Petrol from tanker flowed down street

Press, 13 September 1988, Page 14

Petrol from tanker flowed down street

Petrol flowed in a gutter along an innerChristchurch street, forcing the evacuation of people from nearby buildings, after a spillage from a tanker at a service station, the District Court heard yesterday. The tanker driver, Jeffrey Charles Trowbridge, was prosecuted by the Christchurch City Council for two breaches of the Dangerous Goods (Flammable liquids) regulations.

Judge Bisphan convicted and fined Trowbridge $750 for failing to keep the discharge lines of his tanker under constant observation, and $250 for failing to ascertain, before commencing delivery, that the tank would receive the quantity of fuel intended to be delivered.

Trowbridge admitted both offences, which occurred on March 22.

The Judge said the incident had led to a high risk of fire or explosion, and a potential disaster.

Mr C. M. Ruane, who prosecuted for the city council’s dangerous goods inspector, said Trowbridge, an ownerdriver of a tanker under contract to an oil company, was filling two tanks at the Carlton Service Station in Victoria Street. He left the delivery area and went to the service station office to complete the delivery docket. He was absent from the delivery site for several minutes.

On returning to the tanker, Trowbridge saw petrol running down the service station forecourt and into a side channel in Dorset Street. The fire service was

then called. About 2500 litres of petrol was spilt, and petrol poured down the channel along the full length of Dorset Street and into a drain leading across Park Terrace and into the Avon River. The drain was blocked before the spillage could discharge into the river. The police and Ministry of Transport cordoned off streets in the vicinity and vehicles and pedestrians were kept away. Occupants of properties in the Dorset and Dublin Streets area, adjacent to the spill, were evacuated.

The fire service laid foam over the total spillage and stood by with extinguishing equipment.

Mr Ruane said that investigations indicated the defendant was discharging petrol into two separate tanks, and over-filled the smaller of the two tanks.

Defence counsel, Mr M. B. O’Regan, submitted that the two sparate charges should be treated as the one breach of the regulations.

The area where the two underground tanks were located was not floodlit, and Trowbridge had to make use, to some extent, of the street and vehicle lights. He had used a dip stick to determine the levels of the tanks, and had ascertained the amount the small tank could take, and that the remainder of the load could be held in the larger tank. During the filling, Trowbridge had to shift his tanker to discharge from the rear fuel compartments.

He then made an error in connecting the hose to the filling point on the

smaller tank. There was still 2500 litres unfilled in the small tank — certainly not enough to take the amount of fuel in the tanker compartment. Trowbridge had gone to the service station office to write out a docket. He was away no more than two minutes, not several minutes as the prosecution statement had contended.

Upon seeing the petrol spillage, Trowbridge had notified the fire brigade. The early warning had helped ensure that no injury, or harm to property or the environment occurred.

Mr O’Regan said there was no record of a tanker driver being prosecuted in similar circumstances in Christchurch. He said the defendant had 14 years experience as a tanker driver, and was well aware of his oversight on this occasion. Counsel sought a moderate fine for the offences.

Mr Ruane said the spillage was serious, and involved calling on the services of the drainage board and fire service, and the evacuation of people from the surrounding area.

The Judge said the incident was the culmination of bad luck and a modest amount of carelessness.

However, it had led to a situation of high risk of fire or explosion, and a potential disaster. Fortunately that ; did not occur.

The Judge Said the two charges arose from the one breach, the more serious being the failure to keep the discharge lines under constant observation.