Dear Editor
As I listened to the catalogue of errors which led to the Piper Alpha disaster, I thought of the answers to my questions at the events held to reassure people living around the Dragon and South Hook LNG terminals.
Piper Alpha was several hundreds of miles out at sea, but Dragon and South Hook are surrounded by people.
Fire services have practised with a maximum release of one cubic metre of LNG.
But, the ships which transport the gas are the largest ever built, the shoreside tanks are massive, and the pipelines from ship to shore, if ruptured, contain enough gas to cause a vast explosion.
All services now are bound by health and safety law and have to withdraw their personnel if there is any risk to health or life.
As at Bunsfield, the fire will be left to burn itself out. There will be no ‘do and die’ as at Chernobyl by those who sacrificed their lives in efforts to contain the release of radioactive waste.
Ian Campbell
Rutger,
The Green,
Pembroke.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel