28 March 2012

Flare On Elgin Platform Is Still Burning

A flare is still burning on the North Sea Elgin oil Platform, which has been leaking gas for the last four days.

Total, the French oil company that operates the platform, first disclosed that the flare was still burning late on Tuesday night. The wind is blowing the gas in the opposite direction but, if it should come into contact with the flare, there is a high risk of explosion.

Health and safety manager for Total UK, David Hainsworth, told the Guardian the company had not revealed that the flare was burning because "we have been trying to feed information that is pertinent as the situation was unfolding, the fact that the flare was burning was not one of the most pertinent parts of information. It [the flare] is not our immediate concern."

News of the flare only came to light on Tuesday night as a result of a direct question on Channel 4 News.

"I was asked a direct question by Channel 4. I can only answer questions," Hainsworth told the Guardian. "[It was] not our number one top priority whether the flare was alight. We've been trying to get useful information to the media to tell [the public]."

Describing the odds of the leaking gas coming into contact with the flare as “low”, he said: "The wind is taking the plume of gas directly away from the flare. We do not believe the concentration of gas in the plume [at a] distance from the flare is flammable even if the wind direction changes."

"The flare may burn itself out. Because it's alight now doesn't mean it will be alight in a hour," Hainsworth added.

The RMT union said it was "beyond comprehension" that the flare was still burning.

(H)