Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

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 hydroelectric dams along with extraction wells at a downstream water supply plant serving 50,000 population. For 3 days and 3 nights, water police officers and fire-fighters implemented a number of environmental conservation measures: floating booms, surface skimmers, and water surface and riverbank cleaning. Roughly 9 weeks after the accident, the drinking water wells revealed a substantial peak hydrocarbon pollution, yet the episode was short-lived and of limited concentration. This leak was due to an undetected crack on a weld line at the bottom of the main hydrocarbon tank: the hydrocarbon source had thus escaped at the same time as the pressure test water contained in the outer shell and directly drained into the river at night after the test.

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