(Trinidad Express) Employees at Atlantic’s Point Fortin LNG facility were yesterday evacuated after a gas leak was discovered at one of its tanks.
Around 12.30 p.m. yesterday workers were alerted to leave the area after gas started emanating from Tank C.
The first batch of workers assembled at Clifton Hill and others went to an area called the “rub tank”.
But workers from another location said evacuation systems in their area failed, as the alarm was not sounded for them to evacuate.
The workers said they were confused over their muster point and assembled at different locations.
One employee also said the wind assisted in averting a more serious situation at the plant yesterday.
The worker at the LNG company said the wind was blowing in a westerly direction, toward the sea, preventing the gas from blowing directly into one of the flares at the plant.
Attempts were being made to put the flare out, but the gas leak was contained before an explosion occurred, he said.
But chief executive officer of Atlantic, Nigel Darlow, in a telephone interview, described yesterday’s incident as “a non-issue”.
“We had done some maintenance on the pressure safety valves (PSV) during the day. They are designed in certain circumstances to lift to allow the gas to vent, which is what happened. Just as a precaution, we evacuated people in the vicinity, that was it. It didn’t stop the operations at the plant. It wasn’t a significant incident. If there is a particular pressure on the system, they will lift just to release some of the pressure. They were being calibrated, I think. I’ll have to speak to the guys, but they were working on two of the valves, calibrating during the day….whether they reset the right calibration we’ll have to find out.”
Questioned on the possibility of a fire, Darlow said, there was “no concern of ignition”.
“We would consider this a very low potential incident…that was not a concern. The safety of our people and the integrity of our plant are the most important things to us. The fact that we have had 16 million man hours without significant injury—four-and-a-half years of operations—is testament to that. So I think our safety record is world-class.”
“We will have an investigation into what caused the PSVs to lift, but I suspect it was the calibration on the valve. I’m not concerned about the incident; I think it had low potential, it was handled properly, the safety system worked according to its design, and I don’t think it’s something we are going to worry about,” he added
A release from the company said two pressure safety valves lifted on Tank C, resulting in a temporary release of gas into atmosphere. The company said the gas dissipated shortly thereafter.
“As a precautionary measure, personnel were evacuated from the adjacent GE Turbine Maintenance Workshop. Atlantic technical personnel immediately rectified the situation and the all clear was given for staff to resume work activities. The release caused no harm to personnel or equipment, and Atlantic’s facility continues normal operations. A technical team on site is currently investigating the cause of the valves lifting,” the release said.
Member of Parliament for Point Fortin Paula Gopee-Scoon said, while she was unaware of the details, she knew the company has an outstanding record and places significant efforts on health and safety measures.
