Safety program for
Trinidad's industrial estates
With the increasing number of accidents at the Pt Lisas Industrial Estate, the EMA is working on a plan to protect or evacuate residents in the event of an emergency.

by Peter Campbell, Port of Spain- Trinidad.

After several incidents of either toxic gas leaks or dangerous explosions at the Pt Lisas industrial estate in Central Trinidad since January , the 17,000 residents who live close to the site are pressing the Trinidad and Tobago government to put a safety and disaster plan in place.

The industrial estate, which is about 25 miles south of the capital city of Port of Spain, accommodates several heavy industries, including a steel plant and more than 17 chemical firms involved in the downstream processing of petro-chemicals. The fear of an explosion or the escape of an unmanageable amount of toxic gases has been a fear lurking in the minds of residents of the nearby settlements of Couva, California and Brechin Castle.

However, the workers are also very worried, as they are in the "frontline" and therefore, usually receive the initial injuries when an incident occurs. The Pt Lisas Industrial Estate, which is administered by Plipdeco (Pt Lisas Industrial Property Development Company), has a land area of about 800 hectares. It lies between the settlements of Couva in the north and Claxton Bay in the south. On the east it is bounded by California and on the west, the Gulf of Paria. Residents have complained about the fumes and the increasing noise polution as more firms seek to set up their processing plants on the site.

It was founded to take advantage of Trinidad's natural energy resource, and initially fueled by "petro-dollars." Over the years, the estate has been transformed into a world-class industrial powerhouse, producing, amongst other things, compressed natural gas (CNG), ammonia, urea, iron carbide and steel. Today, the estate is the world's largest exporter of ammonia and its tenants are becoming increasingly important players in the world's methanol market.

About 6,000 persons are employed directly on the site which has about 45 tenants. Seventeen of these are involved in the handling or production of industrial chemicals which are toxic and can adversely affect human lives, vegetation, animals and the environment. In this regard, the increasing number of accidents has concerned residents. The close proximity of the industrial plants to each other means that a serious accident in one unit may affect another to compound the emergency. This situation has been creating some concern since the start of this year.

The most severe incidents to date occured in May. Workers on the estate received serious injuries from either explosions or the release of toxic gases from different facilities on the estate. On May 8, four employees of the steel plant, Caribbean Ispat Limited, suffered injuries in a blast which rocked the company's Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) facility. Reports indicate that workers were having problems with the sealed gas cooler earlier that day. Maintenance workers then opened the system to rectify the problem and as they were about the replace the cover, the unit exploded. The men received burns of varying degrees to their faces and upper bodies and were admitted to the San Fernando General Hospital.

The following day, General Secretary of the Steel Workers' Union, Anthony Baksh, described as "alarming" and "frightening," the number of incidents at Caribbean Ispat. Baksh said Ispat's safety summary at the end of March showed a significant increase in reported incidents from the previous months in most departments. "In the DRI plant, there had been a 50 percent increase in reported incidents from the previous month. In the steel plant, there was also a 166 percent increase in the amount of loss- time accidents," Baksh adds.

Following an investigation by the steel maker, human error was blamed for the incident which caused the explosion on May 8. Ispat's spokesman, Jainarine Maharaj, said the evidence revealed that "operations personnel failed to recognise or understand the capability of the auxiliary seal gas combustion system to be activated during trouble shooting and its ability to deliver combustible gasses into the seal gas cooler under the conditions that existed at the time of the explosion." He said Ispat's investigations showed that upon increasing the loading to the compressor, it activated an auxiliary combustion system which is used for seal gas- oxygen control during plant start- up.

"This situation, together with the O2 rich environment, the partially secured cooler and the plugged enclosure created, suggests a condition with a high risk of combustion," says Maharaj. New incidents

Six days later, there was another accident on the estate, an ammonia leak at fertilizer producer Arcadian Trinidad Limited. One person was hospitalised and 12 others required minor medical attention after they inhaled ammonia fumes released from a third ammonia plant recently constructed by Arcadian on the compound.

Ammonia is a nitrogen-based chemical, which, under normal room temperature and atmospheric pressure is lighter than air. It has a sharp irritating odour and burns the eyes and skin if contact is made. Because it is toxic and flammable, ammonia is a dangerous explosive, as well as poisonous and corrosive. A second, more serious leak occurred the following day, forcing workers to evacuate the area and wear oxygen masks as a precautionary measure. One female worker who fainted had to be hospitalised while employers at neighbouring plants were sent home as the leak forced officials to close down their operations.

