UK Buncefield locals oppose BP storage plans

23 July 2007 13:25  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--BP's plans to resume storing petrol, diesel and jet fuel at the Buncefield depot in Hertfordshire, UK, are being opposed by local residents, businesses and the borough council, a campaigner said on Monday.

“There are four different options for safety zones and one recommends a zone of 400m. There are businesses as close as 50m to the area,” said Roy Bain, director of the Marylands Partnership, which was set up to fight BP's plans.

“Some business may leave the area,” added Bain.

Buncefield was the scene of the largest ever peacetime explosion in December 2005, caused by petrol leaking from a storage tank.

Bain said there had been no fuel stored at the site for 19 months and this had caused no fuel supply problems.

The Heath and Safety Commission (HSC) is still compiling reports into the explosion.

BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams said the depot would not be allowed to be reopened unless the local authority believed it was safe to do so.

She added that the HSC had put out several reports and said its recommendations would be fulfilled before BP reopened.

Williams said the depot’s central location helped with the distribution of fuel throughout England and there was a pipeline in place to move jet fuel from Buncefield to Heathrow.

If approval, which is at the consultation stage, is gained, jet fuel would be stored at the depot from later this year. BP wants to start storing diesel and petrol from September 2008.

By: Lucy Craymer
+44 20 8652 3214

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