Improvements needed for L.P.G—firemen

Press, 27 September 1982, Page 7

Improvements needed for L.P.G—firemen

An immediate evacuation would be needed for a big liquefied petroleum gas leakage. the Lyttelton L.P.G. Commission of Inquiry has heard. Mr B. A. Hartley., an assistant fire commander in the Fire Safety Division of the FireiService. told the commission that a radius of 200 m would have to be evacuated in the case of a leakage. A radius of 300 m would have to be evacuated for a fire. The commission has been set up to investigate the proposed L.P.G. pipeline between Lyttelton and \Voolston.

Mr -Hartley submitted a report by the chief executive officer of the Fire Service, Mr B. S. Armstrong. The report said that the use of an L.P.G. tanker within the inner harbour near the existing - oil storage area was unwise unless major improvements were made to the area. The report recommended the provision of an alternative road access to the marine terminal; improvements in the reading and access to the tank compounds. the fire protection arrangements for the oil storage tanks, and the water supply; and the establish-

ment of a more remote tanker discharge point. A' large section of the Fire Service's evidence to the commission has been' suppressed for security reasons. Mr D. J. L. Saunders, representing the Fire Service and other Government departments, said that some of the documents in the evidence referred to the placement of equipment and should not be released for publication. The move to have the information suppressed was unopposed. . The hearing will resume today. ■