Legal Proceedings

The Road/Rail Filling Terminal Besides the jetties .for the distributian of the praducts by sea, a raad and raillaading terminal was built incarparating many 'Of the latest features. This terminal is naw being expanded ta handle mare raad and rail traffic and is being furnished with mare equipment 'Of imp raved design. It is situated just off the Port Clarence to Seaton Carew road and is about two miles from the refinery site.

Refinery products from the tankage and underground storage systems are transferred by pipeline to the terminal, where they can be in 'line' blended into blend tanks and thence loaded through meters inta rail tankers or raad tankwagons. There are ten loading paints for road vehicles, into which the products are loaded by 'pre-set' meters. Temperature-compensated meters are used to simplify the accounting and invoicing of sales of fuel oils which must be converted to standard gallons far H.M. Customs purposes. Large road tankers can be loaded in 17 minutes, the loading rate being approximately 300 gallans per minute.

The rail installation is designed to handle block trains of up to 1,000 tons of product. Single paint tap loading is available for all praducts, and twin paint loading will shortly 'be available for selected products. Thus tankcars of any size can be loaded expeditiously, including the modern 100 ton bogie cars.

At present there are three rail spurs and a fourth is being built; on all four spurs the rakes O'f tankcars can be moved by shunting bogies which run on their own tracks under the rail vehicles. The loading points are set on islands between each pair of tracks and the loading arms can thus serve to laad trains an either of twa tracks.

Opera tars in the Terminal Cantrol Raom can, by remote cantral, determine the level and temperature of the cantents 'Of any 'Of the blend tanks and also cantral the companent blends for each praduct if so required. The same building houses the quality cantrol laboratary, where all products leaving the refinery are rigorously checked. Also in this block are (lffices for the distribution and commeroial personnel.

Pipelines are used to distribute naptha ta the various reI operations, fuel oil to adjacent ICI plants and, via the Tees pipeline tunnel ta major custamers on the South Bank of the Tees.

Sales of Products PhiIlips Petroleum Praducts Limited acts as the selling agent for the praducts from the refinery. In addition to the substantial refinery terminal starage on Teesside there are terminals at Grangemouth, Salford, Leeds, Dagenham, Bromsgrave, Lang Eatan and Felixstowe, from each of which a fleet 'Of raad tankers operates.

The products are distributed by raad, rail and sea; where passible, black trains and coastal 'Or sea-gaing tankers 'are used far bulk despatches.

Contravention of Licence Conditions

GREATER LONDON COUNCIL During 1971 the Greater Londan Council undertook prosecutians on eleven occasians for breaches either 'Of the Petroleum (Cons(lHdation) Act, 1928 and the Regulations made thereunder or of thase Thames Tunnel By-laws which cover a not dissimilar field by prohibiting the conveyance O'f dangerous gaads thraugh the Thames Tunnels. Brief details of the infringements are appended.

Unlicensed Keeping The self-employed proprietor of a spraying raam in a building which adjoined a 'dwelling hause was fined £8 with £7 costs at Greenwich Magistrates Caurt an 19th May, 1971 far keeping about 11 gallans of petraleum mixture without a licence. The internal partitians of the building were combustible and means of escape were unsatisfaotary.

At Brentford Magistrates Court an 20th August, 1971 a company was fined £50 with £35 costs for keeping 24 gallons of petroleum mixture without licence in an Isleworth workshop where spraying was done. The campany had ,been cautioned a few months previously for a similar 'Offence and advised of the warks necessary ta comply with the Council's standards far licensing. At the time 'Of the offence an oil stave was alight a few feet !fram cars being sprayed. Routine inspeotion 'Of a premises in Havering licensed to keep petroleum mixture for spraying purpases revealed the unautharised keep'ing 'Of petroleum mixture an an open shelf and a bench in the licensed spraying raam and an adjoining warkshap and the failure ta exhibit 'NO SMOKING' natices. At Ramfard Magistrates Court on 13th July, 1971 the licensee was fined £60 with £16 casts.

Breaches of licence canditians cast a garage proprietor dear when at East Central Magistrates Caurt on 18th Augus:t,1971 the company was fined a tatal of £200 with £40 casts. Openings to tanks were nat clased, the extract fan in a tank chamber was not warking, the daar of the chamber was neither locked nar labelled and the chamber was nat regularly inspected. The irregularities had been evident far some time but in sp'ite o'f warnings remedial wark had not been done - a .fact which the magistrate stated he had taken into account when impos'ing the penalties.

While a vehicle was being sprayed with petroleum mixture in a licensed spraying raam one of the daors of the roam was left wide open, welding work was being done on another vehicle in the same licensed spraying raom and the welder was smoking. At Gore Petty Sessions on 30th Nov-

ember, 1971 these breaches of licence conditions cost the welder a £3 fine and the company £80 in fines with £20.25 costs.

A licensee, without notifying the Council, replaced foot valves on the suction lines at the premises with angle check valves. The work was not done very well and subsequent inspection showed a number of leaks at joints. Despite warnings the company continued to use the defective lines a fact which cost them £80 in fines and £10 in costs at Wells Street Magistrates Court on 30th November, 1971. At the same time the company was fined £5 for failure to exhibif a notice setting out conditions to be observed by person employed at the premises.

