At a chemical plant, a tank containing a mix of toluene-2,6-diisocyanate (TDI) / tars with a high boiling point increased in pressure and exploded around 7:40 pm. The cloud ignited 5 min later; afterwards, the fire was fed by 20[...]
In a SEVESO-rated oil depot at 5:20 am, a truck driver notified a technician after observing an anomaly on pumping plant no. 1. The technician manually closed the pump feed valve, and the site was placed in safe operating mode[...]
A phenomenon of exceptional violence Between 20 and 120 tonnes of a stock containing more than 300 tonnes of ammonium nitrate refuse detonated in a fertiliser plant. The causes and circumstances surrounding the accident would give rise to several investigations[...]
A fire broke out around 2:50 am in an electrical utility room at a paper mill. Engulfed in the flames, four transformers emptied entirely and a fifth halfway, dispersing a dielectric containing PCB. A prefectural order motivated by a proposal[...]
A leak occurred on the lower drainage pipe of a 16-m³ tank containing 10.3 m³ of sulphuric acid. The tank operating under 2 bar of pressure was feeding a tanning workshop. Further downstream, plant effluent was neutralised using lime milk[...]
In a gold ore retreatment facility opened in May 1999, a settling basin for tailings storage collapsed after a 25-m long crack formed. A total of 287,500 m³ of effluent laced with cyanide (400 mg/l, 115 tonnes total) and heavy[...]
Inside a motor factory the day after a pressure test was conducted on a double-shell tank containing hydrocarbons, pollutants spilled into the ENNS River; local fishermen made the discovery. This pollution outbreak affected 35 km of river length and 3[...]
At a 40-ha chemical facility located on the outskirts of an urban area, the safety disc set at 1.5 bar on a 15.2-m3 reactor burst in a plant working with formo-phenolic resins used for glues applied to agglomerated material. The[...]
The summary of this accident has not yet been translated. In the meantime, please refer to the French summary : Sur un site chimique en milieu urbain, un disque de sécurité éclate et une soupape s'ouvre à 21h31 et durant[...]
A 20-car convoy left a tunnel around 11:30 pm in order to cross a train station when 7 tanks carrying 80 m3 of gasoline derailed. An axle with an overheated roller bearing broke on one of the railcars. Traces on[...]
