ALGERIA - 2 KILLED, 4 INJURED IN SKIKDA REFINERY FIRE

The Algerian minister of energy and mines Shakib Khalil announced on Wednesday that a large fire which erupted on Tuesday in a tank for crude oil storage in Skikda refinery was completely under controlled and resulted in killing two persons and injuring other four. Despite of the huge fire, oil dealers said that the export of oil products from the refinery estimated at 335,000 barrels daily were not stopped. He said "it can be said that loading operations are continuous." One official in the sector of oil refining said that he expects work in the refinery to start tomorrow, as soon as the fire is controlled, noting that the exports of oil to Europe was not affected, and there is no problem for exports. But the refinery will continue to be closed until the fire is controlled." Skikda exports several products including solar and Nafta and heating fuels to the USA, Europe and the Mediterranean. Most of the Algerian refining energy estimated at 457,000 barrels daily are situated in the said refinery.

ALGIERS, Oct 5
Firefighters brought a blaze at Algeria's Skikda oil terminal under control on Wednesday and the facility is expected to restart by Friday, officials said. Two people were killed and four were wounded when fire broke out in a crude oil storage tank at the Mediterranean port of Skikda on Tuesday, media reports said.

Television footage showed fire crews pumping foam onto the flames. Skikda is a major export port for liquified natural gas and naphtha, which is used to make gasoline. A massive explosion at the Skikda refinery in 2004 killed 23 people and destroyed a large part of the plant.

A refinery official said the 335,000 barrels-per-day Skikda plant should restart by Friday. "There is no problem with exports," he said. "But the refinery will be closed until the fire is put out - possibly tomorrow, but by Friday at the latest."

Algeria's energy minister said although flames from Tuesday's fire had spread to a second storage tank, the situation was now under control. "The Skikda petrochemical complex, the refinery and citizens are far from any danger," the Energy and Mines Minister told state radio Chaine 1 after visiting injured workers in hospital and attending the funeral of one of those killed.

The Skikda refinery is an important supplier to export markets in Europe, Asia and the United States.

"It's fine to say loadings are proceeding because they might have product still in tanks, but the question in the market is what next," an oil trader said.

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USA - 8 HURT IN FORMOSA PLASTTICS EXPLOSION SOUTH TEXAS

PORT LAVACA
In an increasingly familiar scene along the Texas coast, black smoke and flames streamed from a Point Comfort industrial plant Thursday, following an explosion that injured at least eight workers. The blast at Formosa Plastics Corp. was the third to strike a Texas industrial facility this year and the second to hit one of the Taiwan-based company's U.S. facilities in 17 months.

In March, BP's Texas City refinery burst into flames, killing 15 and injuring 170 people in an accident that recently brought the company a $21 million fine. In July, BP's refinery exploded a second time, forcing local residents to remain indoors but causing no injuries. Witnesses reported at least three blasts around 3:30 p.m. in an area of the sprawling 1,800-acre Formosa complex known as the Olefins 2 unit, where the building blocks of plastics are made, said a spokesman at the company's Livingston, N.J., headquarters. The plant, Formosa's largest, employs about 1,500 people, a company spokesman said. The cause of the explosions and fire was unknown.

Another company spokesman on the scene, said damage to the unit was severe. Two workers, the first a thirty year old man was in serious condition with burns over 36 percent of his body and another worker, had burns on his arms and was listed in fair condition, were taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. The company spokesman on the scene said six other workers suffered minor injuries.

Officials had ordered residents in the surrounding area to stay indoors and avoid the smoke. About 50 students still inside an elementary school across the street from the plant were transferred to another school in Port Lavaca. Authorities also barricaded nearby roads, including the Port Lavaca causeway, Texas 35 and FM 1593.

The fire was extinguished after about three hours, but county officials did not lift the shelter-in-place recommendation until just before 9 p.m. Preliminary tests of the air quality hours after the explosion detected no toxic fumes, local authorities said. The causeway was reopened about 8:30 p.m.

Following the blasts, dozens of workers fled the plant, running across a field or driving to James Food Mart in Point Comfort where they got water and delivered it to plant employees stuck in traffic on the closed roads. Shelters for workers who could not get home were opened at the Bauer Community Center and Methodist Church in Port Lavaca.

Employees gathered at the community center Thursday night described hearing over company radios that a pipe had ruptured. That was followed by a rumbling sound, and alarms signaling that they should evacuate. "As we were going out, the fire got worse and worse, it got bigger and bigger," said an instrument maintenance supervisor at the plant. "It seemed like gas escaping, and then big fireballs with three, four, five explosions."

Safety officials en route

State and local officials, in addition to federal environmental and occupational enforcement personnel, were en route to the facility Thursday evening to perform further assessments. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board was sending a team to the scene Thursday night to launch its third investigation into an industrial incident in Texas this year. In addition to the Point Comfort explosion, the CSB also is investigating an April 2004 blast that killed four workers and injured six at a Formosa plant in Illiopolis, Ill. The company's other two U.S. facilities are located in Delaware City, Del., and Baton Rouge, La.In December 1998, a blast rocked the Point Comfort plant's ethylene dichloride unit, rattling windows as far as 35 miles away and injuring 26 workers.

Activist 'not surprised'

An activist and local shrimper who has protested against the company - a campaign that culminated in August 2002, when she chained herself to one of the plant's towers - said a serious incident was bound to happen. "When Formosa was building this plant we had so much evidence about the shoddy way it was put together and the poor quality of the work," said the activist, who was in New York City promoting her first book An Unreasonable Woman, about her fight against large petrochemical companies. "I'm not surprised at all." Last April, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality fined the facility $150,000 for violations of air pollution laws that included releases of toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride.

Over the past decade, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has inspected the Point Comfort plant a dozen times, five of them resulting in violations, OSHA online records show. In 1994, the company completed a $1.5 billion expansion, building its first olefins unit. In 1997, the plant underwent a second $1 billion expansion, in which it constructed a second olefins unit - the part of the plant that erupted Thursday.

AUSTRALIA - YABULU STRIKE ISSUE RESOLVED

Strike action at QNI's Yabulu refinery was resolved yesterday with about 500 maintenance and construction contractors going back to work. It will be business as usual from this morning after the employees and the company held a series of meetings yesterday.

A union spokesman said QNI had agreed to meet all the demands raised by the employees over safety at the refinery. "It's a good outcome," the spokesman said. "As of this morning they agreed to address the problems and we will know in the next few weeks if it has been done." The spokesman said employees would be easily able to monitor if the improvements had been made as they would be the ones physically doing the work because of their maintenance portfolio.

Among the demands met by QNI were that emergency sirens would be improved, shaded areas and water would be provided at each emergency marshalling area, and more two-way radios would be made available. A new safety committee has also been formed to report directly to refinery general manager and training will be provided to safety officers and fire wardens.

But the spokesman said the big ticket item employees were keen on seeing addressed was updating the evacuation procedure for the site. An agreement on the emergency plan was reached yesterday afternoon following a walk-through with management detailing the inadequacies in the current plan. The spokesman said the plan currently used had been in place for 30 years and could put lives at risk.

The refinery made an undertaking to have a new plan within a fortnight. The refinery general manager addressed a roadside meeting of about 500 people between the Bruce Highway and the Yabulu refinery before the group moved on to the site to wait out a resolution. "I have agreed to have regular safety meetings directly with a committee of safety representatives from contractor companies working at the refinery," the refinery general manager said in a statement. "QNI expects the safety committee will be able to resolve site safety matters in future without the need for such (stop work) action." The committee will also include contractor management representatives. The refinery general manager said the contractors' concerns would make the refinery's emergency response procedures more effective.

The union spokesman estimated the strike action would have cost each employee about $500 but he said there were talks of the company paying employees for those days 'in good faith' but nothing had been decided yet. He said the company was not required to pay for the missed days, including Friday, Saturday and Monday. They will be paid for yesterday, he said. An estimated 150 to 200 contractors downed their tools following an incident last Wednesday when there was an ammonium hydro-sulphide gas leak, resulting in three people requiring medical treatment. Employees reported the leak resulted in a chaotic and confusing evacuation of the site.

AUSTRALIA - REFINERY EVACUATED AFTER LEAK O LETHAL GAS

Caltex says construction has been halted on its Clean Fuels Project at the Kurnell refinery in Sydney after two men had to be taken to hospital today complaining of feeling ill after possible exposure to gas.

A spokesperson of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says Caltex sent home 300 employees until an investigation into a gas leak is carried out. He says the workers are not involved in refining but are working on an upgrade of the site and are not expected back at work until next week. "As I understand it [there have been] five separate gas leaks that have resulted in three exposures to workers since last Saturday," he said. "The first saw 14 workers go to hospital followed by another one, [and] two today have been required to go hospital for at least observation.

