Almost £10million in fines for five firms following Buncefield trial

Five firms have been ordered to pay over £9 million between them in combined fines and costs for their part in the Buncefield explosion.

The explosion happened on Sunday 11th December 2005 at the Buncefield oil depot, which was equivalent to a 2.4-magnitude earthquake and was heard up to 125 miles away. The fire is widely believed to be the biggest in Europe since World War Two.

The environmental damage from the blast is still not known, and it is possible that it could last for many decades. 43 people were injured, with many homes and businesses nearby destroyed and damaged.

French energy giant Total must pay £3.6m in fines and £2.6 in costs.

Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited received a £1.45m fine, with £1m costs.

British Pipeline Agency were fined £300,000 plus £480,000 costs.

Motherwell Control Systems 2003 Ltd and TAV Engineering Ltd were both fined £1,000 with £500 costs.

In sentencing the companies Judge Calvert-Smith commented: “Had the explosion happened during a working day, the loss of life may have been measured in tens or even hundreds.

“The failures which led in particular to the explosion were failures which could have combined to produce these consequences at almost any hour of any day.

“The fact that they did so at 6.01 on a Sunday morning was little short of miraculous.

“So too was the fact that not one of the few people on the site or in the surrounding area on that Sunday morning lost their lives.”

The Incident

Unleaded motor vehicle fuel was being pumped into Tank 912 at Buncefield, safeguards which should have stopped fuel being pumped in failed, and the tank filled to capacity and began to overflow at approximately 5.20am GMT. Staff on duty at the time failed to notice and act accordingly.

The overflow was contained within the bund for approximately 18 minutes, when the bund also reached capacity. A thick, rich fuel and air vapour started leaking out of the bund, which gradually thickened to a depth of over 2 metres. By 5.50am the vapour had started flowing off the site and onto nearby public roads.

The first, and also the largest, explosion happened at 6.01am GMT, a number of nearby office blocks were hit so badly that almost every window was blown in as the explosion ripped through them. During normal working hours these offices would have been full of people, and the result could have been catastrophic had the explosion happened at a busier time.

Further explosions occurred, and eventually over 20 large fuel storage tanks were overwhelmed adding to the fire.

Emergency services declared the fire to be a major emergency at 6.08am, and the firefighting effort began, taking four days to extinguish the fire. At it’s peak 25 fire engines, 20 support vehicles and over 180 firefighters were on site.

The smoke from the fire spread over much of southern England, including London