UK energy giant Shell has been ordered to pay £1.24 million for safety and environmental breaches that resulted in an explosion at a Norfolk gas terminal.
The Crown Court was told that it was only good fortune that no one was harmed in the blast at the Bacton plant on 28 February 2008, which blew the concrete roof off a tank and caused 850 tonnes of contaminated water and chemicals to flow into the sea.
The explosion was caused by a leak of a highly flammable liquid into a part of the plant responsible for treating wastewater before discharging it into the sea.
A corroded metal separator vessel allowed water contaminated with the flammable liquid to enter a concrete storage tank where it was heated by an electric heater, ultimately causing the explosion and fire.
There was then a delay of an hour in raising a faulty sea wall gate, which the Environment Agency (EA) had labelled unsatisfactory in 2004, allowing fire water, fire fighting foam and gas condensate to enter the sea.
The company also failed to contact the EA immediately, as they are obliged to do so, stopping the agency from offering advice on how to best limit the consequences of the explosion.
At an earlier hearing Shell pleaded guilty to seven charges brought by the EA and the HSE covering safety, environmental control and pollution-prevention failures including a breach of Regulation 4 of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999, which requires operators to take all necessary measures to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences to people and the environment.
Judge Martin Binning, in fining the company £1 million for its actions, concluded: "This was an escalating situation which had not been addressed through maintenance or risk assessment over a period of time.”
EA environment manager for Norfolk and Suffolk Marcus Sibley said: “We are disappointed that a company such as Shell with its experience in the fuel industry should have operated in this fashion. This is a high risk industry and that is why we expect high standards.
Shell was fined £560,000 for environmental offences under the Environmental Protection Act and the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations and a further £150,000 for failing to work in accordance of Regulation 4 of COMAH. The firm was also fined £290,000 for two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act, taking the total to £1 million
In a statement released after the sentencing Shell admitted: “What happened was completely unacceptable and falls well below the standards that we set for ourselves."
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