Nov 10 – GSD Says HSL Statements Are “Too Narrow To Provide Safety Assurance”
The GSD says it has taken time to review the statements made by HSL, as reported in the media, on the safety of the LNG storage facility proposed to be built by the GSLP/Liberals.
The party says that the first thing is notes is the “narrowness of the brief” on which HSL have commented. Unlike the Lloyd’s Review published last month by the Government which stated that external factors and the 'domino' effect of multiple tanks failing should be considered, the GSD argues that HSL “have been limited to commenting on the possibility of just a single tank failure and none of the external risks such as an incident with the bunkering barge or at the power station.” The party says that, because of this, it is therefore “far from having evidence that the use of LNG in this location is safe.”
A statement continued: “As yet, while HSL have made these statements to the media, the reports on which their conclusions are based have not been published. Again, Lloyd’s in their review listed nearly 20 safety reports that still needed to be produced, indicating a large hole still exists in the safety documentation. We call on Government to publish what technical information it currently has for evaluation against the statements made by HSL. We also call on Government to have a security report conducted, it is not good enough to accept Shell's writing off of the terrorist threat considering the heightened alert status and the Commissioner of Police calling for extra vigilance from his force in a recent article.
“The HSL comments to the media, apart from being very qualified and certainly not a statement to the effect that the entire project was safe in every aspect, were alarming in some instances. They are quoted as saying that a person is many times more likely to be involved in a car accident than an LNG incident. This is hardly an appropriate or reassuring comparison considering the very high frequency of car accidents!
“Finally we draw the public's attention to a document produced by HSL for the British Government in 2009 on Societal risk, that is the risk to people beyond the installation. In it they cite LNG storage facilities as one of only four examples of sites that are sufficiently hazardous to cause societal risks. They state that: ‘Ideally separation should be such that population would be unaffected whatever accident occurs’. They also note that Hospitals, Schools and Residential Homes should be considered as sensitive because of their population and the challenges in evacuating them. We have all three in close proximity to the site, we expect that the same stringent standards are being applied in Gibraltar as for the UK.”
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