Over 5,250 tons of chemicals burned in industrial fire
More than 5,250 tons of chemicals, oil and fuel additives have burned in a massive fire at U.S. specialty chemical firm Lubrizol in Rouen, France, last week, the local prefecture said in a statement.
Following days of protests in Rouen and calls in parliament by opposition politicians to release the list of products burned, the Seine-Maritime prefecture published a list of the chemicals that burned on Sept. 26 in one of the most major industrial accidents in France in recent years.
The prefecture said that more than 3,300 tons of “multi-purpose additives” have burned, and 711 tons of “viscosity booster”, as well as tens of tons of other chemical products such as dispersants, anti-freeze and anti-friction additives.
Under the European Union “Seveso Directive” - named after the 1976 chemical plant accident in Italy - high-risk chemical plants need to inform authorities about the products on site, but following a failed attack on a French chemical plant in 2015, authorities no longer release that information to the public.
Some 1,300 sites in France report their stocks under this directive.
Local authorities in Rouen, a city of more than 100,000 in the northwestern region of Normandy, said on Monday that no asbestos had been released during the fire.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said that the smell of burning fuel that still hangs over large parts of Rouen and surroundings is “annoying but not harmful”.
People have been told not to eat produce from their gardens and farmers are not allowed to sell milk, vegetables and other products harvested in the area. Some teachers have also refused to resume classes, citing health risks, and some local residents and businesses have initiated lawsuits to seek damages.
Headquartered in Wickliffe, Ohio, lubricant maker Lubrizol Corp was bought by billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc in 2011 for $9 billion. Lubrizol makes lubricants and petroleum additives for engines, especially large trucks, buses and boats. (Reporting by Sophie Louet and Geert De Clercq; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Rouen, France Fire Update
The early morning of September 26, a fire impacted the drumming and warehousing assets of Lubrizol’s site in Rouen in the Normandy region of France. Since that time, employees across our global business have been urgently working with local authorities to ensure the safety of all involved. No one was injured in the incident.
Most importantly, we are part of the Rouen community, and we are doing everything we can to support Rouen and its residents. We are deeply saddened by the impact of the fire on the city and committed to collaborating with local authorities on ongoing environmental testing to ensure the safety of residents and the community. The local Prefecture implemented a PPI (Plan Particulier d’Intervention), which means all decisions and communication to the community are managed by the Prefecture and its technical councils. We have respected the PPI and have been involved as a main stakeholder. We thank the Prefecture for their leadership.
An investigation has been ongoing since Thursday. Video surveillance and eyewitness accounts indicate the fire was first observed and reported outside of the Lubrizol Rouen site, suggesting the fire originated outside of Lubrizol and unfortunately spread to our facility. We continue to support local law enforcement in the investigation to determine the origin and cause of the fire.
We have approximately 30 Lubrizol employees currently working on our Rouen site to support the fire brigade, environmental testing, clean up and investigations. These employees also are beginning to prepare the site for a return to operations to enable our 420 Rouen employees to resume their work when it is safe and acceptable to do so. Preliminary evaluations indicate that outside of the drumming and warehousing area, the Rouen site sustained little to no damage. As we continue to assess the situation, some of our employees will also work out of our Le Havre, France, manufacturing site, where we continue to manufacture and ship product.
We understand the community has many questions. Local residents can seek more information from the prefect of Seine-Maritime here as it relates to regular updates.
We have been committed to Rouen and the surrounding community since we initiated operations there in 1954. We look forward to continued collaboration with the local authorities and the community as we work toward a return to normal and safe operations at the Rouen site.
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