USA: Fatal Fire on Offshore Platform
ATP Oil & Gas Corporation and Exxon Mobil Corporation, the joint owners of the Grand Isle 9A offshore platform located in the Gulf of Mexico, confirmed an accident on 8th July 2006 in which there was a brief flash fire on the platform and a fatality. The platform was shut-in for repairs when the incident happened, involving two contract workers. Both evacuated from the site, one without injuries and one who received emergency medical attention but died.
Emergency response procedures were activated immediately and the regulatory authorities were notified. The fire was extinguished and the platform secured. Operations were suspended until the cause of the incident has been investigated.
Ukraine: Chernobyl and Excess Thyroid Cancers
A report published in July 2006 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) by M. D. Tronko and colleagues from Columbia University in New York (M. D. Tronko et al, 2006, "A Cohort Study of Thyroid Cancer and Other Thyroid Diseases After the Chernobyl Accident: Thyroid Cancer in Ukraine Detected During First Screening", JNCI , Vol. 98, No. 13, 897-903), has confirmed a greatly increased risk of thyroid cancer in people exposed to radiation during childhood and adolescence during and after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster.
Between 1998 and 2000 the research team screened 13,127 of the 32,385 individuals living in the most contaminated area affected during the nuclear plant meltdown and who were under 18 at the time. They found that 45 cases of thyroid cancer occurred compared with 11.2 cases that would have been expected in the absence of radiation exposure. The study indicates a strong relationship between radiation exposure and thyroid cancer risk. The higher the dose, the greater is the risk.
The researchers stated that an estimated 75% of the thyroid cancer cases would have been avoided in the absence of radiation, which demonstrates a substantial contribution of radioactive iodines to the excess of thyroid cancer that followed the Chernobyl accident.
Nigeria: Residents Die in Substandard Building Collapse
On 18th July 2006, a recently constructed four-storey block of flats collapsed in the Nigerian capital of Lagos. At least 11 people were killed and 30 were pulled from the rubble before heavy lifting equipment belonging to a construction company arrived at the site in the residential area of Ebute Metta.
The incident was not unique, as dozens of people have been killed in recent years in Lagos in the collapse of poorly maintained buildings. Such collapses have in the past been blamed on substandard construction and flouting of building regulations. In March 2006, one of the tallest buildings in Lagos in the heart of the commercial district caved in during a heavy thunderstorm. The building had been sealed off after a fire on the eighth floor.
USA: BP Shuts Down Leaking North Slope Wells
On 19th July 2006, BP shut down 12 of its North Slope oil wells in Alaska for integrity testing after it was alleged by employees that around 50 wells were leaking. The wells together produce roughly 8,000 barrels out of a total production of more than 800,000 barrels of oil a day (BP owns a quarter of the Prudhoe output, the remainder being owned by ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil). At issue was a series of wells that could leak an insulating material (either crude oil or diesel) which is contained in an outer ring of the pipe that sucks the oil out of the ground. Sometimes the material can leak out into the well cellars, which are boxes carved about 3.5 metres deep into the permafrost beneath the rig.
BP insisted that none of the insulating material had escaped onto the tundra, but identified 57 wells, out of more than 2,200 on the North Slope, that might have surface casing leaks capable of causing insulating material to drip into the well cellar. Ten of the wells shut down were in Prudhoe Bay, while the other two were at the Northstar and Milne Point fields.
Following a transit spillage of some 267,000 gallons of oil from a three-mile section of pipe, which is the subject of legal action by the authorities, BP announced on 4th August 2006 that it had shut down indefinitely the entire Prudhoe Bay oilfield after finding a pipeline leak. The phased shutdown would reduce oil production by 400,000 barrels a day, equivalent to about 8% of US oil production and promoting fears that market prices for gasoline would rise further. BP said they anticipated resumption of flow by the end of September.
Smart pig run tests indicated the presence of 16 anomalies in 12 areas in an oil transit line on the eastern side of Prudhoe Bay, showing losses in wall thickness of between 70% and 81%. Repair or replacement is required if there is more than an 80% loss.
BP adds millions of gallons of corrosion inhibitor into the Prudhoe Bay transit lines every year and carries out non-destructive testing of pipelines using portable X-ray equipment and ultrasound imaging. The transit network was built in the late 1970s and is one of the oldest on the continent. The cause of the corrosion is now known to be bacteria which enter the oil reservoir with seawater, pumped down to increase pressure as it is depleted by oil extraction. Although the seawater is later removed, sufficient remains to support microbial life in the sludge of the transit pipelines, particularly as the flow decreases over time with reservoir depletion. Even the most sophisticated ultrasound corrosion tests have failed to give accurate readings, hence the use of the latest smart pig technology.
The pace of repair this summer was slowed by health risks associated with the asbestos used as part of the pipeline lagging material in the 1970s. Production from the eastern Prudhoe area began again in late September 2006.
The Prudhoe Bay pipe corrosion problem has since assumed international importance as most of the North Sea transit lines are of similar age.
USA: Contract Maintenance Worker Crushed in BP Texas City Refinery
On 24th July 2006, it was reported that an employee of JV Piping, carrying out contract maintenance work for BP, was killed in an accident at the BP Texas City Refinery. The man was working on a pipe stack whilst standing in the basket of a mobile elevating work platform, when he was crushed against the piping. The cause of the accident has yet to be established, but may involve inadvertent activation or failure of the work platform controls.
Europe: Ozone Pollution Monitoring Goes Online
In late July 2006, the European Environment Agency (EEA) launched a new website which allows people to enter a place name or simply click on a map of the European continent to get an up-to-date ozone reading for that area. Called "Ozone Web", it uses data from more than 500 monitoring stations across the continent, each of which sends a reading back to a central computer in Copenhagen once an hour. The data is then used to inform the readings given by the website, such that they will never be more than an hour out of date.
The URL is http://www.eea.europa.eu/maps/ozone/welcome .
Ground level ozone is one of the most prominent air pollution problems in Europe, presenting environmental risks to human health by damaging the lungs and respiratory system. Up to 30% of Europe's urban population is exposed to ozone concentrations above the threshold levels set by the EU. Ozone pollution is responsible for as many as 20,000 deaths in Europe every year.
The website will also give information on the likely health implications of a particular reading. High levels of ozone combine with other pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and particulates to create toxic smog, but the pollution already prevalent in crowded cities can suppress the formation of ozone. For this reason the worst-hit areas are often outside the main population centres in the suburban belt or rural areas, because ozone can be carried up to 500 km per day by winds, thus creating both a local and an international problem.
Lebanon: War Sparks Environmental Crisis
The Lebanese Environment Ministry announced on 26th July 2006 that Israeli bombing of the Jiyye power station, located on the coast 30 kilometres south of Beirut, had caused an unprecedented environmental catastrophe. The air raids took place in early July, and left half the plant's oil storage tanks on fire and the rest ruptured. The fires were still burning 14 days later and at least 10,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil had spilled into the Mediterranean, with foreseeable severe effects on health, biodiversity and tourism.
The pollution affected around 70 to 80 kilometres of both public and private rocky and sandy beaches from Damour, south of Beirut, through to Chekka in the north. The Environment Ministry said that another 15,000 tonnes of oil are expected to leak into the sea and issued a warning for all citizens to stay away from polluted sites along the coast. The Ministry started pilot cleanup operations with the help of private companies, and with financial and technical assistance from the Kuwaiti Government, but the operation was particularly dangerous because of Israel's on-going military action.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) expressed its grave concern about oil pollution in Lebanese coastal waters. Almost as much oil may have entered the sea as during the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker incident in Alaska, which led to widespread ecological damage. The UN and the Malta-based Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre (Rempec) for the Mediterranean acted on a request from the Lebanese Government to assist in attempts to contain thousands of tonnes of oil.
Later at a meeting in Piraeus, measures to tackle pollution affecting shorelines in Lebanon and Syria were agreed by Lebanon, Syria, Greece, Turkey and the EU. Their plan called for immediate aerial surveys to assess the extent of the damage and a workforce of 300 people to tackle the worst-affected sites. Some of the oil has settled on the sea floor, threatening areas where tuna spawn; there was also concern that slicks on beaches would prevent young green turtles, an endangered species, from reaching the sea after they had hatched.
Computer modelling suggested that about 20% of the oil had probably evaporated, with almost 80% now on the coastline, and around 0.25%, or some 40 tonnes, remaining at sea. However, satellite images suggest that far larger amounts may remain afloat, with the potential to spread much further afield.
International: UK Health and Safety Authority Issues Safety Alert
In December 2005 there was a major fire and explosion at the Buncefield petroleum storage depot in Hemel Hempstead, England. The initial report of the investigation into the incident was published on 13th July 2006 at http://www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov.uk/reports/initialreport.pdf
The report indicates that the explosion probably resulted from the ignition of a vapour cloud formed when a tank containing unleaded gasoline overflowed. One aspect of the investigation is the operation of the 'ultimate high level switch' on the tank. It is part of the system designed to prevent the tank from overflowing.
On 26th July 2006, the United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued an international safety alert on the URL http://www.hse.gov.uk/comah/alerts/sa0106.htm
on the proper installation and testing of the type of level switch installed on the tank that overflowed. The safety alert includes a checklist at http://www.hse.gov.uk/comah/alerts/tavcheclist.htm
to aid in identifying and testing the switches. Although these types of level switches are manufactured in the United Kingdom, the HSE believes that they may have been supplied to customers throughout Europe and North America.
The safety alert is primarily for the attention of those companies operating oil/fuel storage facilities. However, it may also be relevant to other sites storing hazardous substances in large tanks where level gauges are used.
China: Two Chemical Plants Explode in One Day
On 28th July 2006, there was an explosion at the Fuyuan Chemical Plant in the Linhai Township of Sheyang County, Jiangsu Province, eastern China. More than 7,000 people from within a 2 km radius of the plant were evacuated. The factory produces industrial Dichloro Fluoro Benzene. Twelve people are known to have been killed and ten more were hospitalised. Nearly 1,000 rescuers searched for possible missing people in the debris. The cause of the blast is being investigated.
