Total Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR), the owner of the Lindsey Oil Refinery in Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, has been sentenced after tonnes of flammable butane gas escaped from the plant. Grimsby Magistrates’ Court was told that the leak happened during a maintenance shutdown that takes place every four years.
One of the planned tasks during the shutdown of processing units, pipework, vents and drains was the connection of a new 1 km-long butane line between two processing units.
The HSE found that the contractor who connected the pipework had not checked the whole line to ensure it had been properly installed and all the valves were closed. The pipework also should have been pressure tested before flammable substances were introduced. As a result, a high-point vent was left open and about 50 tonnes of butane leaked on 26 March 2015, over a period of nearly four hours.
There were about 1,200 contract workers on site in addition to more than 500 Total LOR employees at the height of the inspection and maintenance work, the Grimsby Telegraph reported. No health issues were reported.
Total LOR pleaded guilty for failing to take necessary precautions to prevent a major accident that could impact people and the environment.
It was fined £400,000 plus £15,975 costs.
