In a chemical plant, a fire broke out at 12.59 pm in a substation supplying a hydrazine hydrate unit. An electrical fault on a cooling water pump caused a generalised short circuit on an electrical tower. The fire alarm was[...]
During security testing conducted by the operator in the presence of the inspection of classified facilities, 2 shut-off valves did not operate at the tractor-trailer unloading station of an LPG depot. In the event of an anomaly, these positive safety[...]
A leak detected late on a pipeline (10'', 2 bar) serving a port petrochemical site along the Juliana canal was the caused 3 000 m³ (2500 tonnes) of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) to be released thus polluting soil and[...]
In the bitumen storage and loading/unloading unit at a refinery, a 12-m high tank installed on the site for 30 years featuring a floating roof, a capacity of 1,200 m3 and a heating coil, suddenly ruptured at the level of[...]
In a chemical plant, an explosion occurred when a glyoxylic acid production line using the ozonisation technique was re-started. The facility was destroyed a year ago by an explosion followed by a fire (ARIA 25337). The internal emergency plan and the[...]
The gas pipe connecting Zeebrugge to the Franco-Belgian border exploded violently in an industrial zone. Around 8.30 am, a leak was detected by the hissing sound made by the escaping, still odourless at that stage. The emergency services arrived for[...]
Analyses carried out on the residual water at the discharge point of a waste water treatment plant at a chemical plant manufacturing a basic organic product revealed that the thresholds of the standards stipulated by prefectural order had been significantly[...]
Fire broke out on the furnace of a hydrodesulphurisation (HDS) unit for refinery diesel. Flames and thick black smoke, containing CO2 and SO2, were visible at the smokestack. The site was locked down 5 min after detection of the accident.[...]
During a routine inspection of a spherical 2,000-m³ propane tank (previous test date: 2002) located in an LPG depot, the facility manager heard a whistling sound caused by a leak. The origin was a 1" tube positioned 2.50 m from[...]
Around 11:20 am, an explosion ripped through a building of a facility used to manufacture fireworks. Extended by an awning, the building in question contained 2 parts separated by a reinforced wall. According to the facility manager, 2 employees beneath the[...]