One hour before this incident, another chemical plant blast in Shanghai injured four people but with no deaths reported. A hydrogen peroxide production facility exploded at the Shanghai Yuanda Peroxides Co. Ltd, a mainland-Hong Kong joint venture, in Baoshan District, northern Shanghai. The blast was followed by thick smoke and a fire which took four hours to extinguish. The environmental consequences are being monitored and the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Australia: Oil Rig Fire Injures Two Workers
Two men were taken to Royal Darwin Hospital suffering serious burns after a fire on an oil rig in the Timor Sea. The employees of Maersk were working on a Nanhai VI semisubmersible vessel when a fire broke out in a storeroom in the early hours of 28th July 2006. The rig was carrying out exploratory drilling for Woodside Petroleum in the East Timor Joint Petroleum Development Area, around 575 kilometres north-west of Darwin. One worker suffered burns to the hands and face and was in a serious but stable condition. The other was in a stable condition with burns to the hands.
USA: Agencies Argue over TCE Pollution Responsibilities
A panel convened by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies released a report on 27th July 2006 critical of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its risk assessment of trichloroethylene (TCE), a suspected carcinogen and widespread contaminant of groundwater, soil and air across the United States (and several European countries).
The solvent has the chemical formula C2HCl3 and is covered by Risk Phrases R20, R21, R22, R40, R52 and R53. It was widely used for decades as an industrial degreasing agent and was often dumped after use in local landfills. Hundreds of military, industrial and waste sites are known to be contaminated by the substance, which can enter domestic premises through contaminated drinking water or as vapour from soil.
Because the cost and scale of a clean-up operation is so great, there has been intense argument among various federal government agencies as to who should take the responsibility. In 2001 the EPA published a draft risk assessment on TCE in which they raised the estimated carcinogenic potency by 2 to 40-fold, triggering criticism from the Department of Defense and other agencies as they realised they would have to bear the cost. Under this pressure the EPA began a second risk assessment in 2003 which is still unfinished.
The NRC panel pointed to new epidemiological studies confirming that TCE can cause kidney cancer and may lead to other kidney problems, although the dose that triggers those problems is not established. Animal studies suggest that high doses can cause liver cancer and infertility. Inhalation of TCE causes neurological problems, such as poor co-ordination in both humans and laboratory animals, and appears to aggravate autoimmune problems. Although more research is required to determine how TCE causes these adverse health effects, the NRC panel concluded that there is sufficient data for the EPA to finish its risk assessment and to spell out more clearly the basis for its assessment. The EPA is required to follow the risk assessment with revised standards for environmental clean-up and drinking water.
Bahrain: 16 Workers Die in Residential Building
At least 16 Indians from Tamil Nadu died of smoke suffocation and seven others were hospitalised by carbon monoxide poisoning when a fire broke out in a three-storey building housing over 200 expatriates in the Bahrain capital of Manama. More than 190 were rescued unharmed from the ground and first floors. The fire, apparently caused by an electrical short circuit, broke out at around 2.30 am local time on 30th July 2006 in the second floor of a building used as a residence for workers in the Gudabiya area.
All the victims worked for the Royal Towers Construction company. The Indian Ambassador to Bahrain said that the company was warned in January 2006 about poor safety standards in the building, but it had not taken any remedial safety measures and was in breach of the labour laws.
Indonesia: Mass Evacuation after Oil Well Explodes
A statement issued by the Indonesian Government reported that on 30th July 2006, shortly after midnight local time, an oil well operated by Pertamina and PetroChina in the Bojonegoro area of East Java exploded, forcing the evacuation of 2,600 local people and affecting another 12,000 who were close enough to the blast to suffer potential health problems from exposure to sour gas fumes (hydrogen sulphide). Some 210 people were treated for respiratory problems after some lost consciousness, with one person detained in hospital.
Local authorities said that the fire was soon extinguished by quelling it with water and mud and there was no impact on production following the explosion.
China: The Health Costs of Economic Growth
According to the Chinese Occupational Health and Poisons Control Institute, the cost of occupational illnesses and work-related injuries in China is now 100 billion yuan (£6.8 billion) in direct losses every year. The uncalculated indirect costs might be twice as high at around 200 billion yuan (£13.6 billion).
There is a tendency for local government to ignore or downgrade the prevention and control of occupational diseases and focus only on economic growth.
Occupational health research and education are low priorities, with most of the state institutions located only in the large eastern cities. Government statistics indicate that 26 provincial occupational healthcare institutes gave coverage to around 8,500 enterprises and each occupational health professional had to serve 4,713 workers.
The Ministry of Health is conducting a nationwide survey of the estimated 200 million rural and migrant workers, and has proposed to provide a basic occupational health service for them. In addition, a pilot network is to be set up to improve reporting and monitoring of occupational illnesses.
International: Concern over Pakistan Surgical Instrument Industry
A recent report published in the British Medical Journal (Bhutta M. F., et al., British Medical Journal , doi:10.1136/bmj.38901.619074.55 (2006)) suggests that the international trade in high-quality surgical instruments is underpinned by the exploitation of workers in the developing world.
Pakistan produces around 20% of the world's surgical instruments in a low wage industry, which employs young children to make scalpels, scissors and other instruments in sometimes unhealthy and dangerous conditions. The centre of the industry is in Sialkot, where 50,000 people are involved in making stainless-steel surgical tools, around 7,700 of them children. Most start at the age of nine, although some as young as seven work in Sialkot's many small sweatshops.
The more complex instruments, such as endoscopes, are manufactured mainly in Germany, but most of the simple metal implements used in large quantities in hospitals are made by Pakistani workers, who have inherited a metalworking tradition that extends back to 17th-century swordsmiths.
The global trade in handheld surgical tools is worth at least $US650 million every year, but Pakistani workers do not see much of the money. A pair of scissors which might retail in the West for $80 has an ex-manufacturer cost of around $1.25.
A Pakistani study in 2003 found that half of children making surgical instruments reported injuries at work, with 95% suffering sleep problems and 80% with back, neck or shoulder pain, as well as eye and lung problems. The probable cause stems from the use of grinding, milling and corrosive chemicals, and the high levels of dust and noise in workshops.
The British National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency is reported to have responded to the effect that, although they provide a list of recommended suppliers for surgical instruments and strive to ensure that these goods are not produced unethically, individual healthcare trusts in Britain are free to source their goods from wherever they like.
Greece: Illegal Landfills Closed Down by Government
The Greek Interior Ministry has targeted 2,700 illegal landfill sites on the mainland, which are to be closed down. Another 350 sites with better facilities will be allowed to remain open until they have been restored. However, the numerous illegal dumps on the Greek islands will continue to operate because the authorities do not have the resources to tackle the problem.
The Ministry has undertaken environmental studies on each of the mainland landfills and outlined the steps that local authorities must take to help the surrounding environment recover after removal of the dump. The environmental restoration process will be undertaken by private companies after submitting tenders.
Municipal authorities are ultimately responsible for closing the illegal landfills and the Interior Ministry cannot force local authorities to speed up progress on studies or the drafting of guidelines.
The EU is pressuring Greece to deal with the problem quickly, ordering illegal landfills to be shut down by 2008.
China: Bankrupt Thermometer Factory Pollutes Farming Town
A thermometer factory in the town of Dongyang in Chongqing municipality, south-western China, filed for bankruptcy at the end of July 2006, leaving a legacy of serious mercury pollution in the neighbourhood. An estimated 20 hectares of vegetable fields are contaminated, as are local rivers, which farmers had for a long time used as a source of irrigation water for their crops of vegetables, corn and melons.
The factory complex is reported to have visible mercury droplets scattered on the ground. At one time the plant had discharged toxic waste directly into a river, poisoning all the fish in fish farms nearby.
Mercury is listed by the World Health Organisation as a possible carcinogen with known severe neurological health effects on humans if ingested.
Bangladesh: Shipbreakers Pollute with Impunity
Despite the involvement of several government departments in the process of scrapping ships, the notorious Sitakunda shipbreaking yards in Chittagong on the beaches of Bengal Bay have severely polluted around 40 km2 of the coastal environment. Every year around 150 ocean-going ships, weighing between 10,000 tonnes and 550,000 tonnes each, are scrapped by hand on the beaches of Sitakunda by thousands of untrained and unprotected workers, recovering up to 1.8 million tonnes of scrap metal annually. Toxic pollutants are deliberately released to water, land and air.
At present there are around 13 entrepreneurs who, under the guise of the Bangladesh Shipbreakers' Association, control 20 shipbreaking yards. According to maritime law, all ships arriving for scrapping must be cleaned and undergo detoxification, but lack of competent government monitoring results in this procedure being ignored. Most large vessels arriving contain asbestos, oil sludge, lead, cadmium, arsenic, biocides and often traces of radioactive substances.
Although shipbreaking is able to meet 80% of the country's demand for steel, large quantities of steel and non-ferrous items, such as bronze, aluminium copper, bronze-amalgam are said to be regularly smuggled out of the country through the Feni border.
International: Hydrogen Sulphide Risk and Shipyard Sewage
Shipyard employers and employees will benefit from a new online safety alert document which has been produced jointly by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the American Shipbuilding Association, the National Shipbuilding Research Program and the Shipbuilders' Council of America.
The URL is http://cms-shipbuilders.advancedlegal.com/pdfs/725200621540P.pdf.
Shipyard employers and employees must be fully aware of the hazards and dangers of sewage systems on ships and at shipyard shore facilities. In recent years there have been several fatal accidents where up to four workers were killed while working on a sewage system. The principal cause of death was the inhalation of hydrogen sulphide gas (H2S) which can be generated by sewage. At low concentration, H2S gas has the distinctive smell of rotten eggs, but at higher concentrations it becomes odourless and when inhaled can render a person unconscious in seconds and kill within minutes. With proper training and procedures, employers can prevent accidents involving H2 S gas from sewage systems.