"This is a very serious incident. The gas involved is deadly in sufficient exposure levels." The spokesperson said workers have been sent home until Wednesday. "Until they can undertake safety work over the weekend and take the necessary precautions to ensure that workers are able to return safely on Wednesday," he said. "There'll be a further discussion on Wednesday but we want Work Cover to clear that site, we want a full audit."

Caltex corporate affairs manager said all construction and maintenance employees were sent home from the site after the incident and construction will not resume until next week. "There'll have to be an investigation into it but our emergency response procedure requires that if there's any question of somebody feeling ill and having a possible exposure then they're taken to hospital for observation," he said. "Fortunately on this occiasion the two men were able to be released early this afternoon."

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USA - CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATIONS IN ANDERSON COUNTY - SULFUR DIOXIDE TANK LEAKS

A leak at a wastewater treatment plant forced people to stay in their homes or evacuate within a one-mile radius. Officials said a leak in a large sulfur dioxide tank at the plant on Highway 184 just after noon spurred the evacuation alert as a precaution.

One person at the plant was treated for exposure to the chemical. 520 students at Iva Elementary, located across from the plant, were bused to Crescent High School, where parents picked them up at the school's gym.

The leak was contained at about 1:45 p.m. Officials believe a mechanical failure caused the leak, which was described as "medium". Sulfur dioxide is used in the purification process at the plant. The tank held about 150 pounds of the chemical.

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CANADA - FUEL HAZARD DRIVES MORE THAN 1,000 FROM HOMES - THREE SCHOOLS, SHOPPING CENTRE CLOSED

Emergency workers evacuated more than 1,000 people from 400 homes yesterday after a fuel-tanker truck crashed and spilled a massive quantity of gas and diesel into the storm-sewer system in Abbotsford. "The risk is huge," said Abbotsford Fire Department Lt. of the 6 a.m. spill. "The storm system dumps into creeks and then flows down into residential areas. There's a possibility of explosions."

About 22,500 litres of gas and diesel poured from the two-tank truck after it failed to make a left turn off Old Yale Road on to Yale Court and slammed on to its side. The spilled fuel flowed down the roads, pouring through storm-sewer grates. Once in the system, it flowed into Marshall Creek.

Authorities expanded the evacuation area as the day wore on, cutting hydro power and natural gas to 7,800 homes fearing that creek and sewer-borne fuel vapours might be present. Officials said between 1,200 and 2,000 people were forced from their homes. "We are taking all steps to eliminate any potential ignition source," the Fire Department Lt. said.

A small campfire started by homeless people in a potentially hazardous area was quickly doused. Two elementary schools and one secondary were shut and nearby shopping areas were also closed. Evacuated residents walked or were taken by bus to a community centre, then moved to a church, then moved to another church as the no-go area was expanded and power cut. Some evacuees were allowed to return home by dinner time, and authorities let everyone back into their homes by 8:15 p.m. The Abbotsford School District was to decide if schools would be open today.

"My first thought was, 'It's an earthquake,' because why else would the house shake?" said an elderly resident, 68, who lives 10 metres from the crash scene. She saw a young man running around the truck's cab, shouting at the driver to get out. The driver for Scamp Industries of Abbotsford was delivering gas to a Mohawk station less than a block from the accident. He was unhurt.

"We're very lucky," said Scamp Industries' co-owner. A foam truck was brought in from Abbotsford International Airport to spray the spill, and environmental cleanup specialists built weirs of sandbags and absorbent materials to collect the gas, which was then sucked up using vacuum trucks. The trucks also removed gas from storm sewers. "You never get it all," said the Ministry of Environment's manager for the Conservation Officer Service. "The amount that you're able to recover depends on the environmental conditions, the flow of the river or creek, and various other conditions."

Officials hoped that last night's rain would help dilute the spill. Contaminated creekside soil will likely be removed, said the Ministry of Environment's manager, adding that the time frame for cleanup hasn't been determined.

"My house is still there; that's all I care about," said another elderly resident, 79, who was evacuated by bus after she heard a loud thump and saw the crashed truck. "I thought it was going to explode," the resident said.

Later in the afternoon, the overturned truck was rolled back up on to its wheels and driven away. Police accident investigators were on scene with spray paint and measuring tape, analyzing the circumstances of the crash. "Alcohol's not a factor. We're investigating the possibility that speed was a factor," said an Abbotsford police Const. In incidents such as this, the company that spills the fuel is usually on the hook for response and clean-up costs, said the the Ministry of Environment's manager.

