In a wood processing plant, the door on an autoclave suddenly opened while its contents (wood + wood treatment product) were still pressurised at 11 bar inside. Given the door's dimensions and the pressure setting, the product spewed out of[...]
During maintenance works, a leak occurred at 2:26 pm on a joint inside a blocking station located near the connection between an ethylene pipeline serving several plants and a Y-branch supplying a plastics factory. A stationary monitoring camera recorded the[...]
While loading 31,000 m3 of bunker fuel in a ship, a leak in a refinery transfer hose resulted in a major oil spill in the Loire estuary. At 4.10 pm, a person on a barge observed the presence of hydrocarbons[...]
A natural gas leak was reported in the city center around 11:30 am on a water network. Emergency services set up a security perimeter and conduct reconnaissance , when an explosion 45 minutes later damaged several buildings. Fire reached the[...]
In a chemical plant, 11 kg of chlorine leaked around 9.30 am while being transferred in liquid phase from a tanker. The leak lasted for 30 seconds and led to the formation of a 50m cloud at the ground level[...]
On the 21 to 22/01 and 24 to 25/01 nights, the air monitoring stations continuously recorded mercury (Hg) concentrations as high as 1 micro g/m³, i.e. 1,000 times greater than the WHO threshold for chronic exposure. Laborious research involving significant human[...]
Around 9 am, a leak occurred on a natural gas pipe running underneath a pavement (diameter: 63 mm) and placed in the tubing of a former pipeline; 2 explosions followed some 45 minutes later. A 5-storey residential building caught fire[...]
Fire broke out along a "transition corridor" combining several underground pipelines transporting hazardous substances, including hydrogen, kerosene and ethylene oxide. The fire was brought under control within a few minutes thanks to the limited size of the leak. Though no[...]
A cloud of chlorine gas was accidentally generated around 10.30 am while transferring hydrochloric acid (HCl) into a tank containing sodium hypochlorite (NaClO or liquid bleach) in a chemical wholesale company. The accident happened during a period of rebuilding of[...]
At an industrial waste treatment centre, a pressure surge due to the decomposition of wastes contained inside a tanker truck accepted into the site broke the manhole lid on the backside of the tanker, which abruptly discharged its gaseous contents.[...]