International: Virtual Library on Improving Security in the Workplace
The US Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have jointly launched a new virtual library, which houses information on health and safety resources, emergency preparedness, business continuity planning and security guidance. It highlights avenues to protect all businesses, including government agencies, from both physical and cyber threats.
The URL is http://www.ready.gov/business/other/library.html.
Japan: Confined Space Workers Overcome by Gas
On 2nd August 2006, five Japanese maintenance workers were hospitalised after surviving a confined space incident at the Keikyu Aburatsubo Marine Park in Miura, Kanagawa. Two of the men had entered a drainage manhole to carry out cleaning work when they were overcome by hydrogen sulphide gas. The other three then entered to rescue them and were also overcome.
It is very common for multiple casualties to occur when improperly equipped and untrained workers enter a confined space in an attempt to rescue a colleague overcome by fumes. The correct procedure is to ventilate the confined space and test the air inside before contemplating entry under a permit-to-work system, remembering that any disturbance of sludge inside is likely to release more toxic gas. Air monitoring instruments, breathing apparatus and rescue equipment must be available onsite, along with people trained in their use.
Ireland: Injuries at Work Increase under USA Programme
In June 2004, the health and safety authorities in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland became the first in Europe to adopt the American style of non-interventionist health and safety regulation known as Voluntary Protection Programmes (VPP), a euphemism for a lax enforcement regime. The policy was much criticised at the time as a way around enforcement and a means to reduce fines. The VPP scheme includes awarding prizes to departments that report the fewest accidents, which in the USA has led to the under-reporting of workplace injuries. But according to the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), almost 6,000 employees die in workplace accidents each year in America, a rate far exceeding that in the United Kingdom.
The shortcomings of the VPP scheme have been revealed by the latest work-related illness and injury figures from the Irish Health and Safety Authority (see also "Ireland: Illness and Accidents at Work on the Increase" in the Summer International Newsletter ). The statistics show that 73 people were killed at work in 2005, a 46% increase on 2004, while work-related illnesses rose by 29% in the first three months, compared with the same period of the previous year.
Lebanon: Farm Workers Killed in Airstrike
On 4th August 2006, an Israeli air to ground missile attack on a fruit packing warehouse in the village of Qaa, near the Syrian border, left at least 33 Kurdish farm workers dead and injured another 15. The workers were loading produce onto a lorry when they were struck by four missiles fired by an American-built F16 fighter.
China: Fall in Coal Mine Fatalities
The number of reported deaths in major coal mine accidents in China fell by almost 25.5% in the period January to August 2006, according to the State Administration of Work Safety. The death toll was 2,900 fatalities. In the eight-month period there were 1,824 colliery accidents recorded, down 13.6% year on year.
In the year 2005, nearly 6,000 miners died in 3,341 gas explosions, floods and roof collapses as mine owners pushed production beyond safe limits in the rush for profits brought by booming demand.
Many dangerous mines have been closed down by the central government, but strong demand results in illegal reopening and false reporting of casualties. In June 2006, six coal mine managers from Xinjiang were given heavy gaol sentences for failing to prevent an underground gas explosion last year which killed 83 employees.
According to statistics released by the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) on 9th August 2006, China dealt with 70,000 illegal mining cases over an 18-month period from 2005 to the end of June 2006. The MLR recorded 64,661 cases of mining without a licence; 1,316 cases involving illegal trading in prospecting and mining rights; and 4,383 cases of mining beyond boundary lines.
Some 2,660 civil servants who held stakes in mines were sentenced in court, and a further 1,438 suspects charged with mining crimes were handed over to judicial departments. The government revoked 1,647 exploration and mining licences.
The objective of the crackdown on illegal mining is to improve management of exploration and mining of the country's mineral resources through enhanced supervision.
India: Unknown Number of Workers Die in Illegal Mine
The Gangtekuli coal mine in Jharkhand State was closed by the government-owned Eastern Coalfields Limited company seven years ago. It was reopened by a local organised crime syndicate, which employed villagers to dig and collect coal. In early August 2006, an unknown number of workers, believed to be in excess of 50, were trapped underground when water from the nearby Damodar river flooded the mine.
Divers from Calcutta tried to carry out a rescue operation but failed. When approached by the local authorities, the Indian army was unwilling to join rescue efforts because water from the river was still gushing into the mine and there was no information on the precise location of those trapped. After five days, rescue attempts were abandoned.
Another abandoned mine in the same area collapsed a few days later, trapping three or four amateur miners inside permanently.
Thailand: Government Declares 29 Provinces as Bird Flu Disaster Zone
On 8th August 2006, the Government of Thailand declared 29 central and north-eastern provinces as a bird flu disaster zone as part of measures to curb the epidemic. The Cabinet also approved the creation of special field units responsible for terminating infected birds as well as all poultry within a one-kilometre radius of any future bird flu outbreak site. The Government will carry out tests on chickens in an area within five kilometres from an outbreak site to check the spread of the disease. Four new mobile laboratories will be set up across the northern and central provinces to conduct the tests. The Government also issued strict measures for another 30 provinces, requiring vehicles and equipment to be disinfected before travelling between farms.
Thailand has reported two human fatalities from bird flu this year, both in northern provinces, but neither were direct human-to-human transmission.
Nigeria: Foreign Oil Workers Still Targeted by Militants
On 9th August 2006, the Norwegian Government and the ship operators announced that two Norwegians and two Ukrainians working on a Tryco Supply vessel in Nigeria had been kidnapped. A week earlier, a German employee of oil service firm Bilfinger Berger was kidnapped along with his driver in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt; and three Filipinos employed by Baker Overseas Technology Services, a contractor of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, working on a multi-billion-dollar liquefied gas project were abducted at nearby Bonny Island.
The past seven months had seen a marked increase in kidnappings and attacks on oil facilities and personnel by separatist agitators in the Niger Delta. More than 30 expatriate oil workers had been kidnapped and released after spending days or sometimes weeks in captivity.
In mid-August, the German construction company Julius Berger began to withdraw all its workers and equipment from Nigeria following incessant cases of kidnapping and hostage taking of workers in the region.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, accounting for a daily output of 2.6 million barrels, but 25% of that figure has been lost due to unrest since the beginning of the year.
International: Sequestering Carbon Dioxide on the Ocean Floor
Sealing large quantities of carbon dioxide gas generated by human industrial activity into a natural reservoir is known as carbon sequestration, a series of techniques which have gained in popularity in recent years. Pilot projects include injecting CO2 into saline aquifers in the Black Sea and off the coast of Norway, and into depleted or exhausted oilfields in Algeria and Canada. However, neither approach has been proven to work over time and there are some worrying side effects. (See "Deep Burial of CO2 Hits a Snag" in the Summer 2006 International Newsletter.)
An alternative and self-sealing CO2 trap was described in early August 2006 in a paper by Kurt Zenz House et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006, 103, who propose that carbon dioxide be collected at a major source near the coast, such as a power or chemical plant, borrowing techniques already in use by natural gas companies to separate CO2 from other gases. The CO2 would then be pressurised into a liquid and shipped about ten kilometres offshore, where the ocean is at least three kilometres deep. Finally, engineers would drill a hole into the ocean floor at least 500 metres deep and inject the carbon dioxide through a pipe. The pressure from 3 km of water combined with the cold temperatures of the deep sea squeeze the liquid CO2 so that it becomes denser than seawater. When the CO2 mixes with water in the seabed sediments, studies suggest it should form hydrates, a latticework of water/CO2 ice mixture that will form a cap over the rest of the injected carbon dioxide. Due to the low temperature the CO2 should not leak out. The researchers propose that the strategy might be particularly useful in places where drilling on land is impractical for other types of carbon sequestration, such as Japan or the north-east coast of the United States.
Russia: Mass Food Poisoning Strikes Building Workers
On 16th August 2006, a catering company in Moscow was closed by the authorities after an outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning put 215 building workers into hospital.
Moscow hospitals admitted 121 patients and 94 people were taken to regional city clinics. Nine of the hospitalised workers were reported to be in a grave condition.
The company, which is owned by a Turkish national, specialised in supplying meals to site workers. The Federal Service for Supervision of Consumers' Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) said that the acute intestinal infection outbreak was caused by meals that were infected during the process of cooking.
The sick builders were employed on four different construction sites, but received their catering from the same company.
International: Pesticide Banned by the EU Continues in Use in America
Atrazine, a broad-spectrum chlorotriazine herbicide, is the most commonly used corn crop pesticide in the United States. Around 37,000 tonnes of atrazine is used annually on corn, sugar cane and sorghum crops. It is produced primarily by Syngenta Crop Protection, a Swiss-based company (formerly Novartis, and before that CibaGeigy).
Global production is approximately 70 million kg of active ingredient annually. Because the substance has high environmental mobility and persistence in water, atrazine is the most frequently detected pesticide contaminant in US waters. Worldwide atrazine contamination in surface water has been reported to be as high as 50 parts per billion (ppb) in rivers and streams, 4,000 ppb in runoff from treated fields, and 2.5 ppb in rainfall in both high-use areas and areas far removed from original application sites.
There is evidence that atrazine interferes with reproduction and development in humans and animals, and may cause cancer. In October 2003, the European Union announced a ban on the use of atrazine because of ubiquitous and unpreventable water contamination. In that same month the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved its continued use in America.
A paper published in the September issue of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, (J. B. Sass, A. Colangelo, 2006, "European Union Bans Atrazine, While the United States Negotiates Continued Use", Int J Occup Environ Health, 12:260 - 267 ), reports on a review of US regulatory procedures and government documents, and on perceived efforts by the manufacturer of atrazine, Syngenta, to influence the US atrazine assessment by submitting flawed scientific data as evidence of no harm, and by meeting repeatedly and privately with the EPA to negotiate the Government's regulatory approach. Many of the details of these negotiations continue to be withheld from the public, despite laws that require such decisions to be made in the open.
The writers argue that these private negotiations compromised ethical and scientific standards, and violated public trust in a federal agency charged with protection of human health and ecological integrity.