Insurance Corp. of B.C. consultants conducted an environmental-impact assessment, the the Ministry of Environment's manager said. And Scamp Industries' co-owner said he expected the spill's costs would end in an ICBC claim.

A yet-to-be determined number of juvenile fish died from the spill, the said Ministry of Environment's manager. The creek, which flows into the Fraser more than 10 kilometres away, supports salmon and trout, but it appeared to be far enough up the stream that spawning fish weren't affected, he said.

The spill will not affect the city's drinking-water system. Scamp Industries could face charges under environmental regulations, the Ministry of Environment's manager said.

USA - FIERY TANK TRUCK WRECK SHUTS DOWN I-37

Interstate 37 was closed in both directions Wednesday morning after a tank truck hauling 7,200 gallons of diesel fuel overturned and burned, with the driver escaping unscathed. "The driver ran off the road, overcorrected and then jack-knifed, skidded sideways and rolled," a state trooper said.

The resulting fire blackened about 100 yards of the median and left the 18-wheeler a smoking hulk of puddle aluminum and scorched steel. The driver declined to comment. "He was very lucky to get out on his own," the state tropper said. "When I got here about five minutes after the accident, it was a very small fire, but a minute later the truck was completely engulfed."

The truck, which had a capacity of 9,000 gallons, was hauling fuel from the Valero refinery in Three Rivers to the San Antonio Water System, said a vice president with Oklahoma Tank Lines. The Oklahoma City-based company operates in about a half-dozen southwestern states. "The driver owned the truck, we owned the trailer," said the vice president who said the cause of the wreck will be investigated. "It could be driver error, something on the road, mechanical failure. We will find out," he said.

The short stretch of I-37 was closed for about five hours while the truck wreckage was being cut up and removed. Traffic was detoured around the Leal Road exit.

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SINGAPORE - CONDUCTS 1ST FULL-SCALE CHEMICAL SPILL EXERCISE

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) conducted its first full-scale chemical spill exercise (CHEMSPILL) at Jurong Island in the Southwest of the citystate on Friday. This year's exercise comprised "the deployment of equipment and personnel on scene, and a table-top discussion with the activation of the Emergency

Operations Committee in the MPA's Port Operations Control Center," according to a MPA statement. As an annual event, CHEMSPILL aims to ensure that all parties involved, including the navy, the civil defense force, the police as well as the environment agency, are well-prepared for marine chemical incidents.

Only one chemical spill incident happened in Singapore port waters in the past five years, according to the MPA. Some 100 participants in the International Chemical and Oil Pollution Conference and Exhibition (ICOPCE) observed the exercise which involved a make-shift decontamination facility and fire-fighting crafts, said Channel News Asia.

The exercise echoed Singapore's commitment to preventing maritime pollution as reiterated by Transport Minister at the opening of the ICOPCE here on Wednesday. The three-day ICOPCE gathered more than 300 delegates from about 20 countries to exchange views on global, regional and industry specific initiatives in pollution prevention and response.

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BULGARIA - 2 MEN AT RISK AFTER OIL PLANT ACCIDENT IN BULGARIA

Two men are in very grave condition following a gas leak at the "LukOil Neftohim" plant in Bulgarian Black Sea town Burgas. They were gassed during repair works on reservoirs in one of the plant departments.

The 2 victims were immediately rushed in the local hospital. A third employee was also lightly injured in the accident. An investigation has been launched into the accident.

UK - FACTORY WORKERS IN POISON GAS ALERT

Three people were taken to hospital and 11 decontaminated after poisonous fumes were leaked following a blunder at a factory. A forklift truck driver inhaled potentially lethal gasses when he poured anti-freeze into the vehicle's battery after apparently mistaking it for distilled water. He and two other colleagues at Runcorn's ASM Medicare factory on Picow Farm Road breathed in the fumes caused by the resulting chemical reaction and were taken to Warrington Hospital for treatment.

Paramedics treated 11 other workers in a special decontamination unit set up at the industrial unit. Contaminated workers were stripped off and hosed down. Their clothes were then disposed of by firefighters. They were ordered to seek further advice from their doctors if they suffered any later reaction. A fire service spokesman said the gasses released from the reaction could have proved to be deadly if inhaled but were simply more likely to cause breathing problems.

The factory - which manufactures furniture for the elderly and disabled - was closed down as a precaution. The leak was contained within the building, although police closed surrounding roads as a precaution until it was discovered exactly how the two substances would react.

