Rank: Guest 
|
Posted By A Hayden
My partner is involved with this, apparantly the blast rocked houses in Canvey Island. It appears to have been caused by a leaking pipe, spilling product. Partner says likely cause of ignition could be static electricity. If Coryton was to blow, that is most of South East Essex gone.
No one found to be injured, so far, so hopefully no one will but there have been loads of people who were in that area within minutes before the explosion.
Partner says the HSE will be doing a very careful examination of the incident.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Ian Waldram
Why do you believe that if Coryton was to 'blow' most of S-E Essex would be gone? Have you checked the information that must be communicated to local residents as part of the Major Accident Plan - it should show likely affected areas, using non-technical explanations.
Also, are you aware that HSE and the then operator had a significant legal battle with the local authority to prevent additional housing on Canvey Island in an area where the imposed risk from Coryton was judged to be too high? - but the Council still wanted development. As far as I know, that development plan was stopped.
I'm not suggesting there would be no impact beyond the boundary, but part of the site COMAH Safety Case should be to define how far the impacts might extend in sample major incident scenarios. I doubt it will extend as widely as you fear - and possibly a toxic gas leak in unfavourable weather conditions may be worse than a fire/explosion?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By jom
Be wary of the use of the word "explosion" in the media and by the public. There doesn't appear to be blast damage around the towers. (Compare with pics of Texas City and Buncefield).
Will be interesting to learn what factors contributed to the absence of injuries and fatalities. Especially if a process upset or loss of containment had been detected before the ignition.
If there was, did it attract personnel to the area?
Or was the area cleared of people?
John.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By A Hayden
My partner said that when it was apparant that there was a problem everyone just switched into"drill" mode and followed all the carefully rehearsed procedures.
May I say that I am not a safety professional so my use of the word explosion is in the ordinary sense of the word not any specific legal or safety usage. I mean that there was a huge noise, windows and buildings trembled miles away and flames shot up 700 feet. My partner says the news report seemed to understate the actual event.
However he did say that when it initially happened, about 4 or 5 operatives ran towards the scene and began shut down procedures, cutting off the supply of product to the area. He said that this action, although part of the training, saved the incident from escalating into taking most of South East Essex with it........He really applauds the bravery of these men and he estimates that there were about 80 men working very close to this area that are alive this morning because of their heroism.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Adam Worth
Agree with what Ian says
Is it time the UK government tightned the COMAH regs and used something like the AriCOMAH score to control populations around these sites tho?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By jom AH, Thanks for the information. Interesting. The media will use "explosion" persistently. I didn't mean to downplay the seriousness of the event or criticise your description. There are explosions and then there are explosions. There isn't a "legal" definition, but the absence of a blast wave makes for a far less damaging event. Obviously this was a very bad event and could have escalated to something much worse. There is an aerial photo of the site here:- http://www1.getmapping.c...=27700&x=573525&y=182625Or TinyURL:- http://tinyurl.com/ypu4cyPan to the east and you'll find a large white tank and six smaller spheres (they have a black dot in centre). I'm guessing these are the spheres in the photos posted on the BBC bulletin - can anyone confirm that? (photos 2 and 5):- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7071502.stmOr TinyURL:- http://tinyurl.com/27gztyJohn.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.