International: Oil Tanker Spill in the Indian Ocean
On 15th August 2006, the Japanese oil tanker "Bright Artemis", owned by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd and registered in Singapore, spilled 4,500 tonnes of crude oil 470 kilometres west of the Great Nicobar islands in the Indian Ocean.
The tanker, a 260,000-tonne single-hull crude carrier, was transporting crude from the Mina al Fahal port in Oman and Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia to the Cosmo Oil Company refinery at Chiba in eastern Japan.
The crude tanks of the vessel were damaged in a collision as its crew rescued personnel from a distressed cargo ship that had caught fire. This is the largest reported oil spill involving a Japanese ship owner.
Bulgaria: Construction Workers Injured in Sofia Trench Collapse
On 14th August 2006, three men were buried under soil and asphalt in the Gorublyane district of Sofia when the ground forming part of a sewer trench in which they were working collapsed. They were rescued alive within ten minutes but suffered serious trauma.
According to the Sofia authorities the reason for the accident was most likely the lack of safety precautions taken by the workers. At first the injured men gave false names to the police and hospital, leading authorities to the belief that they might be working without contracts. The company that was undertaking the project may face serious repercussions, as the Labour Inspection Department is about to probe its business.
USA: Metal Worker Poisoned by Mistake
A metal worker employed by Pitkin Iron in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, died of progressive total organ failure after mistakenly drinking a highly toxic agent which had been placed in a soft drink bottle. He and a colleague were working in a domestic house on a metal staircase. His colleague brought with him a quantity of Antique Black metal ageing liquid, which he had decanted into a soft drink bottle still bearing its original label and not marked as containing the agent. The liquid, widely used in America as a "gun blueing" agent, is usually stored in five-gallon drums, but had been decanted into a small bottle for convenience. The bright blue substance contains selenous acid, which is highly toxic and highly corrosive and for which there is no antidote if it is ingested. It has the chemical formula H2SeO3 and is an oxoacid of selenium, covered by Risk Phrases R23, R25, R34, R36, R37 and R38. The worker took half a mouthful and spat it out, realising what had happened. He was airlifted to hospital immediately but died later.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration carried out an investigation into the safety practices of Pitkin Iron, but since the death was considered to be an accident, no criminal charges were made.
In the UK at least, placing a dangerous liquid agent used at work into a drink bottle and not marking it as hazardous would be regarded as an act of criminal negligence.
China: Nine Miners Killed in Gypsum Mine Collapse
On 19th August 2006, a large part of the privately owned Tiande Gypsum Mine in Shimen County, Hunan Province in central China, collapsed while 28 miners were working underground. A total of 19 of the trapped miners were rescued alive. More than 60 people from 13 households close to the mine were evacuated because of fears of another ground collapse. The county government ordered all mines in the area to suspend production and began an investigation into the cause of the incident. Gypsum mines are usually free of flammable gases and excavation is by the pillar and stall method, requiring little in the way of artificial roof support.
Dubai: Plastic Waste Dumping Pollutes Waterway
An increasing problem being reported is the dumping of plastic bags in Dubai Creek, which has consequences for the local environment as well as choking boat engines. The plastic refuse, mostly discarded wrapping materials and bottles, floats on the surface where it blocks boat engine cooling systems. Floating plastic waste is frequently consumed by accident by seabirds and turtles, and can trap smaller sea animals. It is not usually biodegradable and presents a cumulative drifting hazard to wildlife.
Dubai Creek has heavy traffic in the form of private yachts, traders from Iran and Pakistan and touring visitors, all of whom throw their rubbish in the creek rather than disposing of it legally.
Indonesia: Gas Well Mud Flood Continues to Threaten East Java
In the Summer edition of the RRC International Newsletter we reported on a gas well near Surabaya in East Java that went out of control in early June 2006 (see "Indonesia: Uncontrolled Gas Well Causes Environmental Disaster"). The cracked well was releasing hydrogen sulphide gas and hot mud in very large quantities. By late August the owner, PT Lapindo Brantas, had done nothing effective to contain the flow and four million cubic metres of hot mud had flooded over 20 square kilometres to a depth of five metres, causing the local population of 9,000 people to flee and disrupting the economy by destroying 20 factories and four villages. The drillers did insert cement plugs into the well hole, but the hole was uncased and the mud found other avenues of escape to the surface. The flow rate continues at 125,000 cubic metres per day.
Government authorities built an ever expanding network of earth dams and diversion channels to prevent the great mud lake from destroying any more villages, but several of them have already burst and the start of the rainy season in October was expected to cause all the containment walls to collapse. To the east of the still-growing mud lake lie aquaculture pens, probably for shrimp farming, which face the threat of contamination of waters from the mud lake overflow downstream from the site.
If the flow of mud is from an emerging mud volcano, as has been suggested, the flood would be unstoppable. The mud volcano phenomenon can arise from several different combinations of geological factors and the nature of this one is unknown. At first, environmental argument prevented the use of the local Porong river as a conduit to divert the flow of toxic mud and sludge into the Madura Strait of the Java Sea, where it would affect the fisheries upon which millions depend. But the on-going crisis forced the local government to do just that, whilst the central government in Jakarta debated whether to construct a 20-kilometre pipeline and treatment plant, a proposal that would take months to put into effect.
The police announced that they plan to file criminal charges against nine employees from the exploration company, Lapindo Brantas, over the disaster, alleging that its drilling activities triggered the mud release and that it failed to respond to the torrent in the correct way. As corporate liabilities escalated, Lapindo was sold in September 2006 for US $2 to a company registered in Jersey. That company has no assets and is expected to declare bankruptcy.
The incident was monitored by NASA with their Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on the Terra satellite, the images being posted online at NASA Javanese mudlake images.
China: Hydropower Accident Kills Seven
On 21st August 2006, a pressure forebay in the Shuanglong Hydropower Station in Pingshan County, Yibin City in southern Sichuan Province collapsed, sweeping seven workers to their death, injuring six others and leaving one person missing.
The hydropower station was in the process of storing water when the pressure forebay on the mountain side of the station, which contained 1,000 cubic metres of water, suddenly collapsed. The flood of water dislodged boulders and swept away downstream construction workers and their temporary dwellings. The cause of the accident is being investigated.
Pingshan is a mountainous area of 1,531 square kilometres with a population of 293,000 people. More than 100 rivers and streams flow through the county and it has around 18 hydropower stations.
International: Office Paper Shredders as a Hazard to Children
In recent years, inexpensive paper shredders have become widely used in domestic homes as well as in offices, perhaps a side effect of the increasing use of computers for work-related activity at home. The access feeding slot width in these small devices is usually between 5 mm and 8 mm, which is reasonably safe for an adult to use.
In August 2006, the Japanese Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry issued a public warning to parents of the dangers posed by children accessing paper shredders. There have been several recent cases in Japan where children have suffered finger amputations or mutilations in shredder feed slots. The Ministry wants manufacturers to alter specifications to a shredder feeding width of less than 3 mm.
Canada: Telecom Worker Survives Power Cable Incident
A telephone line installer in Ottawa, Canada, came into contact with a 16,000-volt power line while working in a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP). The man was striking a pin into a support pole when a power cable seven metres above him detached and fell, inflicting severe burns. It was unclear whether the employee's own actions had caused the cable to drop, or whether inadequate prior maintenance on the cable was responsible.
Canada: Automotive Plant Fined for Hand Injury
In August 2006, Cooper Standard Automotive Canada Ltd of Stratford, Ontario, was fined $60,000 in Miltown following a prosecution for violations of health and safety legislation. The charges arose from an incident in January 2005 in which an employee at its Georgetown plant suffered a hand injury.
The man was repairing a malfunction in a post-form rolling mill, which manufactures jeep parts, when his hand became trapped between two metal rollers. One of the rollers had a sharp contour shape which cut and crushed his hand.
An investigation by the Ministry of Labour found that there were no guarding devices preventing access to the hazardous pinch points. The company pleaded guilty in court to failing to ensure that the mill equipment was equipped with, or guarded by, a guard or other device to prevent access to the in-running nip hazard, as required by the Canadian Regulations for Industrial Establishments.
Nigeria: Oil Workers Threaten to Pull Out of the Niger Delta
The main oil workers' union in Nigeria is the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), which has threatened to pull out of the volatile Niger Delta region following a wave of kidnappings and violence. The union announced that it had lost confidence in the security agencies and, despite a clampdown on separatist militants terrorising oil firms and facilities in the region, the Niger Delta was becoming increasingly unsafe for oil workers.
The union pointed out that a PENGASSAN member who worked for the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell and was kidnapped on 8th August 2006 had yet to be found. At least 40 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped since January, with around 15 abducted in the first two weeks of August. Ten of them were subsequently released but five were still in captivity.
Nigerian security forces were reported to have launched an aggressive manhunt for the kidnappers following a directive by President Olusegun Obasanjo to rid the region of separatist fighters seeking local control of the country's oil wealth.
USA: Worker Killed in Cereal Plant Explosion
On 24th August 2006, one worker was killed and another injured when a pressure vessel exploded at the Kraft Foods cereal plant in Battle Creek, Michigan. A power outage in the early hours of the morning caused a pressure build-up in a three metre high by one metre circumference pressure tank. The explosion sent debris through a brick cylinder block wall and both the victims were struck by flying masonry.
China: Apple Computer Inc. Admits to Excessive iPod Hours
The popular Apple iPod MP3 music player (essentially a large flash memory storage device) is manufactured by its contractor Foxconn at a plant in China. A report into labour conditions at the iPod plant by Apple found that employees had to work more than 60 hours a week for a third of the time. They also worked more than six consecutive days for 25% of the time.
Apple, based in California, admitted the hours were excessive and said its supplier would now be enforcing a "normal" 60-hour working week. Apple also reported several instances of employees being made to stand to attention as a form of disciplinary punishment. The company has published a new supplier code of conduct.
However, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) expressed reservations about the Apple company report, as it has not been independently verified and Apple investigators interviewed only 100 personnel out of 30,000 iPod workers.
Iraq: 34 People Killed Stealing from Pipeline
In an incident unrelated to military conflict, at least 34 people were killed and many others injured in an explosion at a disused oil pipeline in southern Iraq. Local people had been gathering petrol from two ponds, created by illegally siphoning off fuel at night from a pipeline in an industrial zone south of Diwaniya, 130 km south of Baghdad, when they were engulfed in a fireball. Rescue efforts were hindered by the fire and the number of casualties was uncertain.
The pipeline was formerly used to carry petrol to Baghdad, but had been out of operation since 2003. The practice of siphoning fuel from pipelines is now as common in Iraq as it is in Nigeria, and the frequent cause of multiple fatalities.
The management of pipeline integrity and other infrastructure assets has become a major safety issue in both countries, along with risk mitigation by removal of weaknesses, effective crisis management and emergency response strategies.
Philippines: Environmental Disaster Caused by Incompetence
On 11th August 2006, the oil tanker "Solar 1", under charter by Petron Corp. and carrying two million litres of bunker fuel, sank off Guimaras Island, around 450 km south of Manila. The massive oil spill caused an ecological disaster for local fishermen and forced the Government to declare the incident a national calamity.
The tanker captain faced an immediate board of inquiry, which found he had no experience in handling the vessel and his licence had expired in 2002. He had failed to consider the seaworthiness of the vessel or adverse weather conditions at sea. The disaster was caused by human error, and by the failure of his employer to establish his competence for the task.
China: Tourist Attraction Polluted by Industrial Waste
The state-owned Nanjing Titanium Dioxide Chemicals factory on the outskirts of Nanjing in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu has severely polluted a river popular with tourists. The plant made an uncontrolled discharge of more than 3,000 tonnes of untreated industrial waste into the Nanhe River, which feeds into the Qinhuai River that runs through the city centre in Nanjing.
The incident occurred because a dam that was built last year to block pollution from the Nanhe River flowing into the Qinhuai was demolished on the orders of the local government, who wanted to dredge the city water system.
The Nanjing city government announced that a new dam would be built immediately and instructed Nanjing Titanium Dioxide Chemicals Ltd to reduce its production output, ensure all its wastewater is treated and meets environmental protection standards before being discharged into the Nanhe River. The factory has its own wastewater management system which can deal with 1,000 tonnes of wastewater a day, but this is only a very small fraction of its capacity to generate waste.
Bahrain: Bahrain Petroleum Company Wins Safety Award
In early September 2006, it was announced that the American National Safety Council had presented an award to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) for outstanding safety performance, in that they had completed five million employee-hours without an occupational injury or illness involving days away from work during the 12-month period July 2005 to July 2006. In addition, BAPCO's contractors achieved four million man-hours without any lost-time accident, and those working on the Low Sulphur Diesel Plant (LSDP) project achieved two million man-hours without a lost-time accident.
India: 53 Coal Miners Die after Underground Explosion
On 6th September 2006, an underground explosion and roof collapse at the Bhatdith colliery, located near Jharia in the eastern state of Jharkhand, trapped 53 miners who died from inhaling carbon monoxide fumes. The colliery belongs to the state-owned company, Bharat Coking Coal Limited.
Rescue work was severely hampered by the presence of high levels of carbon monoxide and methane gas in the mine, and it was suggested that the chance of any miners surviving was zero. Press reports blamed the disaster on an irresponsible attitude by coal company officials, who failed to provide adequate respiratory protection and emergency breathing apparatus.
Jharkhand has the most extensive coal deposits in India, but its mining industry is notorious for its high accident rate due to unsafe working systems. In the Jharia area, mining work has been affected by underground fires that have raged since 1916. The state's worst mine collapse took place in 1975, when nearly 400 miners were killed.
Russia: Sakhalin Energy Gas Project under Threat
In early September 2006, Russian regulators began to try to block a US$20 billion foreign-financed energy project on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, led by Royal Dutch Shell, on environmental grounds. It would be the largest integrated oil and natural gas scheme in the world if completed. The areas being developed by Shell and its partners, the Japanese firms Mitsui and Mitsubishi, have reserves of about one billion barrels of oil and 500 billion cubic metres of gas.
The Russian environmental regulator, the Federal Service for the Supervision of Natural Resources, is reported to have said that the environmental recommendations for the project had not been fulfilled, particularly in regard to erosion controls, and therefore it will attempt to revoke the scheme.
Gas shipments from the Sakhalin 2 development, the centrepiece of which is the construction of new liquefied natural gas production and storage facilities, are due to begin in 2008, and will be exported to Japan, China and Korea. The project involves the construction of two large offshore platforms, and two 800-km pipelines are to be laid to carry oil and gas onshore for processing. When completed, the Sakhalin 2 development will have the capacity to meet 8% of the world's liquefied natural gas demand.
It was suggested by some commentators that the Russian authorities are also trying to exert pressure on the project developers to allow state-run gas firm Gazprom to get a stake in the project on better terms. Gazprom wants to buy a 25% stake in the project in return for giving Shell access to Zapolyarnoye-Neocomian, the world's fifth-largest gas field in western Siberia.
Sakhalin is where two of the world's largest energy developments are located. The Sakhalin 1 development, in which US firm Exxon Mobil is a major investor, plans to produce 250,000 barrels of oil a day by early 2007.
Russia: Multiple Deaths in Siberian Gold Mine Fire
On 8th September 2006, a fire broke out about 100 metres underground in the central shaft of the Darasun gold mine in the Chita region, which lies near the Chinese border some 4,700 kilometres east of Moscow. Thirty-one miners managed to escape to the surface through emergency tunnels. Rescue workers later recovered 25 bodies, and another eight miners emerged alive the following day after surviving in a clean air pocket.
The mine has been worked for more than a century and is currently owned by Highland Gold, a UK-registered company in which the American mining group Barrick Gold holds a 20% stake. The mine is known to have been plagued by operational problems for over a year.
The Russian state safety body Rostekhnadzor said that specialised rescue equipment had been brought in and compressors were being used to pump fresh air into various sections of the mine to help possible survivors.
The accident was described as the worst in the gold mining industry in years. Officials said that negligence during welding work may have ignited the blaze. Work at the mine was suspended for five years in the 1990s and some of the mine infrastructure was refurbished before it went back into operation. The last safety check was conducted in April 2006.
The mine produces about 450,000 metric tonnes of ore yielding some 600 kilograms of gold annually. In the first half of this year the mine produced 11,761 ounces of gold, around 13% of Highland Gold's total production.
Accidents are common in the mining industries of the former Soviet Union, where mine operators often lack funds to invest in safety equipment and technical upgrades. Violations of safety procedures are widespread.
International: Workplace Lead Exposure and Brain Cancer Risk
A paper by Edwin van Wijngaarden and Mustafa Dosemeci of the University of Rochester Medical Center, "Brain cancer mortality and potential occupational exposure to lead: Findings from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study, 1979-1989", published in the September 2006 issue of the International Journal of Cancer , describes the findings of an extensive study into the link between workplace lead exposure and brain tumour risk.
The researchers computed the risk estimates for lead exposure and brain cancer from a US Census Bureau and the National Death Index sample of 317,968 people who reported their occupations between 1979 and 1981. They found that people who are routinely exposed to lead at work are 50% more likely to die from brain cancer than those who are not exposed; also the number of deaths was larger than found in many previous studies.
It has been suspected for many years that lead is a carcinogen which can pass through the blood-brain barrier, making the brain especially sensitive to its toxic effects. Statistically, more than 18,000 brain and spinal cord tumours will be diagnosed in the United States this year, but they are most likely to be attributed to radiation as the risk factor. The new study into a lead-cancer link provides further evidence that widespread (and preventable) environmental risk factors such as lead must also be considered.
The occupations most at risk were found to be gasoline (or petrol) station attendants, painters and automobile mechanics, fire-fighters, engineers, automobile assemblers, truck drivers, plumbers, welders, and printers or typesetters.
China: Lead Smelting Plant Contaminates Two Villages
On 13th September 2006, it was reported by the Chinese state press agency that 870 people, including over 300 children, had fallen victim to lead poisoning due to exposure to the emissions from an unregulated smelting plant in north-western China.
Pollution control equipment at the Hui County Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Plant was found to be substandard, and the factory had failed to undergo a mandatory environmental assessment after an upgrade in 2004. The factory was immediately closed down by the authorities.
The plant had been operating for 11 years, and the authorities have had to undertake blood testing on around 2,000 local people. It was also reported that airborne emissions had contaminated surrounding cropland soils with ash and grit.
In mid-October the Chinese government news agency stated that more than 950 children were stricken with lead poisoning as a result of the incident.
International: Joint Internet Website for European and Korean Occupational Safety and Health
The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EASHW) in Bilbao, Spain, have launched a new joint OSH website at http://kr.osha.eu.int/about .
The site follows the structure and presentation of the main European Agency website network and represents a contribution to the creation of a global portal to workplace safety and health information. As well as linking directly to EU information, the site provides a source of Korean occupational health and safety information.
The European Agency network already includes health and safety organisations from Australia, Canada, the USA and Japan.
The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency was established as a public professional organisation financed by Government subsidies in order to prevent accidents and diseases at workplaces.
China: Tunnel Collapse Traps 25 Workers
A 50-metre-long road tunnel under construction for the Guangnan and Yanshan highway in the south-western Chinese province of Yunnan collapsed on 11th September 2006, trapping 25 workers underground for more than 24 hours. Rescue workers succeeded in reopening the blocked tunnel and releasing the trapped men. The cause of the collapse was not reported but was almost certainly due to lack of management attention to safe working procedures.
Sweden: Government Defies EU Ruling with a Fire Retardant Ban
At the end of August 2006, the Swedish Government decided to restrict the use of a polybrominated flame-retardant substance called Deca-BDE (decabromodiphenyl ether) in textiles, furniture and cables as from 1st January 2007.