Three fire engines and a special hazardous materials vehicle were sent to the site, along with five ambulances accompanied by police. Managing director said: 'Somebody mixed a chemical with stacker truck acid. Nobody knew what the chemical was. We shut everything down in case there was an emergency as we did not know what we were dealing with. 'Everything is fine now. There are no long-term effects and no-one was in any danger at any time. It was just an accident. Somebody did something they should not have done. 'I am glad that everyone acted responsibly to make sure everyone was OK.'

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AUSTRALIA - NEW INSPECTORS TO ADMINISTER REGULATIONS ON AMMONIUM NITRATE

The South Australian Government is to advertise for specialist inspectors to educate the community about improper use of materials containing ammonium nitrate and to administer upcoming regulations on these materials. Nine inspectors are to be appointed. The draft regulations on ammonium nitrate were released in August for public comment and the responses are currently being assessed.

For more information on the recruitment and other initiatives in the Government's campaign to educate the community on the improper use of ammonium nitrate, read the Government of South Australia news release, "Government campaign to protect against terrorism" (28 September)

View / download article Govt Campaign To Protect Against Terrorism (PDF doc)

USA - INSIDE THE BP INVESTIGATION - OSHA OFFICIAL DETAILS FINDINGS IN DEADLY BLAST

Coming between major hurricanes, the federal government's announcement of a record workplace safety fine of $21 million against BP Products North America slipped by nearly unnoticed. But the Sept. 22 announcement will have a lasting impact on the nation's refineries as well as on BP, owner of the Texas City refinery that blew up on March 23, killing 15 people and injuring 170.

In many ways it was unprecedented. In a typical year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues only one or two violations of workplace safety laws that are categorized as "egregious" nationwide. BP received 296 egregious violations. The fine was nearly twice the previous record of $11 million levied by OSHA against IMC Fertilizer of Louisiana in 1991 after a catastrophic explosion there killed eight people and injured 128 others, many from the town of Sterlington.

The Texas City tragedy came after the isomerization unit, which was being restarted after maintenance, malfunctioned and overflowed into an antiquated vent stack. The vent stack released liquid and gas that exploded.

Regional director of OSHA in Dallas oversees enforcement for most of the nation's enormous petrochemical complexes, spoke with the Houston Chronicle about the inquiry. OSHA inspectors were unable to identify the ignition source of the blast but faulted BP for the presence of myriad potential sources, including 37 cars and trucks near the unit and dozens of pieces of unnecessary electrical equipment improperly placed in a potential blast zone.

The regional director of OSHA in Dallas said OSHA found plenty of evidence that BP managers also ignored glaring maintenance problems for years before the blast. "We found that when they had a turnaround in 2003, they noticed that there were baffles rusted out and lying in the bottom of the blowdown unit. But instead of fixing it, employees mentioned it in their report, closed up the unit and said they would get to it in the next turnaround in 2005. But they didn't fix it then either." In fact, on at least six separate occasions, BP managers considered getting rid of the vent stack entirely, and connecting the system to a safer flare, but the work was always delayed or dropped, he said. Inspectors also found that employees operating the unit on the day of the accident were "flying blind" without updated training and procedures and were operating equipment with faulty gauges and alarms. "When the instruments are not working, you obviously don't know what is happening, and they overfilled the unit," the regional director of OSHA in Dallas said.

View / download Excerpts from the interview with the regional director of OSHA in Dallas (Word doc)

USA – HIGHWAY 360 REOPENED AFTER ACCIDENT

Arlington police are investigating an early-morning accident that ignited a 9,200-gallon fuel tanker and closed southbound lanes of State Highway 360 for more than six hours Sunday. The 18-wheeler exploded at about 4:20 a.m. near the intersection of Avenue J after a collision with another vehicle.

No one was seriously injured in the accident, authorities said. Officials originally closed all lanes of traffic, but all but the southbound lanes were open early Sunday. The southbound side of the highway was re-opened at about 11 a.m. Police are investigating the cause of the accident. No charges have been filed.

TAJIKISTAN - 21 KILLED BY BUS BLAST IN TAJIKISTAN

A powerful blast killed all 21 passengers on board when a bus running on liquefied gas collided with another bus in western Tajikistan, police said on Monday.

The accident on Sunday occurred in a rural area 50 km (30 miles) south of the Central Asian state's capital of Dushanbe, police said, adding only 15 bodies could be identified. Blasts involving gas-powered vehicles are not uncommon in the impoverished mountainous nation where many drivers use liquefied gas instead of pricey petrol. But Sunday's death toll was the largest one to date.

USA - SEVEN MILE BRIDGE LEADING TO LOWER KEYS CLOSED AFTER TANKER CRASH

The Seven Mile Bridge leading to the lower Florida Keys was closed Monday after a fatal tanker crash. A tanker truck transporting gasoline was traveling south on the bridge around 5 p.m when the driver lost control and collided with a sport utility vehicle, causing a fire, said the Florida Highway Patrol's spokesman.

The male drivers of the truck and the SUV died, while a female passenger in the SUV was air lifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami in serious condition Monday evening, the Highway Patrol's spokesman said.

Firefighters battled the blaze for about two hours before it was extinguished. Monroe County Fire Chief said the bridge could reopen Tuesday after a cleanup and damage assessment. Utility and telecommunications lines beneath the bridge did not appear to be damaged, officials said.

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CANADA - EXPLOSION CAUSED BY CARELESS WELDING SAYS SOURCE

An explosion and fire at a north Mississauga manufacturing company yesterday afternoon was caused by careless welding, sources close to the investigation say. Mississauga fire officials say they received the 9-1-1 call at 3:40 p.m. following a loud blast at GH International, a sealant and adhesives company on Rena Rd., in the area of Torbram Rd. and Highway 407.

Fire officials say the blast occurred when a worker believed it was safe to weld a container with various chemicals inside that are mixed to create driveway sealant. The welding caused a fire within the container, and the pressure caused "the lid to blow off the container, causing an explosion," according to a well-placed source. GH International staff immediately evacuated the building.

Fire officials say no one was injured, but firefighters upgraded the blaze to a second alarm due to the thick smoke and flames billowing from the building. Black smoke could be seen from several kilometres away. The fire department's Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) unit also attended the fire. It took fire crews more than an hour to knock down the blaze, but fire crews remained on scene well into the evening putting out spot fires in the building.

The provincial Environment Ministry also responded, checking for any environmental concerns. But, it was determined last night that none of the chemical run-off entered the storm sewer system.

USA - DEEPWATER NAUTILUS BREAKS LOOSE IN HEAVY HURRICANE RITA SEAS

The Deepwater Nautilus, an ultra-deep water state of the art semi-submersible drilling rig, owned by Transocean Inc., broke its towline while attempting to run from Hurricane Rita and is now adrift in heavy Hurricane Rita seas.

According to Transocean spokesman of the forty-five crewman that were aboard the rig, the final fourteen were safely evacuated late this afternoon. Prior to Hurricane Rita's entrance into the Gulf of Mexico, the rig was undergoing repairs to its mooring system at West Cameron Block 121, approximately thirty miles south of Cameron, Louisiana. The rig was under tow to "safer" waters heading east when the rig towing bridle broke in heavy Hurricane Rita winds and seas.

Transocean is able to monitor the rigs position by using onboard transponders, but will not likely be able to reattach tugs until Rita moves ashore.

This is not the first time the Deepwater Nautilus has been on the losing end of encounters with powerful Gulf of Mexico hurricanes. In September of last year Hurricane Ivan tore the rig from its Shell offshore location, one hundred sixty miles south of Mobile, Alabama. The rig was later found slightly damaged some seventy miles from its original drilling location. Three weeks ago Katrina sent the rig on another unplanned and unmanned eighty mile voyage leaving rig mooring lines, anchors and 3,200 feet of marine riser pipe on the ocean floor. Transocean owns and operates the largest fleet of deepwater semi-submersible and ship-shape mobile offshore drilling rigs in the world.

The Deepwater Nautilus is a conventionally moored propulsion assist rig rated for water depths up to 8,000 feet. Shell Offshore currently has the rig under long term contract at a $195,100 per day charter rate. For more information on the worldwide mobile offshore rig fleet, please see visit:

www.riglogix.com

www.rigzone.com

UK - BODY FOUND AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL

A man's body has been found in an industrial unit where there was a chemical leak. Firefighters were called to Stonecross Enterprise Park, in Lowton, Greater Manchester, on Tuesday after receiving reports of an ammonia leak. They found the body while searching the premises. It is thought to be that of an employee of the company who was aged in his 50s.

Residents have been advised to stay indoors while the leak is dealt with. A number of neighbouring businesses on the industrial park have been closed while children at Golborne High School and All Saints Primary School were kept inside during lunchtime as a precaution.

No road closures have been implemented but police have asked people to avoid the area. About 70 firefighters have been tackling the leak, which is thought to have been in a cold storage area of one of the buildings on the industrial estate.

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CHINA - AMMONIA GAS LEAK

An ammonia leak at a refrigeration factory poisoned more than 100 students at a nearby primary school in Jinzhou, in Liaoning Province, a newspaper reported yesterday. An unspecified number of villagers were also rushed to hospital. All the victims were reported out of danger in several Jinzhou hospitals. The pungent gas leaked from refrigerating machines at a privately owned business in Shuiquan Village on Monday. Authorities had ordered the factory to suspend operations.

USA - CAUSE NAMED IN DEADLY MONROE EXPLOSION

Fire officials say electrical sparks and leaking propane combined to trigger an explosion that killed one person at a pipeline terminal facility in Monroe.

The woman killed in the September 18th blast was an employee at the Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company's transmission plant. The body of the victim was found in the main pump house area where the explosion occurred.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Texas Eastern are still conducting investigations. Monetary damages have not been determined. At least two other people were working at the plant when the fire broke out. They were not injured.

USA, UTAH, SALT LAKE CITY, SEPTEMBER 28 2005. SALT LAKE WELDING SHOP TORCHED

A freak accident at a Salt Lake business late Tuesday night led to an explosion and a fire. Workers at United States Welding located at 1049 South Redwood were unloading and depressurizing empty acetylene tanks outside the building.

Acetylene is an extremely flammable gas used in welding. As workers were lifting one tank onto a rack, they dropped it, causing a spark. That spark ignited the remaining gas causing a small explosion, according to firefighters. Fire crews were able to keep the fire from spreading, but they had to wait as the remaining acetylene burned off. One worker suffered minor burns and was treated and released at the scene. Early estimates put the damage at less than $5,000.

INDIA – CRUDE OIL SPILL IN ASSAM, HUNDREDS EVACUATED

A massive crude oil spill in Assam has triggered panic with hundreds of people near the site have been evacuated for safety reasons, officials said on Wednesday.

A spokesman of the state-owned Oil India Limited (OIL), India's premier oil exploration firm, said the spill began late Tuesday in a well near a tea garden in Dikom near Dibrugarh, about 520 km east from here. "We have been partially successful in checking the flow of oil gushing out of the well although it would take some more time to control the spill completely," G K Talukdar, OIL's group general manager, said. He also said that other drilling operations in the area have been shut as a precaution

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THAILAND - AMMONIA LEAK PUTS 160 IN HOSPITAL

At least 160 workers were rushed to hospital, two of them in serious condition, after inhaling ammonia fumes leaking from a pipe at a chicken slaughterhouse yesterday. The leak was first noticed inside the Laemthong Protein Co factory, in Sung Noen district, about 7.30am. The gas quickly spread throughout the plant, causing chaos as its several hundred employees tried to flee at once.

Rescue workers and medical staff from several hospitals in the district and nearby areas rushed to the factory. At least 160 people working the morning shift were sent to hospitals suffering from nausea, dizziness and fainting spells. After treatment, all but two who suffered serious vomiting, were discharged.

The factory was shut down indefinitely until the leak could be repaired. Nakhon Ratchasima governor and senior officials from the provincial industry office, the disaster prevention office and other agencies met the factory management to discuss the leak and assistance for the affected workers. The governor's initial inspection found the leak was in a worn-out pipe in the production section. The leak had occurred several days earlier, but in small amounts. It suddenly became worse yesterday. Fortunately, the leaked ammonia had been mixed with water, so was less of a danger, he said. ''The factory has now closed down all ammonia supplying systems. We have asked the factory management about the old and damaged pipe and were told it carried ammonia mixed with water. If it carried pure ammonia, it would have posed a serious health hazard,'' the governor said.

Chief of the provincial industry office said the factory had been ordered closed indefinitely and the management told to fix the problem and improve safety systems. Laemthong Protein management could not be reached for comment yesterday. The factory a major exporter of boiled chicken has the capacity to slaughter 100,000 chickens a day. It has 1,750 employees working shifts.

Sung Noen district chief said a doctor had told him that inhaling large amounts of ammonia would cause suffocation and death. Natural Resources and Environment Minister said he had visited the workers in hospital and inspected the factory.

