Call for gas explosion inquiry

by Tom Pearson

A disaster of massive proportions was prevented by NSW 
firefighters last week after an ethanol tank on the state's south 
coast exploded, creating a huge fuel fire. It was plain luck that 
no one was killed in the explosion, which happened near the Port 
Kembla steelworks on January 28. The Australian Workers' Union 
(AWU) has raised deep concerns about safety at the facility.

The fire burned for three days as it consumed seven million 
litres of ethanol (ethyl alcohol) adjacent to the Bluescope Steel 
Coke Ovens. More than 125 firefighters from the Illawarra and 
Sydney fought the blaze and prevented it from spreading to nearby 
marine fuel and crude oil storage tanks.

Hundreds of workers were evacuated from nearby businesses and the 
steelworks. Five people working on the tank suffered minor burns.

The AWU, which represents workers at the plant, said that while 
there were no fatalities from the incident an inquiry was needed 
to find out how such a facility could explode. AWU Port Kembla 
Branch Secretary Andy Gillespie was 350 metres from the tank when 
it exploded.

"We were extremely lucky today that no one was killed", said Mr 
Gillespie. "However, how is it in this day and age that a high 
risk facility such as an ethanol storage tank can explode?"

The union points to other such incidents, such as the recent 
Santos gas explosion at Moomba in South Australia, and the 1998 
explosion at Esso's Longford plant in Victoria, in which workers 
were killed and severely injured. The AWU is demanding that the 
Carr Labor Government immediately initiate an inquiry.

The tank was rented by the Manildra company which owned the 
ethanol, valued at around $5.6 million. The owners of the tank 
may face prosecution. The Department of Environment and 
Conservation is conducting an investigation into the blaze.

Manildra has been forced to store increasing amounts of ethanol 
after federal legislation reduced the permitted level of ethanol 
in blended fuels from 20 percent to 10 percent. The Manildra 
Group had snapped up the licence to supply ethanol for petrol in 
November 2001 from BHP Billiton, seeing it as a huge profit 
opportunity.

Ethanol is a low cost fuel produced mainly from sugar cane and 
wheat starch. The ten percent reduction cut Manildra's market — 
and profit — in half. It now has ethanol stored in various 
facilities around Australia. The company stressed that the Port 
Kembla facility was fully insured.