Deca-BDE is widely used in such consumer products as textiles, furniture, mattresses and electronic equipment to ensure a high resistance against fire, and to meet fire safety criteria demanded by legislation. The Swedish restriction does not include industrial uses, but it is still anticipated to have an adverse impact on industry and consumer safety.
The action is in breach of EU law and contradicts a ten-year EU scientific assessment which did not identify any risk to human health or the environment from the use of Deca-BDE. It goes against the proposed new chemicals legislation known as REACH, which bases regulatory decisions on scientific testing. The move will also prevent the free circulation of some goods within the EU market.
The Swedes appear to be following a World Health Organisation recommendation that brominated flame retardants should not be used where suitable replacements are available, but suitability includes a contentious cost factor.
It is foreseeable that Sweden will be brought before the EU Court of Justice, which has the power to overturn national legislation that it considers to be in conflict with EU law.
Ivory Coast: Dumped Toxic Sludge Poisons 9,000 People
In August 2006, the Probo Koala , a Panamanian-registered ship owned by the Greek company Prime Marine Management Inc., dumped its cargo of 581 tonnes of toxic oil tanker residue washings at 17 open air sites in the commercial capital of Abidjan, a city of four million people.
The vessel was on charter to Trafigura Beheer BV, a Dutch oil storage and distribution company. It was supposed to have discharged the waste in Amsterdam, but was forced to seek another disposal point after the Netherlands authorities prevented unloading because of complaints about the noxious smell.
According to the Ivorian Health Ministry, in the following days seven people died and nearly 9,000 sought medical treatment after inhaling hydrogen sulphide and other toxic fumes from the waste sludge.
The State Prosecutor ordered the arrest of eight persons, the owners of three local companies, Puma Energie, Waibs and Compagnie Tommy, believed to be involved with the illegal dumping. The Justice Ministry also arrested two French nationals who are senior executives of Trafigura Beheer as they attempted to leave the country. They were charged with poisoning and breaking toxic waste law; if found guilty they face a gaol sentence of 20 years. The ensuing public outcry over the mass poisoning and the slowness of government reaction resulted in the resignation of the government in the war-divided West African country.
In early September an international team of scientists and civil protection officials from France, Switzerland and the World Health Organisation flew in to analyse the substance and work out a plan to clean it up. It was proposed to collect the waste and bund it in a watertight tank or pit before processing to eliminate its toxic content. By mid-October, ten of the 17 contaminated sites had been cleaned. The waste and contaminated substances were isolated in containers to be taken to Europe for further processing.
Under the 1989 Basel international agreement, which was designed to protect poor countries from the dumping of hazardous waste, a country found responsible for the dumping of toxic waste must pay for its removal and reimburse all costs.
In late September, the Dutch public prosecutor opened an investigation into Trafigura Beheer, and according to a technical reconstruction of the event, the waste from the ship's holds was the result of refining petroleum at sea. Trafigura claimed the sludge was harmless, but contained mercaptan sulphur and water with traces of hydrogen sulphide. Also in late September, the Probo Koala sailed to Estonia and moored at Paldiski, where the Estonian government impounded the ship and opened criminal proceedings in connection with the discovery of toxic waste onboard.
China: Chemical Plants Discharge Arsenide into Drinking Water Supply
The senior managers of two factories in central China were arrested and detained following illegal discharges of toxic arsenide to a river used as a drinking water source. High levels of arsenide were detected in the Xinqiang River, Province of Xinqiang, forcing authorities to cut off drinking water for 80,000 people in the area. Arsenide is a colourless, tasteless compound of arsenic, exposure to which can lead to dermatitis, lung cancer and death.
The Haoyuan Chemical Co., a sulphuric acid manufacturer in Linxiang City, Hunan, and Taolin Lead-Zinc Ore Chemical Plant, both of which are sited in the upper reaches of the river, were found to be the major polluters by the State Environmental Protection Administration.
The two factories were discharging waste water with an arsenide content more than 1,000 times higher than the national standard directly into Xinqiang River. Haoyuan Chemical Co. discharged nearly 50,000 tonnes of waste water every month, and Taolin Lead-Zinc Ore Chemical Plant 280 tonnes. Neither company had passed any environmental assessments and they had no pollution treatment facilities. The two plants have since been closed.
A month later the director of the Linxiang City Environmental Protection Bureau and one of the bureau's deputy directors were removed from office for violating rules when issuing pollutant discharging permits and lax supervision of the companies that caused the pollution.
The incident is the latest in a series of poisonings stemming from carelessness in waste disposal by the growing number of industrial outlets.
USA: DuPont Fined $65,000 for Chemical Permit Violations
In September 2006, the DuPont Corporation was fined $65,000 by the state of Mississippi for permit violations at its First Chemical plant in Pascagoula. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which announced the fine, said the violations occurred before and after Hurricane Katrina.
The violations involved omissions in recording information required by permits; damage by Hurricane Katrina that shut down the plant's groundwater remediation system; and failures to test air emissions in smokestacks in a timely manner. The plant also exceeded its permit limits for releasing chlorine over the course of a month and stored a drum of hazardous waste on the site for 11 days longer than regulations allow.
USA: BP Pipeline Spillage in Long Beach, California
On 8th September 2006, a large gas oil spillage incident took place at the Port of Long Beach, but it was not made public until four days later. Federal, state and BP crews had to clean up an estimated 43,000 gallons of oil product from a BP pipeline.
The gas oil, a flammable substance used to make gasoline, did not reach adjacent harbour waters. Most was trapped in a pumping station, but some oil contaminated the soil in a nearby rail yard.
Because so many intervening authorities claimed jurisdiction - the US Coast Guard, the City of Long Beach, the state Fish and Game Department, and BP - they decided not to release any public notification until they had sorted the matter out.
International: Translations of UK Health and Safety Executive Free Leaflets
The Health and Safety Executive, the main body responsible for the enforcement of workplace safety legislation in Britain, is translating a growing number of its free leaflets into languages other than English. Details are given at http://www.hse.gov.uk/languages/index.htm?ebul=hsegen/11-sep-06&cr=06.
The Arabic language page is at http://www.hse.gov.uk/languages/arabic/index.htm.
Egypt: Dredger Sinks in Suez Canal, Drowning Four Crew
An Egyptian dredger with a 45-man crew sank in the Suez Canal on 13th September 2006. Four crew members were lost, believed drowned, prompting the closure of the busy international waterway while a search was mounted.
Suez Canal Authority and medical sources said another six crew were reported to have been injured in the accident near the town of Ismailia. The Authority said the cause of the sinking in the waterway, an important international trade route and the fastest shipping link between Europe and Asia, was not immediately known.
Spain: Menorca Airport Roof Collapse
Three Portuguese construction workers were injured on 14th September 2006 when a section of roof collapsed during the installation of roof beams at a new terminal building at Menorca airport, five kilometres from Mahon, capital of the popular resort island of Menorca. One of the injured was in a critical condition. Another 30 workers in the area escaped unharmed. The cause of the collapse was not known but torrential rains over the past 24 hours may have been a factor, according to the Spanish authorities.
Russia: Three Workers Killed in Sewage Plant Explosion
On 16th September 2006, an explosion took place in a water treatment plant in Krasnogorsk, Pavshino city, in the Moscow Region. Three workers died when a blast caused the roof of the three-storey sewerage collector station to collapse on top of them. Twelve other people nearby were also injured in the explosion, according to the Health and Social Development Ministry.
The explosion was attributed to a build-up of methane gas, which is notorious for its property of dissolving in water and, after unwittingly being transferred by pipeline, returning to a gas state inside some large but confined space where it may present a severe risk of explosion. Reports made no mention of automatic gas detection equipment being installed in the risk area.
Ukraine: Coal Miners Die in Underground Blast
In the early hours of 20th September 2006, an explosion took place about 1,000 metres underground at the Zasiadko mine in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. From a total shift of 400 men at the time of the incident, 11 miners died, ten suffered severe burn injuries and 28 are missing. The blast was attributed to a mixture of methane and coal dust.
The Zasiadko mine is one of the largest in Ukraine and has a reputation for its explosive atmospheres. In 1999, a methane explosion killed 50 miners, and another 50 died in 2001. In 2002, 20 were killed in a similar blast.
Ukraine is second only to China in having one of the world's worst mining death rates, caused by severe underfunding and poor safety standards. More than 4,000 miners have been killed in accidents since Ukraine became independent in 1991.
USA: Jackup Rigs No Longer Safe to Use in the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is now regarded as a hostile environment for jackup rigs, most of which have been removed over the last year due to poor profits and increased hurricane activity. There were also concerns that it would become impossible to insure jackups in the Gulf. After Hurricane Katrina, insurance premiums as much as quadrupled in some cases. Strict damage caps mean that rig operators cannot be sure they will receive compensation should another major hurricane pass over the Gulf.
Fixed rigs continue to be used in the shallow waters.
Germany: 23 Killed in Maglev Train Test Accident
On 22nd September 2006, an elevated magnetic train (Maglev) crashed whilst on test on a special track at the Emsland facility near the town of Lathen in north-west Germany.
The Maglev train was developed by Transrapid International, a joint venture between Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp. The train floats or levitates on a magnetic cushion over a monorail and is propelled by an electromagnetic system in the sides of the guideway instead of an onboard engine with an onboard fuel supply. The vehicle is virtually frictionless when under power and is capable of speeds up to 450 kilometres per hour. The 32 km long figure-of-eight test trackway is raised five metres above ground level.
The driverless train was carrying 30 passengers, including 23 visitors to the facility, and was travelling at 193 kph when it crashed into a stationary maintenance vehicle on the track. There were two people in the maintenance car. Some carriages were left balanced on the raised track, making it very difficult for rescue workers to gain access to the injured. The train should not have departed until the maintenance car had gone, and the accident has already been attributed to human error.