USA - FERNLEY LNG TANKER FIRE FORCES EVACUATIONS

Hundreds were evacuated from homes and businesses in Fernley Wednesday and traffic diverted throughout Churchill and Lyon counties after a tanker truck leaking pressurized liquid natural gas caught fire near Interstate 80. The fire was contained and traffic patterns returned to normal by 4:30 p.m. No injuries were reported.

A 10,000-gallon tanker in the parking lot of the Truck Inn truck stop near I-80 sprang a leak when a valve broke off about 7:30 a.m., according to Associated Press reports. A spark from an unknown source started the blaze about 11 a.m. A hazardous material team was attempting to fix the leak when the fire started, said interim Lyon County fire marshal. The tanker's pressurized contents and the risk of a massive explosion and shock wave necessitated the evacuations and a widespread emergency response from across the region, the fire marshal said.

The evacuation area stretched in a radius three-quarters of a mile to a mile from the fire, said Chief of the North Lyon County Fire District. "We're waiting for it to, I guess you could say, explode, to a degree," The chief said at noon. "We're not really clear, but we have the entire area evacuated. We're not going to risk anybody's life for a truck or a couple of buildings."

A Fernley resident, who lives in the mobile home park behind the Best Western Fernley Inn, was notified by a maintenance worker that her home was being evacuated early in the afternoon. She carried a 3-week-old kitten and was followed by a dog, her stepsister, a toddler and an infant in a stroller as they walked south in a field through brush and over the railroad tracks to the Out of Town Park. "We don't know where to go," she said.

Another woman from the same mobile home park who wished to remain anonymous sat on a rock in a field, smoked a cigarette and waited to go back to her home. An emergency shelter was set up by the American Red Cross at Fernley High School. By 3 p.m., the fire was nearly extinguished, said the Capt. of the Lyon County Sheriff's Department.

Residents on the southern edge of the evacuation area were allowed to return to their homes. In total, more than 100 people were evacuated to the shelter and roughly 500 gathered at the Out of Town Park, the Capt. of the Lyon County Sheriff's Department said.

I-80 was closed for nearly four hours before the threat of an explosion subsided, according to Associated Press reports. Some westbound vehicles exited on U.S. Highway 95,30 miles north of Fallon, and followed a detour south to Fallon and west on U.S. Highway 50A to Fernley. Arterial routes in Fallon and Fernley were clogged with traffic in the early afternoon, much of it semi-trucks. Emergency services from Fallon, Wadsworth, Sparks, Reno and Silver Springs responded to the incident, setting up a command post at the North Lyon County Fire Protection District on Main Street.

Eleven firefighters, a fire truck, a tender and two command vehicles were sent by the Fallon/Churchill Volunteer Fire Department to Fernley, the Chief said. The extra hands would be essential in the event of an explosion, which would likely have caused structure and brush fires, he said. "It was very necessary to have the stand-by," Parrish said. "I thought it was handled very well."

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INDIA, DIKOM, SEPTEMBER 15 2005. MASSIVE CRUDE LEAK IN DIBRUGARH WELL

Oil India Limited is banking on foreign experts and a team from ONGC to plug the massive leakage of crude which started last evening at well number 15 under the Dikom oil collecting station.

Though a press release issued by the company this afternoon said there is no need for panic, local residents lambasted OIL, alleging that despite repeated appeals, the company had not taken any precautionary measure. Till now, several fire tenders and technical experts have failed to plug the leak.

The press release also mentioned that there was an explosion which led to a leak because of an “internal technical problem”. But the company did not offer any explanation on how the incident occurred or who is responsible. “This is not the first blast. There was a severe explosion on June 7, 1992 followed by several more down the years. But the company never took any precautionary measure,” said a local resident.

Sources said some local residents saw gas and crude leaking from the well at 8 yesterday morning and reported the matter to the OIL employees at the Dikom oil collecting station, which is barely 500 metres from the well. “I was just passing by the area when I heard a sound from the well. I ran to the Dikom oil collecting station and informed the OIL employees at the station, but they just laughed at me,” said a labourer at the adjacent Dikom tea estate.

At 3.45 pm, there was a powerful explosion and huge volumes of crude and gas billowed with a deafening sound. “We have been unable to control the leak. We have contacted experts from ONGC and are thinking of calling foreign experts,” a senior OIL official said. The official said the damage will run into several crores of rupees. OIL group general manager visited the spot along with several other senior officials of the schedule “A” company. The company asked for cooperation from the villagers who were demanding compensation for the damage to the land because of the crude leak.

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