Workers from nearby plants said during the second leak a strong odour was detected and white fumes were also visible. Sirens were also sounded confirming that the leak was stronger and more serious than the previous one. Employees at the nearby Shell lubricating oil plant also complained about the odour, which was still strong enough to burn nostrils and eyes after it left the Arcadian facility. Some of Arcadian's employees downwind of the release inhaled fumes and were also hospitalised. Company spokesman, Prakash Boochoon said the company had anticipated the first leak but it was a little larger than expected. Referring to the first leak, he said, "Start- up operations on the third ammonia plant resulted in a plant upset in the cooling system. This led to a small release of ammonia that affected persons within the Arcadian compound only."

He adds that "plant upsets" with the occasional venting of ammonia into the atmosphere were very normal during start- up, but does not continue after the plant is on-line. The day after the second leak, workers in nearby plants performed drills so they will be more prepared for additional leaks. Most of the day was spent being briefed by doctors and engineers on precautionary measures.

The anxiety of residents also increased as many claimed to have seen the white smoke in the area, as well as experienced the strong odour for several hours that day. Three days later, Boochoon said the plant was secured and "the excitement was over and there was no need to worry about another leak at the plant." He said technicians entered the area immediately following the second leak, clearing up and repairing the points of emissions. Arcadian officials also visited neighbouring plants like PowerGen and the nearby Shell Lubricants blending facility, which were affected by the leak, to re- assure them that another incident would not occur.

That, however, may not be enough, as the incident had received the attention of Planning & Environment Minister, Trevor Sudama. Sudama immediately called a meeting with the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and officials at Plipdeco to deal with the impact of emissions on the environment and residents. During the meeting, Plipdeco officials were told to speed up the establishment of a comprehensive voluntary environmental management programme under the supervision of the EMA.

Plipdeco was already working on a plan, which would have been completed by the end of the year. Sudama wanted that timetable for completion to be cut in half -so the project will be in place by the third quarter of this year. In expressing his concern about the current environmental protection system at the estate, Sudama said the control measures should include the monitoring of pollutant levels and emissions into both the sea and the air around the industrial estate. Apart from establishing a plan of action to accelerate the environmental emergency response times, his agenda included keeping an inventory of pollutants from individual plants and the administration of regular surveys to establish existing pollution levels. A division of the EMA would also be established at Plipdeco to administer and monitor safety, emissions and other operations at the estate that impact on the environment. The program would be funded by tenants of the estate. While residents welcome the move by the Minister, they still do not feel safe in their homes.

As a result, the "Committee for the Protection of Residents around Pt Lisas" was formed. This group seeks to highlight the uncertainties involved in living so close to the estate. A spokesperson for the group said, "Politicians keep saying that we would be relocated, but nothing has come out of it, instead more plants are still being built on the facility."

In 1992, Government considered the establishment of a permanent Cabinet Committee for disaster preparedness at Pt Lisas. The purpose of the group was to localize an emergency which may occur at the plant and minimize the effect of the accident on people and property nearby. A report submitted by the committee included a draft disaster preparedness plan for the Pt Lisas Industrial Estate. But, according to a group of residents, the plan was never adopted by Parliament, leaving a "cloud of uncertainty about the future."

The Cabinet committee also recommended that there be both an on-site and an off-site monitoring of emmissions and polutants originating from the facility. An outline was also provided for a Community Awareness Programme, which would inform communities near to industrial facilities of the hazards, as well as provide information on what to do in the event of an emergency. According to residents, this was an important part of the report, but the estate has failed to effectively communicate with residents about the dangers nearby or develop an evacuation or emergency plan.

"Sometimes we hear the sirens at the estate and we don't know what to do. We are left even more confused as we do not know if it is a test or if it is something we should be concerned about," said one resident. Plipdeco's Chief Executive, Neil Rolingson agreed that the estate's administration could have done more to inform the residents about developments at the estate. He said if the communication links were in place the reaction would not be fear or panic, but to simply follow the guidelines. He said safety procedures are carefully monitored on the estate according to international standards, so residents should not "go overboard" out of fear.

"A master plan on evacuation invloving the fire services, the police and other emergency organizations is already in place so that residents and workers can be quickly moved in emergency situations. But as the report showed, there is still room for improved communication between the estate and the residents," he adds.

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