The only commercial example of a Transrapid system in operation is the Chinese high-speed shuttle from Shanghai Airport to the city centre. In August 2006, a fire broke out on a Transrapid train in Shanghai, adding to concerns about the safety of the technology. The Maglev technology was developed in the late 1960s but the cost of the infrastructure has meant that it has only recently been considered as approaching economic viability.
USA: New Air Quality Standards Cause Controversy
On 21st September 2006, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new set of air quality standards for airborne particulates that ignore the advice of scientists not employed by that agency. The EPA reduced by half the allowable amount of fine particles (PM2.5) averaged over 24 hours, but did not tighten the annual average for the more dangerous PM10 particles (smaller than 10 micrometres) which when inhaled can penetrate deep into the lungs. A reduction in PM10 exposure was recommended by public health organisations and the EPA's own scientific advisory committee. A substantial amount of evidence exists which indicates that breathing particles smaller than 2.5 microns can cause serious health problems, ranging from aggravated asthma to heart attacks.
The EPA is required to undertake a periodic review of its standards for soot and other air pollutants, and was sued through the courts by the American Lung Association when it missed the last deadline. The EPA agreed in 2003 to revise particulates standards by 27th September 2006. In December 2005, the agency proposed to tighten the daily standard from 65 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) to 35 µg/m³. Environmental groups and others criticised the proposals for ignoring another recommendation of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), namely to lower the annual standard from 15 µg/m³ to 13 or 14 µg/m³.
The newly announced standards still depart from the CASAC recommendations and were immediately criticised as inadequate by other bodies, including the Director of the Environmental Defense health programme.
Under the existing regulations, 109 counties currently violate one or both of the PM 2.5 standards; under the new tighter daily standard, 32 additional counties are out of compliance. States have 14 months to tell the EPA how they will abide by the new rules, which come into effect in 2015.
USA: Ford Leaves a Toxic Legacy in New Jersey
The US Environmental Protection Agency has insisted that a fifth environmental cleanup be undertaken at a toxic waste dump owned by Ford and abandoned by the multinational company 30 years ago. The remote Upper Ringwood site is listed as one of the most polluted in America. It lies on land occupied by the Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe and is part of the Ringwood State Park in New Jersey.
The toxic sludge was dumped into old mine shafts which are now flooded and form part of the water table feeding the Wanaque Reservoir, a drinking water source for two million people about a mile downstream of the dump area. The sludge came from the Ford Mahwah assembly plant, which used the Ringwood site as a landfill in the 1960s and 1970s. The company has had to return repeatedly over the past 12 years to remove contamination found by local residents.
The EPA is conducting an investigation into why the site was declared clear of hazardous materials in 1994 and what factors contributed to the incomplete cleanup.
Nigeria: Government Revokes Shell Licence
At the end of September 2006, the Nigerian government announced that it had revoked the drilling and operation licence of Royal Dutch Shell PLC in the Ogoniland area of the Western Niger Delta. Shell ceased operating in Ogoniland in 1993 after the company met with great opposition from the indigenous people. Shell has one licence consisting of seven to eight oil fields in Ogoni, an area that drew international headlines in the mid-1990s after writer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists from his Ogoni tribe were executed under the regime of dictator General Sani Abacha, highlighting the struggle between many local communities in Nigeria and the foreign oil companies operating there. The Ogoni area also suffered many oil spill incidents.
Shell production in Ogoni in 1993 was about 28,000 barrels a day, or 3% of the company's total daily output in Nigeria at that time. In fact, Shell has benefited by not producing at onshore areas like Ogoni because it has to pay higher taxes and royalties for onshore production compared with offshore areas, where contract terms are more favourable.
Czech Republic: Atmospheric Dust and Declining Air Quality
According to a Government annual environmental report published on 28th September 2006, there was a 3% increase in the volume of dust in the air in the Czech Republic and one third of the Republic suffers from declining air quality.
Czech air pollution by small (PM10) dust particles has exceeded the European Union air limit valid since 1st January, meaning that the Czech Republic is not meeting its obligations toward the EU.
Small dust particles are becoming a problem in rural areas as well as in the city. The deterioration is attributed to increased road traffic, as there is a causal connection between the state of vehicle tyres and roads on one hand, and growing traffic on the other. The Czechs continue to use technically obsolete cars, and some urban residents of Prague have started heating their homes by burning cheap coal instead of more combustible hydrocarbons.
The Czech Republic also exceeded target limits for surface ozone, which occurs throughout the country and is chiefly attributed to extensive traffic. Emission of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide, has stagnated however. Compared with 1990, greenhouse gas emissions have fallen to 75%. Nevertheless, with 13.9 tonnes of greenhouse gases per capita, the Czech Republic is among the biggest polluters in Europe.
Czech Republic: Leaking Fuel Rods Close PWR Reactor
On 28th September 2006, the No. 2 reactor block at the Temelin nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic was shut down after leaks were found in five fuel rods. The leaks were discovered during an annual inspection. Two were repaired but the other three must be replaced with new units.
Construction on the two PWR reactor plants at Temelin began in the mid-1980s and they were connected to the grid in 2002 and 2003. They have a history of radioactive leaks, so far all contained.
Bahrain: Five Workers Injured in Construction Site Wall Collapse
On 12th September 2006, a two metre high concrete wall collapsed at the Al Naffaq Contractors site in Juffair, a new apartment building due to be completed in October. Five out of 20 workers on site were injured, one with multiple injuries, and a work prohibition order was enforced. An investigation into the wall collapse was launched by the Labour Ministry, which sent inspectors to the site following the incident.
USA: Cement Dust Knocks Out School Bus Service
On 29th September 2006, the dust collection equipment on top of a giant silo at the Charlestown cement plant in Boston owned by Lafarge North America malfunctioned and released a massive plume of crystalline silica dust over an adjacent bus yard, hospitalising 61 bus drivers with eye and respiratory symptoms and preventing the provision of transport service to thousands of students and schoolchildren. The yard is operated by First Student, a Cincinnati-based company that transports 32,000 students in Boston.
Jordan: Three Construction Workers Killed on Jordan Gate Development
On 23rd September 2006, on the site of the Jordan Gate hotel development project, a 7 metre by 3 metre balcony slab collapsed whilst concrete was still being poured into the casting. It fell from around 20 metres high, killing three people and injuring 24. The workers were constructing the fifth floor ceiling of the building when the wooden scaffolding started shaking, causing the balcony to collapse. Workers who were above the area fell through the ceiling. Consultants said that a possible cause of the collapse were vibrations affecting the supporting formwork and scaffolding, which may have been generated by the concrete pump and the weight of the hose. An investigation was initiated into the incident by the Ministry of Interior.
The US $300 million (JOD212 million) Jordan Gate project is being developed by the Bahrain Gulf Finance House in partnership with Kuwait Finance and Investment Company and the Greater Amman Municipality. The main contractor is the UAE-based company Al Hamad Contracting.
Russia: Five Construction Workers Killed in Staircase Collapse
On 1st October 2006, the Emergency Situations Ministry announced that five construction workers were killed and three injured when a concrete stairway collapsed in the early hours of the morning on the site of a new French-owned Auchan hypermarket located in the south-eastern Moscow suburb of Kotelniki. No further details were available.
The French group has opened a chain of nine such stores in the greater Moscow area in the last four years.
International: Solar Flares Will Disrupt GPS in 2011
Navigation, power and communications systems that rely on Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite navigation will be disrupted by violent solar activity in 2011. Recent research has revealed that GPS receivers are unexpectedly vulnerable to bursts of radio noise produced by solar flares, which are created by explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun. Peaks of solar activity (the solar maximum) occur in an 11- year cycle, and when the next peak occurs in 2011 and 2012 it could cause widespread disruption to aircraft navigation and emergency location systems that rely heavily on satellite navigation data.
Cyclic changes in the Sun's magnetic field lead to the solar flares, which send high velocity charged particles into the outer layers of our atmosphere, generating auroras and geomagnetic storms. The charged particles also produce intense bursts of radio noise which peak in the 1.2 and 1.6 gigahertz bands used by GPS. Under normal conditions radio interference in these bands is low, enabling GPS receivers to pick up weak signals from orbiting satellites.
In 2005, it was discovered that GPS receivers operated by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Brazilian Air Force experienced disruption during a radio burst induced by a solar flare. The problem has escaped widespread notice because GPS systems have spread in popularity during a time of relatively low solar activity.
It is likely that the next solar maximum will temporarily drown out GPS signals, creating safety-critical problems for aircraft navigation, emergency rescues on land and at sea, and the synchronisation of power grids and mobile phone networks. Although one solution would be to increase the strength of GPS signals, it would mean redesigning satellite hardware and software.
Nigeria: 25 Oil Workers Kidnapped in Armed Raid
On 2nd October 2006, around 70 armed men in five speedboats staged an attack on a barge convoy carrying fuel in the Rivers state of the Niger Delta. The convoy was protected by Nigerian soldiers travelling in military patrol boats. Two of the military boats were destroyed, ten Nigerian soldiers were killed and three were reported missing. Twenty-five employees of Shell were taken hostage but released two days later.
In another incident on 3rd October, five foreign oil workers were seized during a raid on a residential compound operated by ExxonMobil. Two Nigerian security guards were killed when the gang stormed the compound in Akwa Ibom state in the eastern Delta.
Austria: Chemical Runaway Kills Factory Workers
On 2nd October 2006, two factory workers were killed and five others were left in a critical condition after a release of hydrogen sulphide gas at the Wollsdorf Leder leather working plant in St Ruprecht an der Raab in the Weiz district near Graz.
A runaway chemical reaction took place in a vessel, which then leaked. In addition to the dead and severely injured, another 24 workers were hospitalised with gas exposure.
China: Gas Well Blowout Forces Mass Evacuation
On 2nd October 2006, a gas well in Luliang County, Yunnan Province, suffered a blowout which reached a height of 15 metres, expelling a mixture of 90% methane with mud and water. The blowout forced the evacuation of around 770 local residents by the local government authority.
