Toulouse fertiliser plant explosion

21 April 2004 15:55  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (CNI)--The discovery of more explosives on railway tracks in France and Spain coupled with last month's terrorist bombings on trains in Madrid has refocused attention on the fatal explosion at the Grande Paroisse fertiliser plant in Toulouse, southwest France.

Despite multiple and lengthy inquiries, the precise cause of the blast has still to be determined. Although terrorists are not the prime suspects, the recent emergence in France of a group of extortionists calling itself AZF after the brand under which Grand Paroisse plant has revived possible links between extremists and chemical plant targets.

By demanding money to reveal the whereabouts of explosives it had claimed to have planted on the French railway network, the AZF extortionist group appeared to have provided some evidence that financial gain rather than the promotion of a political or religious idealogue was its prime motivation.

Yet the emergence of this group has served to underline the vulnerability of chemical plants to attack and the ease with which the railway network could be used as either a prime or secondary target.

One of Europe's worst industrial disasters, the Toulouse blast raised major question marks over the future safety, operation and location of hazardous chemicals sites in both France and the wider European Union (EU).

Within two weeks of the blast, which occurred on 21 September 2001, the European Commission (EC) said it was to consider revising its risk management legislation and Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom indicated that new industrial projects should be located away from urban areas.

The blast claimed 30 lives and injured many hundreds more. It completely destroyed a storage hangar in which 300 tonne of ammonium nitrate granules were stored for recycling.

All production at the Grande Paroisse plant, which had the capacity to produce approximately 315 000 tonne/year of ammonia, 320 000 tonne of urea and 185 000 tonne/year of ammonium nitrate, was halted and will not be resumed. The company, which is the fertiliser subsidiary of French chemicals producer Atofina, markets the fertilisers under the brand name AZF.

Extensive damage was inflicted on the surrounding area, including the nearby Raisio alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) plant and the SNPE fine chemicals facility. These plants have also been closed.

The European chemicals industry has argued that a relocation of chemical plants away from urban areas would be impractical and costly, and pointed out that is not the industry's fault that urban areas develop around chemicals complexes.

"Sites were originally located away from urban areas but lax planning has allowed the encroachment of housing developments," said the UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA).

Atofina has pledged to reduce stocks at hazardous chemicals plants amid safety fears following the Toulouse explosion, and many other companies are reviewing their safety procedures.

Finland-based Raisio produced about 9600 tonne/year of AKD, a modern sizing treatment for paper used in computer printers, at its Toulouse site.

SNPE's production at Toulouse includes hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and fine chemicals intermediates. Its Tolochimie subsidiary has the capacity to produce 10 000 tonne/year of hydrochloric acid and 20 000 tonne/year of concentrated nitric acid, while the Isochem subsidiary produces fine chemicals intermediates for pharmaceuticals. A further SNPE factory produces fine chemicals intermediates and also contains storage facilities plus administration blocks.

French state-owned explosives and fine chemicals group SNPE noted that its production facilities stood up well to the explosion, with the administration blocks suffering the worst damage.

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly