Plant Mgr. - 10-Ton Leak Of 2% Hexavalent Chromium Solution (10% Recovered) Not "Serious Incident"

[hatrack]

LEAKING the carcinogenic chemical hexavalent chromium into a Newcastle suburb should not be considered a ''serious incident'', the Orica chief executive, Graeme Liebelt, has submitted to an upper house inquiry.

Senior staff at the plant admitted at the inquiry yesterday they had ''lost control'' of the ammonia plant on the night of August 8.

''Deviations'' from operating procedure combined with other factors to ''overwhelm'' a containment system set up to catch overflow during an operation to restock supplies of chromium VI, also known as hexavalent chromium, the inquiry heard. The plant's manager, Stuart Newman, explained how about 10 tonnes of condensate containing about 2 per cent chromium VI was emitted from the plant. Only about one tonne was captured as designed.

A night shift supervisor, Warren Ashbourne, who was in charge of the plant on the night, said he ''knew immediately'' he had a chromium problem when he saw yellow spots on the plant. He thought the problem had been solved fairly quickly until he was alerted to yellow liquid spurting out of pin-holes in an old temporary repair about five or six metres up an exhaust stack, triggering his decision to start an emergency shutdown.

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/orica-chief-denies-toxic-chemical-leak-serious-20111115-1nhag.html