Gauge blamed for UK tank blaze

LONDON - A broken safety gauge was the cause of Europe's biggest peacetime fire, according to an inspectors' report.

For more than two hours, the gauge recorded no change in the volume of fuel in one of Buncefield terminal's storage tanks, while unleaded petrol was being pumped in at a rate of 550 cu m an hour. Eventually it filled the tank, and 300 tonnes of it spilled out to form a lethal vapour cloud which resulted in a series of explosions on December 11, injuring 43 people and forcing the evacuation of thousands more.

Toxic chemicals used to put out the Buncefield fire have polluted the water below ground, prompting the water inspectorate to alter the definition of what constitutes safe drinking water. The inspectorate has accepted scientific advice that water is safe to drink if it contains no more than three micrograms per litre of a toxic substance known as PFOS, which was previously considered to be so dangerous that the Government was preparing legislation to make it illegal to import it.

Since the fire, inspectors have taken almost 400 water samples from rivers, boreholes and lagoons that have turned up traces of PFOS, but at a safe level.

- INDEPENDENT