Incident Report Subject: AUSTRALIA- CALTEX Plant Sealed Off after Huge Fuel Spill Date of Email report: Fri 12/07/2013 Report Detail:
Three people have suffered minor injuries and a fire-fighter has been taken to hospital as a precaution following a major fuel spill at the Caltex terminal last night. "They were working on a tank which contains 2 million litres of unleaded fuel," Superintendent Tom Cooper fire and rescue NSW said. "As a result of the failure with the tank valve around 130 thousand litres of fuel has leaked out." "Two people were initially treated at the scene by ambulance service. As I said they were splashed by fuel. Fire Brigade units have been working throughout the night to contain a 175,000 litre unleaded fuel leak at the Caltex refinery at Banksmeadow. "Two fire-fighters were also treated on the scene (and) one has since taken himself to hospital with headaches as a result of the fumes." Botany Road and Foreshore Road in Port Botany have reopened since the spill but extensive delays remain. Penrhyn Road remains closed and there is still no access to the Patrick Shipping Terminal. Fire crews were called in following the spill and immediately started applying topping foam to the petrol to stop the fumes becoming dangerous before two fire-fighters in spill suits closed the faulty valve. "Any spillage of fuel is dangerous," Supt Cooper said. "Petrol is very volatile at low temperatures and when it mixes in the right concentrations with air you have a problem." "That's why it's important to get this foam in place. It's like putting a lid on something to stop it getting out." Supt Cooper said all of the fuel had been captured by "what we call a bund" into a 50m by 25m area. "None of this fuel has escaped into the environment," he said. At the scene six fire and rescue tanks were on hand and two airport fire trucks to maintain the foam blanket while crews clean up the spilled fuel. Eight police vehicles are on hand to maintain traffic diversions and an extra contingent of 25 officers "to run site control". While the exclusion zone has been scaled down to 500m from the initial kilometre radium Superintendent Karen MacCarthy said six to eight sensors had been set up in the area to monitor any changes in air quality and officers were in place if evacuation were needed. The fuel leaked into a “bunded” catchment area surrounding the tank while fire and rescue officers worked to shore up the valve. A witness said “water was flying hundreds of feet into the air from all directions” as crews worked to ensure the leak was safely contained. Huge amounts of foam were sprayed onto the leaked fuel – which Caltex plans to separate and reuse – in one of the most significant Hazmat responses of recent times. “There’s safety systems in place and those safety systems were triggered,” said Caltex spokesman Sam Collyer. “The petrol is fully contained within the controlled bunded area and foam has been applied to minimise any risk of fire.
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