The immediate response to the situation meant that the quantity of gasoline released was limited. Employees and local residents were not put at any risk and there was no environmental damage. The authorities were promptly notified of the spill by OTR.
OTR’s response to the emergency was to immediately shut down part of the activities related to the winterizing of gasoline, in order to safeguard total safety. OTR will not resume these activities until a full evaluation and assessment has taken place reassuring that there is complete certainty about the safety of the winterizing process. An investigation is already underway to determine the cause of the incident and a thorough analysis of the safety of this process will be conducted.
Unfavourable publicity
Over the past few months OTR has appeared in the public news in The Netherlands in connection with product spill and emission of vapour into the air. There has also been an element of negative press with regards to the effectiveness of reporting incidents to the Authorities.
In June last year OTR voluntarily participated in an ‘emission measuring trial’ conducted by the local environmental authority DCMR. Their new measuring methodology showed that OTR was suffering from small vapour emissions from a number of tank roofs, although the emissions were below the legal maximum limits. OTR actively supports DCMR’s mission to reduce vapour emissions and as a result has drawn up an improvement plan. This plan has been approved by DCMR. One of the products in discussion is toxic (Benzene), which has meant that we have been working under close supervision from the Labour Inspection of the OTR terminal.
In August last year, about 200 tonnes of butane gas escaped from a tank, whilst blending it with gasoline. By oversight, OTR unfortunately did not report this incident with the environmental authority DCMR. This failure to report has been taken very seriously by the DCMR and the management of Odfjell.
These incidents have been closely scrutinized by the environmental authority DCMR and Labour Inspection and it has lead the terminal to initiate several processes to improve performance and to prevent such spills and uncontrolled emissions in the future.
We fully understand the concerns of our employees, their families, customers, partners, owners, neighbours and other stakeholders. We can assure everyone concerned that safety is our number one priority and that the situation at OTR is being given full attention by Odfjell.
A Dutch newsroom is set up on this webpage to secure correct and timely local information about OTR. To view the page click here: http://www.odfjell.com/newsroom