Infringl,ments during Conveyance and Failures to Mark Vehicles

Examination of a tank wagon delivering petrol in Waltham Forest cost the owners a total of £130 in fines and £25 in costs at Stratford Magistrates Court on 28th July, 1971. The carrying tank of the vehicle was not labelled, no covers were provided to three trafficators and the rear lights beneath the carrying tank, one manlid was open, two manlids were unlocked and no fire extinguisher was carried.

A tank wagon was examined when it was seen to be delivering petrol to a filling station at Enfield. All the manlids were unlocked and two were insecurely closed. The screw cap was missing .from the draw-off pipe of one compartment and the tanker did not bear the statutory "petroleum spirit" label and the prescribed "flame" symbol. For these offences the company owning the vehicle was fined £85 with £5 costs at Edmonton Petty Sessions on 12th October, 1971.

Thames Tunnel By-law Infringements The goods container of a large articulated vehicle was wrecked and its contents including fur coats, spread over a Wide area when it exploded less than 100 yards (or a few seconds) after leaving the southern exit from the Thames Tunnel at Blackwall. The result of a similar explosion in tunnel could have been catastrophic. The vehicle's load Included sixty-eight 90 lb. cylinders of compressed gases (hY.drogen, carbon monoxide and ethane) and four I! lb. of butane and phosphorous pentafluoride. The drIver, for taking these inflammable and tox'ic gases through the tunnel.contrary to the Blackwall Tunnel By-laws, was fined £5 With £5 costs at Greenwich Magistrates Court on 31st March, 1971.

A leaking petroleum mixture can was found among 72 gallons of petroleum mixture and other inflammable liquids on a covered van which had just been driven through the Thames Tunnel at Blackwall. When he was prosecuted at Greenwich Magistrates Court on 5th November 1971 the driver escaped with an absolute discharge. '

A driver took a lorry loaded with 500 gallons of methanol and 505 gallons of methylated spirit, all in drums, through another of the congested Thames Tunnels at Rotherhithe. For this offence against the Rotherhithe Tunnel By-laws, he was at Tower Bridge Magistrates Court on 12th November, 1971 fined £10 with £2 costs. BRADFORD On the 17th May, 1972, Mr. Bernard Kilmartin trading as St. Abbs Service Station, Halifax Road, Bradford, was prosecuted under 'the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 Section 1 (2) for keeping petroleum spirit without a licence.

The prosecution arose following a check on St. Abbs Service Station, Halifax Road, Bradford, where permission had been given ,for tanks to be rendered temporarily safe by filling with water for a period of six months after the licence had been discontinued.

The station was found to be In full operation. The water had been emptied from the tanks into the main drainage system and the tanks filled with petroleum spirit without any notification or application for the grant of a licence from the new tenant Mr. B. Kilmartin.

The defendant Kilmartin was fined £20.

On Monday, the 13th March, 1972, Blue Star Garages Ltd. of Blue Star House, Highgate Hill, London N18 and Mr. Iredale, manager of Blue Star Garage, Westgate Hill Street, Bradford were prosecuted at Bradford Magistrates Court for, in the case of Blue Star Garages, failing to secure that a competent person was in charge of the storage tank for the purpose of the delivery contrary to Regulation 16 (5) of the Petroleum Spirit (Conveyance by Road) Regulations 1957 and Section 6 (2) of the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928, two counts. Mr. Iredale for failing to properly complete the certificate specified in the second schedule to the Petroleum Spirrt (Conveyance by Road) Regulations contrary to Regulation 16 (7).

Both dependants pleaded guilty. The defendant Company, Blue Star Garages were fined £30 on each count. The defendant Iredale was fined £10.

The prosecution arose following an investigation into the origin of a suspected petroleum leakage. A number of complaints from houses in the immediate vicinity of the garage had been received.

The investigation showed that petrol had been delivered to a tank that had never previously held petrol, and that the prescribed certificates being filled in at the garage bore no relationship to what was actually being delivered.

In this particular case, though it has not been satisfactorily proved that a spillage did occur at the garage, it appeared from the evidence of the prescribed certificates that this had been more a matter of good luck than good management.

TEESSIDE At a special court at Middlesbrough, Teesside on the 24th May, 1972, the North Western Oil Company pleaded guilty to offences under Section 1 of the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act, 1928. The firm was fined £25 with £50 costs awarded to the Local Authority.

The prosecution arose following the discovery that the company was storing hexane in above ground tanks whioh had previously contained liquids not subject to the Act and no notification of this change had been received by the Petroleum Licensing Department.

Telephone: 021 - 327 - 0428

w. J. FINCH (Installations) Ltd.

Steam ing out and de-gassing petrol tanks; issuing gas free certificates Complete petrol and fuel oil bulk storage tank installations Petrol and fuel oil tank cleaning service Pressure testing tanks and pipe work

369 Victoria Road, Birmingham 6

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