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COULD IT HAPPEN HERE? EXPLOSIVES • AMMONIUM NITRATE IS STORED AROUND THE WORLD, USUALLY SAFELY BUT OCCASIONALLY DISASTROUSLY. RPMASA WANTS OWNERS AND WAREHOUSES TO WAKE UP TO THE RISK
THE RECENT TRAGEDY in Beirut, with the catastrophic destruction of most of the port and much of the city, should act as a serious wake-up call for all chemical manufacturers, importers and storage facilities. The question all should ask (and many are) is: could it happen here? There are plenty of well-documented disasters involving ammonium nitrate over the past 100 years, not least the 2015 explosion in Tianjin, China, which killed more than 170 people, and the fire at the Sandoz plant in Basel, Switzerland in November 1986, which resulted in the spillage of tonnes of pollutants into the River Rhine due to the overflow of
Commenting on the Beirut explosion, Liz Anderson, technical director of the Responsible Packaging Manufacturers Association of Southern Africa (RPMASA), asks her community: “let us give thought to what we can do to prevent such disasters happening in our region”. And she is not alone: there are many other responsible associations and experts asking the same question around the world right now.
fire water.
the Explosives Act No 26 of 1956; its import, export and transport into and through the country’s ports is well regulated by the Explosives Division of the South African Police Service (SAPS). But the warehousing and storage of ammonium nitrate and other chemicals in areas outside the ports is less
THE BEIRUT EXPLOSION WAS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN (PIC: MEHR NEWS AGENCY)
HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020
KNOW THE HAZARD Ammonium nitrate, classified as UN 1942 or, for ammonium nitrate-based fertilisers, UN 2067, is regulated in South Africa under
well regulated; Anderson is concerned at the potential for misdeclared or unknown cargoes to cause a serious reaction with other, incompatible products, which could have disastrous consequences. She reminds her audience of the warehouse fire that broke out in South Durban in March 2017, which sent black smoke over the city for several days, requiring some evacuations. “What may be lurking from years past, and what condition could it be in?” Anderson asks. It is thought that the ammonium nitrate identified as the cause of the Beirut explosion had been in storage for some six years after being impounded by the authorities, and the Tianjin explosion involved improperly stored ammonium nitrate, which detonated after fire spread from stocks of nitrocellulose in the same warehouse. The answer, Anderson says, is for a full inventory and audit, along with effective permitting, of all warehouses storing chemicals. This should be accompanied by: - Inventory control and the importance of maintaining good product hygiene and the good condition of packaging - Compliance with permit levels - Risk assessment and emergency plans to be in place and be shared with the emergency services and local communities, and - Training for all those involved in the storage of chemicals, so they understand the