The well was managed by the Deyang Geological Technology Service Company, based in neighbouring Sichuan Province. The blown well was capped by an emergency crew two days later after pressure began to fall. There were no reported injuries, air and downstream river water quality was unaffected, but some crops and fish ponds were damaged in the incident.
Australia: Child Injured by Unguarded Conveyor Belt Trap
SP Exports Pty of south-east Queensland were fined Au $60, 000 and Au $13,000 in court costs at Bundaberg Industrial Magistrates' Court following an incident in which a five-year-old girl was injured in a conveyor belt accident. The child was the daughter of a cleaner who was accompanying her father at work, when her clothes caught on an unguarded rotating part connected to a conveyor belt coupling.
A Workplace Health and Safety Queensland investigation found that the coupling was easily within reach of the child, the emergency stop switches were not easily identifiable and were placed several metres away from the coupling, and that the necessary preventive guard components were available onsite but not installed.
Dubai: Construction Work Casualties Increase by 45%
In early October 2006, Dubai Municipality reported a 45% increase in the number of construction site accidents in the first half of 2006, compared to the same period last year. The Municipality stated that 111 accidents were reported between January and June. More than half of all construction site deaths are caused by workers falling or dropping equipment from a height, hazards which can be controlled if appropriate measures are put in place, such as edge protection, safety lines and safety harness, adequate personal protective equipment and scaffolding which is not dangerous. (In recent months, five workers have fallen to their deaths on the Jumeirah Beach Residence project in Dubai.)
The lack of management control encourages unsafe conditions and unsafe acts, which often lead to an incident or accident. Employers are not implementing safety measures and are failing to train and manage their workers, under the false impression that such procedures are a waste of money. In fact, such management failures usually increase costs. Workers themselves often do not understand the necessity for wearing and using safety equipment, thinking incorrectly that it will hamper their movement and slow them down. Another major barrier to safety on construction sites is language, a problem now found throughout the world and not just confined to the Middle East.
There are safety regulations of high standard in place, but they are not being followed, monitored or enforced due to a lack of sufficient government safety inspectors (the municipality of Dubai has a clearly defined Code of Construction Safety and Practice). Safety violations are closely linked to unreasonable time constraints on construction projects, thus implicating the owners or financiers of projects who should also be subject to an appropriate code of practice, as is the case within the European Union.
Kazakhstan: Miners Die in Methane Explosion
On 21st September 2006, 41 miners were killed in methane gas explosions at the Lenin coal mine in Shakhtinsk, Karaganda region. The mine is owned by JSC Mittal Steel Temirtau, part of the multinational Arcelor Mittal group, run by Lakshmi Mitta. Mittal took over Kazakhstan's largest metal factory and the mines which supply it some 11 years ago.
A commission of inquiry into the incident by the Ministry of Emergencies found that the disaster was the result of safety violations by mine management. Among 23 people arrested were the head of tunnelling at the mine, the chief mechanic and the chief engineer. They were implicated not only in the blast and subsequent fire, but were also charged with trying to destroy evidence of their guilt. The official report released in October stated that other senior managers in the Coal Department of JSC Mittal Steel Temirtau were also guilty.
The initial cause of the blast was due to the fact that electrical power had been switched on when methane concentration in the mine atmosphere was 0.65%, well above the safe level. The investigators found that a self-made shunt had been installed instead of a remote control block as per instructions, thus violating safety rules.
The accident and trials were followed by a mass industrial strike by miners, demanding renewal of equipment and better conditions.
Kazakhstan: Kashagan Oilfield Development Slowed by Safety Concerns
The giant Kashagan field is located in the northern part of the Caspian Sea and is considered to be the largest oilfield in the world outside the Middle East, with estimated recoverable reserves of seven billion to nine billion barrels of oil equivalent and further potential for nine billion to 13 billion barrels using secondary recovery techniques.
The cost of developing Kashagan has been estimated at around US $29 billion, with an expected production peak of 1.2 million barrels a day by 2010. However, the project has been delayed on safety grounds and the field will probably come onstream between 2009 and 2010.
Due to the presence of highly flammable hydrogen gas, the exploration and production process requires a minimum separation distance between buildings. Because the field is so large, so too is the scale of the necessary infrastructure. The original installation planning placed buildings too close to each other and they could not be operated under the gas hazard.
There is also a difficulty with the capacity of the existing pipeline network through Russia to the port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, which is inadequate to transport 1.2 million barrels a day from Kashagan. The consortium operators want to construct a link from the Kazakh city of Atyrau to the port of Aktau on the Caspian Sea, and then through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean Sea.
USA: Town Evacuated after Chemical Waste Plant Explosion
The North Carolina town of Apex was evacuated by 17,500 people, around half the local population, who fled their homes on the night of 5th October 2006 after a chemical fire spewed a toxic cloud across the town, south-west of Raleigh. The Environmental Quality Co. Carolina plant, which is owned by EQ Industrial Services of Detroit, specialises in the disposal of hazardous waste. When a series of 30 gas explosions occurred and a fire took hold, plumes of smoke containing chlorine gas, pesticides and other toxins were released from the plant over the adjacent area. The fire also spread to a neighbouring light oil company, igniting four oil storage tanks.
At least 28 people are reported to have been hospitalised with respiratory and other health problems. Police officers and fire-fighters who attended the blaze had to undergo decontamination procedures and some were treated for chemical exposure.
The Environmental Quality Co. is a consolidator and processor of hazardous waste and operates around 14 facilities in the US, including a plant in Romulus, Michigan, which experienced a major fire earlier this year. The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) immediately deployed an investigation team to assess the incident.
The Environmental Quality Co. stated that the fire took place in an open chemical storage building which had no fire suppression system nor 24-hour security. A 19-page list of the substances combusted in the fire was supplied to the town authorities later; it included lead compounds, arsenic, benzene, mercury and chloroform.
Saudi Arabia: Clean Development Mechanism Conference Urges Adoption of Kyoto Protocol
At the First International Conference on the Clean Development Mechanism held in October 2006 in Riyadh, the Saudi Oil Minister urged the adoption of "green" laws such as the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as positive environmental decisions would protect the environment and contribute to global economic development.
The Clean Development Mechanism is a project-based flexible approach to the Kyoto Protocol which is designed to assist developing countries in achieving sustainable development and to make it easier and cheaper for industrialised countries to meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
Economic growth should not sacrifice environmental protection, and vice versa. It was argued that the balance can be achieved by focusing on technology that serves both sides. Improvement in energy-use technology is the gateway to confronting environmental problems. The environment protection mechanism is achieved either by preventing contamination or by cleaning up its traces, and both underscore the need for engineering solutions to activate environment protection.
In a special edition of Nature , "Energy Focus", September 2006, published before the conference, it was stated that the most pressing technological problem facing the world is uncoupling the provision of energy from the production of carbon dioxide. Developed countries no longer need to increase their energy use in order to increase the size of their economies, but developing countries do; yet to add more carbon dioxide to the Earth's atmosphere is to increase inexorably the probability of climatic chaos.
Bulgaria: Polluting Industries Poorly Prepared to Meet EU Standards
State-owned industry in Bulgaria collapsed after the demise of Communism in 1989 and its raw materials producers have struggled since under difficult conditions. However, the country had cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2005 compared to 1988. The largest source of environmental pollution are metallurgical and chemical plants, which have to meet EU standards ahead of the country joining the European Union on 1st January 2007.
Only one large organisation in the ferrous sector, Kremikovtzi Sofia, now owned by the Indian company Global Steel, has been given a transitional period until 2011 to implement its ecological investment programme. Industrial plants in the non-ferrous sector, which are among the biggest polluters of air, water and soil, have not been given transitional periods. Non-ferrous metal production in Bulgaria is high, with an annual output of 250,000 tonnes of copper, 80,000 tonnes of lead and 100,000 tonnes of zinc, of which half is traded into the EU. The chemical industry, another major polluter which generates 11% of Bulgarian industrial production, has been granted transitional periods ranging from 2008 to 2014.
Both the metals and chemical companies can trade spare greenhouse gas credits under the Kyoto Protocol to finance at least some of their restructuring and technological renovation, but the national plan for the distribution of carbon quotas under Kyoto financing is not yet ready and the state is attempting to give companies lower quotas than they need to trade their shares.
China: Colliery Gas Explosion Kills 13 Miners
Thirteen people were confirmed dead and seven injured after a gas explosion in a coal mine in the south-west Chinese Province of Sichuan on 6th October 2006. The incident took place in the state-owned Furong Coal Mine in the city of Yibin, Gongxian County. The cause of the accident is under investigation. The mine has an annual coal production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes. Five years ago an explosion in the same mine left nine dead and four injured.
Singapore: Mandatory Health and Safety Management Systems Proposed for Construction Industry
The construction industry accounts for half of all industrial fatalities in Singapore, and on 6th October 2006 the Singapore Ministry of Manpower announced proposals for mandatory safety and health management systems for all construction projects regardless of size.
At present only projects exceeding $10 million are subject to enforcement of such systems. The draft proposals were open to public consultation until the end of October, and the government anticipates the new measures being in place by January 2007.
South Africa: Two Factories Destroyed in Chemical Fire
On 8th October 2006, a fire broke out in a factory in Johannesburg owned by a hydraulic machinery company which processed asphalt. The suspected ignition source was a drum containing a flammable chemical which exploded. The factory burned to the ground in less than an hour, and the intensity of the fire caused radiant heat to reach an adjacent factory which produced polycarbonate. That factory also ignited and was completely destroyed. Damage was reported as running into several million rands.
It is not clear whether there are any government regulations concerning the location and separation of factories or plant subject to major accident hazard risk, or whether such regulations had been enforced.
Spain: Radioactive Snails Found 40 Years After Bomb Accident
In 1966, an American military aircraft carrying hydrogen bombs collided in mid-air whilst refuelling from a tanker aircraft, causing both planes to crash with the loss of seven crewmen dead. Three hydrogen bombs carried by the bomber fell onto cultivated fields near the fishing village of Palomares in south-eastern Spain. Their high explosive detonators ignited on impact,