchair provision in this country is appalling.”
If you would like to donate towards Jack's wheelchair call Helen on 07901 582918 or email philmorrell@websumi.net .

Prince praises response to ‘pure horror'

PRINCE Charles flew into Hemel Hempstead on Friday to offer his support and sympathy to those still suffering from the aftermath of the Buncefield disaster.
As he met many of those involved in the response to the fire and some of those most affected by it, he spoke of the ‘pure horror' residents and business people must have felt during the ordeal.
Speaking at a reception at Peoplebuilding office block in Maylands Avenue, he said: “I can only offer you the greatest possible sympathy, particularly the residents and people running their businesses, who were so disrupted and given such a shock, which I can only imagine was pure horror.”
He added: “Speaking to you all, it quickly becomes apparent that there are really strong local partnerships in place. I think it is so encouraging to see this and to experience this.
“Obviously it is these relationships which will undoubtedly bring about sustainable and lasting solutions to all the challenges to rebuild community life.”
The Prince took time to question and chat with members of the emergency services, councillors, business representatives, the Buncefield investigation team and residents made temporarily homeless after the fire.
He praised the quick emergency response to the Buncefield disaster and the ongoing recovery effort.
He said: "I do think the emergency services deserve immense congratulations for their response to the situation as it was one of the biggest incidents to hit this country for a very long time.”
But Prince Charles, who was also affected by the disaster when a £5m distribution centre he owns through The Duchy of Cornwall was torn apart in the blast, is also concerned about the environmental impact of the fire.
According to Taf Powell, Buncefield investigation manager, the Prince wants to know where the fire fighting foam, used to extinguish the blaze, has been stored.
Among the people to meet Prince Charles was former Dacorum Mayor Jane Hogg, who set up a recovery fund to help those worst affected by the disaster, which has so far dished out more than £100,000.
Prince Charles praised the work of the council in dealing with the disaster and in helping to move on to the future.
He added: “Can I offer my added congratulations to Dacorum Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council on their immense efforts to bring about a planned and appropriate recovery and to encourage everybody to keep thinking ahead.”
Among the members of the public lucky enough to meet the Prince was Heidi Brazier, who along with husband Carl and their seven children, had to move into a hotel while their home, damaged by the Buncefield explosions, was repaired.
WHEN his helicopter touched down on wasteland next to the Esporta sport complex in Maylands Avenue, Prince Charles chose to walk to the reception to
the delight of a small crowd hoping to
catch a glimpse of him.
As he passed on the other side of the street from the crowd, closely followed by two bodyguards, he joked with his aide and waved to those keen to take his picture.

Oil blaze water leaks into river 

THAMES Water has been criticised for allowing 800,000 litres of toxic water used in the clean-up after the Buncefield blaze in Hemel Hempstead to leak into the River Colne and then failing to report it for days.
By the time Environment Agency staff were able to test for traces of potentially harmful chemicals, the flow of the river may have carried pollutants into the River Thames and ultimately out to sea.
The environmentalists were carrying out tests for levels of metals such as copper and zinc and for the controversial chemical PFOS which was contained in some of the firefighting foam used at the oil depot fire.
The waste from the firefighting operation was a mix of water, the firefighting foam and fuel and both this and the water used in the subsequent clean-up were ferried away from the site in tankers in the days following December's disaster.
The contaminated water was put into storage after the blaze to prevent it from leaking underground and polluting local water sources and rivers.
Environmentalists are so concerned that water gathering after rainfall is still tankered away from the Buncefield site now, six months after the blaze.
Thames Water says it now believes the leak at the Blackbird Lees Sewerage Treatment Works, near Rickmansworth, took place between Saturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18 when around four per cent of the waste stored in tanks was accidentally allowed into the plant's sewerage treatment system.
Colin Chiverton, of the Environment Agency, said: “We were not told about the leak until Wednesday morning and water sampling tests began on Thursday. By then the leaked water and any chemicals it contained would have been diluted as they travelled through the River Colne and might have already got into the River Thames.”
Hilary Bennett, of Thames Water, said: “There was never any intentional delay in informing the Environment Agency and we are co-operating fully with investigations.”
She added that the missing waste was noticed on Monday but at first it was wrongly assumed that it had been transferred to another part of the site.
Hilary added: “The water stored at this site has a low level of contamination and because it was pumped through the sewerage treatment plant it was treated. We are satisfied that it poses no risk to public health, drinking water or the local environment.”
The cause of the accident is still under investigation and Thames Water will report back to the Environment Agency.
Ultimately the safe disposal of all the 26 million litres of waste water removed from Buncefield is the responsibility of the oil companies.

Updates June 15

BUNCEFIELD MP: Who is in charge?

HEMEL Hempstead MP Mike Penning is demanding to know who in Whitehall is in charge of the Buncefield disaster.
Since the shake-up in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), when John Prescott's responsibilities were changed, Mr Penning says no minister has officially taken over.
Six months have passed since the disaster and still no government cash is forthcoming, the MP says.
Mr Penning asked the House of Commons who is in charge since Prescott's departure.
Much of the ODPM's responsibilities have been taken on by a new department called the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
The department is headed by Ruth Kelly, who was scheduled to visit Buncefield today (Wednesday), but the trip was postponed.

‘Now we can tell everyone at school what happened' Buncefield blast - children quiz experts over historic event

CURIOUS schoolchildren affected by the Buncefield explosion got their chance to quiz experts at a forum held in the Hemel Hempstead Civic Centre.
Nearly 100 children, aged five to 18, were able to seek answers from the people leading the Buncefield investigation, the emergency services and the community leaders in charge of the recovery effort.
Dacorum Borough Council chief executive Daniel Zammit chaired the forum and was keen to give the children a voice.
“Children are no less a part of our community and they deserve the chance to ask questions and have honest answers,” he said.
Lord Tony Newton of Braintree, who is chairing the Buncefield investigation, used a slideshow to reveal how the depot had come to explode and explained the ongoing recovery plan.
Images of Tank 912, that overflowed with fuel after safety mechanisms failed to sound the alarm, were shown to the students to illustrate how a flammable vapour cloud formed and ignited, sparking the giant explosion.
Teachers and pupils also gained the firefighters' perspective when they watched a short film produced by the fire service containing scenes from the incident on December 11 last year.
The perceptive children asked questions about how the explosion had affected the environment and how far away it was heard. Most pupils were astonished to discover there were reports of the blast as far away as Holland.
They also impressed Mr Zammit and Lord Newton with unplanned supplementary questions, asking why nobody had realised the safety alarms were faulty and whether other fuel depots had been checked in case they were the same.
The panel assured the children that more than 100 sites with similarities to Buncefield had been looked at since the Hemel Hempstead disaster to find out if they were safe.
Questions got tougher in the second half of the forum when the panel was quizzed on where compensation for the victims was going to come from and whether Buncefield would be safe if it was rebuilt.
Speaking after the event, Lord Newton said: “I think the children asked some excellent questions.”
George Street School pupil Joe Berry, 11, said: “It's interesting to know how the fire started and that's important for them to find out so it doesn't happen again.”
Brockswood School pupil Rebecca Wright, 11, added: “Now we know what happened and how it affected people we can go back to school and tell everyone else.”
Jupiter Drive teacher Julie Walker said: “The children really enjoyed it and it was done at a level that they could understand and they really took it all in.”
At the end of the forum, Mr Zammit thanked the children for their incisive questions and told them: “You are our community and we're here to serve you.
“You deserve the opportunity to form your own views and ask your own questions.
“Part of our duty is to keep you protected and we will always work within our powers to do that.”