Published: Thursday, 4th October, 2007 09:00
Wake-up call after chemical spill
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A DAMNING report into the handling of a caustic soda spillage near Belhaven Bay has concluded that council agencies and emergency services must re-examine their procedures for dealing with hazardous substances.
The highly-critical findings were released this week, in the wake of the incident which resulted in burn injuries to a man and two dogs.
They highlighted the short comings of a clean-up operation that took four days to complete and involved police, fire services and the council’s environment department.
Following an internal inquiry, ordered by the council’s acting chief executive Alex McCrorie, health and safety investigators said that a fundamental breakdown in communication between emergency services and the environment department had resulted in a response which was “not as robust as it might have been”.
And they urged:“Procedures for dealing with hazardous substances must be tightened to ensure that any incident in the future is dealt with as efficiently as possible.”
A dog walker informed police of a chemical spillage at Shore Road car park on September 4, when her pet became seriously ill from ingesting the mystery substance.
Later that day local man, James Pettet, suffered leg injuries and his dog had wounded paws, which a vet later diagnosed as caustic burns.
When Mr Pettet reported the incident to Dunbar police he claimed that a female officer told him that the suspicious liquid had been tested and results showed it was water.
“I am enraged by the whole thing,” said Mr Pettet. “Dunbar residents live in an area of heavy industry where this kind of incident may not be uncommon.
“It is beyond words how badly this was dealt with and how poorly they (all services involved) reacted to it.”
The initial response to the spillage was specifically criticised in the report – in particular the fact that “the contaminated area was not cordoned off sooner, and that certain actions were taken to deal with the incident before the toxic substance was formally identified.”
Only a ticker tape cordon surrounded the hazardous area of the car park for three days before an impenetrable steel boundary was erected.
Attempts by the environmental health department and the fire brigade to hose down the affected area proved ineffective as the tarmac had started to melt.
The contamination zone was only fully sanitised when 25 tonnes of earth was excavated and removed from the car park – costing £5,000.
The council’s environment spokesman, councillor Paul McLennan said: “This thorough investigation of the incident goes into great detail and recommends that we improve all our procedures when dealing with hazardous substances and this will be done.
“Public safety is the top priority when situations like this occur and the lessons learned from this incident will vastly improve the responses of all agencies in the future.
“But while we properly examine our own procedures, those to blame for this incident and the injuries that occurred to people and pets, are the irresponsible fly tippers who dumped a highly corrosive and potentially dangerous liquid in a public place.”
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