Do you live close to an LPG storage or oil product tank farm?
By Okeckukwu Onwuka
IF your answer to the above question is yes, then you may have some reasons to be concerned. Otherwise, you may know people who live in such neighbourhoods in which case you may still have reason to be worried. In the event that you neither live close to such neighbourhood nor have any relative who is so affected, there is still the point that several Nigerians are currently living dangerously close to either an LPG Storage and Distribution terminal or a Petroleum Products tank farm.
Is there a reason to be worried? Surely. LPG and Petroleum Product facilities belong to the group of plants generally termed Major Hazard Facilities (MHFs). These plants are so termed because by virtue of the fluids they handle, continuous hazards exist in their operations which if managed incorrectly may result in accidents with severe consequences to lives, property and the environment. LPG consists of a mixture of Propane and Butane gases compressed into Liquid.
It is considered extremely dangerous for these products to escape to the atmosphere in an uncontrolled manner. A major accident scenario for LPG Storage spheres is BLEVE (Boiling Liquid, Expanding Vapour Explosion). In November 1984, Mexico at PEMEX LPG Terminal, a 200mm pipe between a storage cylinder and sphere ruptured, releasing LPG. The release continued for some five to 10 minutes resulting in a large gas cloud which ignited, causing an explosion and many ground fires.650 people were killed, 6400 people were injured. As a primary tool to control and manage the hazards and risks in the erection and operation of LPG storage facilities, international standards and codes require detailed hazard analysis and risk assessments from the concept stage through detailed design, construction and operations.
Such studies would include fire and explosion consequence analysis, hazard and operability (HAZOP) studies among others. Governed by codes such as NFPA 59, these assessments determine minimum distances to residential buildings, safe construction techniques, equipment types etc. All over the world, regulatory agencies put in place strong measures and processes to ensure that project owners, design and construction teams comply with the stipulated codes and standards. In these countries, private investors understand the need for these safe practices as the consequences of unsafe operations will not only hurt people, their investments can be wiped off overnight.
As a further safeguard, insurance companies who usually provide risk cover for these facilities will demand not just a risk assessment report but evidence that the findings are given adequate attention. In addition to these safeguards, many of the municipalities and communities have functional fire service departments complemented by efficient fire water mains running through the towns. Some private companies go a step further to have their own fire service unit complete with well maintained fire service trucks and trained fire fighters.
In Nigeria, several agencies including the government, DPR and others are charged with these oversight roles. Unfortunately, what we see on the ground is a widespread deviation from international standards. Many LPG Storage and Refilling Plants are located within residential neighbourhoods. For a number of these facilities you’ll be lucky to get proper design and construction drawings. One would have thought that in a country where the Federal and State fire service departments are not reliable, private investors would act more responsibly by implementing safe and sound practices. On the contrary, the safety and integrity issues surrounding the design and operation of some of these Major Hazard Facilities are treated in the same way that we handle every other issue in the country. The standards and codes continue to be considered as ‘a white man’s thing’. The insurance companies who should know better by demanding evidence of sound risk management in facilities they cover, disappoint by providing excessively high risk coverage all in a bid to make immediate profits.
The Petroleum Products(PMS, AGO, DPK etc) tank    farms are also potentially high risk facilities, particularly those handling PMS (Petrol). Some of these PMS tanks are located less than 20m from residential buildings. PMS vapours from these tanks can readily migrate from open vents to occupied buildings where they can get easily ignited. I’ve seen many design drawings for Product tank farms without design report, detailed piping drawings, corrosion protection design, structural design and calculations that have been duly stamped as approved for construction by a number of State Governments. These drawings will never pass first screening in developed countries. Maybe the government bodies do not have workers with the background, experience and training to effectively check the submissions before granting approval.
We all know that the Apapa area of Lagos is lined with several petroleum product facilities. One cannot help wondering how many of these plants have been designed and constructed to international codes and standards to protect lives, property and the environment. Are the minimum distances maintained between storage tanks? Are the Fire Protection Systems adequate? Are couplings and equipment that minimize potential for static electricity or sparks in use? Was the facility emergency response systems of one plant developed with due consideration to the risks from adjacent plants? Is there a sound system in place for handling LPG cylinders to prevent accidental fire or explosion? Designing and operating safe facilities ultimately benefits the business owner in terms of longer facility life and higher returns in addition to protecting lives. How many industrial accidents and loss of lives do we need to force us to do it right?
