House of Commons
Wednesday 20 May 1998
The House met at half-past Nine o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Adjournment (Whitsun)
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Kevin Hughes.]
9.34 am
Mr. Harry Barnes (North-East Derbyshire): A serious incident, which could have been disastrous, occurred in north-east Derbyshire last Thursday. It happened at about 5.30 pm in Killamarsh in my constituency on the Leigh Environmentals site which, since autumn 1997, has been owned by Sarp UK Ltd., which has a French parent company. A tanker leaked sulphuric and nitric acid, which led to the formation in the area of an orange cloud whose vapour threatened the Killamarsh community and, later, other communities as it moved around.
Vapour from sulphuric acid can quickly damage lungs, burn and eat away flesh and strip paint from cars. Sulphuric acid in water kills fish, and plants survive the vapour little better. Laboratory technicians know that sulphuric acid burns holes in their coats. Nitric acid is similar, but it vaporises more easily and was perhaps the basis of the cloud in the area.
The incident was so serious that emergency planners considered evacuating thousands of people from the Killamarsh area. However, they decided not to do that as they feared that they would move people into the path of the shifting cloud. The situation could have been worse if the fire brigade had not already been on the site dealing with a minor leak to which the management had alerted it. When the fire brigade arrived, the leak became much more serious and the vapour cloud developed. It could also have been worse if children had been at a nearby primary school and had had to be locked away in the school while their parents worried about what was happening.
The site is next to the Rother Valley country park. Fortunately, few people were there at the time of the incident--although its many fish, birds and other wildlife were in danger from the cloud. The vapour cloud moved into the Rother Valley constituency, then moved towards Halfway, which is part of the Sheffield, Attercliffe constituency, before changing direction in the wind and moving towards the Bassetlaw constituency and dispersing. Therefore, it moved through at least four parliamentary constituencies located in three counties--Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire--where different authorities are responsible for public protection.
Inquiries and investigations are being conducted by the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, environmental health officers and the county council.
The four Members of Parliament from the constituencies that I have mentioned, including me, have asked the Minister for the Environment to co-ordinate action and to conduct his own investigation. I reinforce that call now. I also wish to raise some matters that must be pursued in the ministerial investigation.
At first glance, the emergency action at the plant seems to have gone according to the book. However, off-site emergency arrangements were ad hoc because there was virtually no plan on which to act. Some people did some excellent work in trying circumstances, but existing planning provisions must be examined closely.
The police blocked off some, but not all, of the roads into Killamarsh. Many of the drivers of the cars that were turned away had families in Killamarsh whom they wanted to reach. Buses were stopped, and passengers left them and walked into Killamarsh. Helicopters were sent to the area to tell the people of Killamarsh to get indoors, to close their windows and generally to close themselves in. Unfortunately, people had to go out of their homes to hear the messages. I have come across only one constituent who heard what was being said.
Other firms are situated next to Leigh Environmentals, and they seem also to have been in the dark. They did not know what was happening or what they were supposed to do.
Unfortunately, the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1984 do not apply to the plant. The regulations call for an off-site emergency plan--for example, having a siren system, providing instructions to householders about what they should do in the event of an emergency, and ensuring that emergency exercises take place so that the population in the area is used to what is done. That provision operates, for instance, in my constituency at Staveley Chemicals. People in the area have cards in their homes that explain what provisions are made when an emergency arises. Nothing like that was available when the incident took place at Killamarsh.
There are the questions whether the CIMAH regulations should apply to Killamarsh and whether they should be extended. Even if they are not to apply legally, should they not voluntarily be acted on quickly? Should there be alternative regulations operating in respect of the chemical reclamation plant that is known locally as Leigh Environmentals?
The 1982 European Union's Seveso directive is not yet fully in place. It sets up the EU regulations on the control of major accidents and hazards. A consultative exercise is taking place under the Health and Safety Executive, but it will not report until September. At the very least, the situation at Killamarsh needs to be taken on board by the HSE. Every encouragement needs to be given to ensure that the HSE's report is produced quickly, that it is a serious report and that it is acted on.
The incident arose from a leaking tanker, not from a failure of any of the on-site processes. There have been failures at the Leigh Environmentals plant. Following one such failure, I initiated an Adjournment debate way back on 20 February 1990. The current incident at Killamarsh was the result of a leak from a tanker, which could have occurred anywhere between British Aerospace in the west midlands, where the material was collected, and Killamarsh.
The tanker was one of Sarp's fleet of tankers. That fleet needs to be checked out thoroughly. Following this incident, the implications of all tankers carrying dangerous materials should be investigated closely.
Residents in the area continue to complain of nauseating smells, especially from the main drains and sewers in Killamarsh. They blame Leigh Environmentals for those smells. There is confusion over who is to be held responsible when complaints are made. The environmental agencies, environmental health officers, the district council and Yorkshire Water are contacted. People often find themselves moved from one authority to the other without any clear action being taken. Greater co-ordination is needed, as is greater clarity on who is responsible for what, so that when problems arise and are fed into one agency and it is decided that another agency should act, the relevant information is passed on quickly to the other agency and every effort is made by the body that received the information to assist the process.
The Environment Agency grants consents for the disposing of liquids from Leigh Environmentals to the sewers. When those liquids are discharged they may be subject to bacteriological change, which may cause the hydrosulphide smells. That, or something similar, may occur, given the mixture of elements in the sewers. That should be faced when the Environment Agency grants consents in the area. It needs to be taken on board by the Minister for the Environment.
I shall summarise what I see as the immediate requirements. First, we need a proper investigation through the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions that is openly reported. Secondly, we want a full off-site plan to be operated in the area. Thirdly, we want regulations requiring stringent community safety, which will be part of that plan. Fourthly, we want a checking of tankers, especially the Sarp fleet. Fifthly, we want clear environmental controls to tackle dangerous discomforts in the communities involved.
Mr. David Amess (Southend, West):
Before the House adjourns for the Whitsun recess, I wish to raise four brief matters. Probably the Leader of the House is thinking, "My goodness, here he goes again. It was all raised during the Easter Adjournment debate."
First, there is the relationship between the Government and the House of Commons. Again, probably, the Leader of the House will be suggesting that I attend the debates of the Modernisation Committee. I thoroughly disapprove of what is going on here. This place is slowly but surely being destroyed. I think that the Labour party was primarily to blame for the appalling turnout in the local
elections. We have only to think of Salford, where only 11 per cent. of the people voted. In many areas, the turnout was 20 per cent.
Mr. Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley):
It is interesting that the hon. Gentleman is blaming the Labour party for a turnout of 11 per cent. at Salford. Would I be correct in thinking that, of the 11 per cent., probably only 1 per cent. was voting Conservative, if the Conservative party was lucky? The apathy lies with the Conservative party in Salford.
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