Oil giant Valero has apologised for the inconvenience caused by a pipeline fuel spill that led to a "significant pollution incident" in the area around the main arterial road from Pembrokeshire.

Over 140,000 litres of kerosene leaked out into waterways on the outskirts of Carmarthen during engineering works last week on the mainline pipeline from Valero's Pembroke refinery.

Work began last month on repairs to the pipeline, leading to the eastern carriageway of the A48 road being closed to traffic with diversions in place.

Round-the-clock repair works will now be taking place this weekend, leading to the A48 being closed in both directions from Friday evening until early Monday.

Ironically, before the spill, Pembrokeshire Assembly Members Paul Davies and Angela Burns, had called for 24-hour working on the road works to see the job completed before October half term.

A Valero spokesman said that the weekend works would "enable specialist engineering teams to gain access to the affected section of pipeline and repair the problem."

He added: "Having considered all possible alternatives, it has been agreed with the relevant agencies that this approach is necessary to ensure the swiftest resolution to the problem with the minimum of disruption to residents, the transport network and the environment.

"The pipeline is recognised by the UK and Welsh governments to be an important part of the UK energy infrastructure, serving the Midlands and North West England.

"We would again like to apologise to all local residents for the inconvenience this incident may have caused and to reassure them that we are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."

Mid and West Wales AM Eluned Morgan has written to Valero asking how the kerosene had leaked from the pipeline, and seeking assurances that such a leak would not happen again.

She said: "Whilst we would seek to do all we can to support the company in this clean-up operation, the company must demonstrate that it is responsible when it comes to the protection of the environment."

Welsh environment secretary Lesley Griffiths visited the site on Saturday and thanked Natural Resources Wales staff for their work in co-ordinating the response to the spill, which she described as "a significant pollution incident".

The Valero spokesman added that the company "has continued to deploy significant resources around the clock to deal with this incident and made extremely good progress, with in excess of 100,000 litres of kerosene being recovered so far."

UPDATE: Tuesday 11am:

Lesley Griffiths, Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs has issued the following statement:

"As members will be aware, on 4 October, Natural Resources Wales were notified of a kerosene spill from the pipeline adjacent to the A48 near Nantycaws.

"In the immediate response to the incident, the Fire and Rescue Service deployed emergency oil spill containment booms on the Nant Pibwr and Natural Resources Wales established a multi-agency co-ordination centre. Specialist clean-up contractors engaged by the operator Valero were on site by Tuesday afternoon to begin the work of removing the oil from the stream.

"According to Valero an estimated 140,000 litres had escaped from the mainline pipeline, however, more than two-thirds of this has now been recovered by Valero’s specialist contractors. A series of oil spill containment booms remain in place while the oil is being removed. Valero and its contractors are undertaking the clean up response with advice from Natural Resources Wales.

"Natural Resources Wales is undertaking monitoring of potential environmental impacts, together with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Public Health Wales and Carmarthenshire County Council.

"People are of course concerned about their drinking water. An article in yesterday’s Western Mail about the Nantycaws kerosene spill mistakenly stated ‘Welsh Water confirmed on Friday that there was an impact on public water supplies’ when it should have said that they had confirmed there was no impact on public water supplies.  This was a mistake and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water contacted the editor yesterday to get this corrected as soon as possible. A correction has been printed in today’s edition of the newspaper.  I understand all other relevant media outlets have been informed that this was an error on the part of the newspaper  and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water have also put out a message on social media in order to mitigate any unmerited levels of concern.

"Four local properties of the twelve that draw water from private supplies in the immediate area as a precaution are not using their supplies for the time being.  Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water has provided bottled water and will continue to do so, on request.  Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water has also offered to temporarily connect those properties to the public water supply network. One property has accepted this offer. The other properties have been advised to contact the Valero liaison officer who will liaise with Dŵr Cymru on their behalf should they wish to connect.   

"Initial river ecological surveys have been carried out to assess the significance of localised damage to the river ecology and a fish kill assessment was also conducted. The ecological impacts appear to have been limited to a small section of the Nant Pibwr and there is no sign of significant impact downstream on the River Towy.

"Work on site to monitor and remediate the potential longer term impact will continue and a number of boreholes are to be drilled around the point of discharge to enable monitoring of the impacts on groundwater.  Natural Resources Wales are providing advice on weather and hydrology and overseeing the proposals for remediation submitted by the operator.

"On Saturday I visited Nantycaws to see the ongoing work to minimise the impacts of the oil spill for myself. I met Emyr Roberts, Chief Executive of Natural Resources Wales and his local team and thanked Natural Resources Wales staff at the incident centre in Cross Hands for their work in coordinating the response.  I also met senior representatives and contractors of the operator Valero to see the remedial work they had put in place. 

"Whilst such an incident should be prevented in the first place, I am satisfied with the incident response and handling.  The speed of the response has contained the spread of the kerosene and avoided wider impacts. I am receiving regular updates on the situation and will continue to monitor its progress.

"In order for Valero to replace the fractured pipeline, the A48 will unfortunately need to be closed in both directions from the evening of 14 October to early Monday 17 October. All traffic will be diverted along the official diversion route through Llangunnor. Whilst I acknowledge this will cause inconvenience for people and businesses in West Wales, the weekend closure should minimise the impact on the travelling public and allow a speedy completion of the necessary works to restore the pipeline and seal the affected section.  

"Once the incident is concluded, the Health and Safety Executive and Natural Resources Wales, as the relevant regulators, will investigate the cause of the pipeline breach and the pollution incident respectively and will take appropriate action under their powers."

Welsh Conservatives Angela Burns AM (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire) and Paul Davies AM (Preseli Pembrokeshire) issued a joint-statement in response to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs‘ statement:


“The oil spill, which has now resulted in the closure of both lanes of the A48, is a double-blow to the people of West Wales, cutting off both of its most vital economic arteries.


“The Welsh Government’s response to this mess has at best been lethargic.

“They accepted a roads programme that saw the project being dragged on for six weeks with no 24-hour working.

“We would welcome a speedy investigation from the Health and Safety Executive and Natural Resources Wales to identify what went wrong, why it went wrong, and who is responsible.

“Whoever is at fault needs to make the appropriate reparations to put right the cost to the environment and local economy.

“When the spill is finally plugged then the situation can best be remedied by introducing 24-hour works on getting the roads up and running again.

“It is incredibly vital that we keep the West Wales economy going and that lessons are learnt.”