THE RESPONSE by Valero and NRW to a large-scale oil leak at Nantycaws was described by local County Councillor Elwyn Williams as ‘at best organised chaos, at worst total incompetence’, during a council meeting on Wednesday (Oct 12).
NRW were represented at the meeting and Valero had been invited to send representatives to ask questions put by members. However, Council Leader Emlyn Dole said that the company had responded by letter saying that they would ‘not be able to send representatives at this time’.
Cllr Dole said that it was important to bring this matter for discussion and raise relevant questions which needed to be answered, following the 140,000 litre spill and the damage that had caused to the local environment.
He told councillors that a letter from Lesley Griffiths AM, the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, had been received by Adam Price AM and Jonathan Edwards MP.
Cllr Dole pointed out that, while the pipe had been closed to prevent any further leakage, concerns remained about the kerosene remaining in the pipe.
Referring to the planned closure of both sides of the A48 this weekend for repairs, Cllr Dole said: “We know the problems closing one side have caused to local businesses,” and pointed out that the A48 was a Pan-European highway.
In a letter to Valero, Cllr Dole asked when the company had become aware that the pipeline was leaking, and when NRW had been informed.
He remarked that, while Valero had apologised, an apology ‘means nothing in the context of this incident, and the effect it has had on local people’.
In Valero’s response, which Cllr Dole quoted, the company stated that their ‘highly sensitive pressure system’ had detected the leak at 9.30am on Tuesday, October 4, and had instantly shut the pipeline down and informed on-site response teams and the emergency services.
NRW had been informed around 70 minutes later, once the on-site teams assessed the situation.
Valero added that work had been ongoing to recover the kerosene and fix the leak, and described the amount of kerosene recovered as ‘a testimony to the efforts’ of those involved.
However, a somewhat different picture was painted by Llangunnor County Councillor Elwyn Williams. In addition to his remarks about the quality of the response, he suggested that residents had noticed a smell of oil on the Monday night, rather than Tuesday.
Cllr Williams also attacked Valero for closing the pipeline at a valve 10 miles away from where the leak was, rather than at a valve within a mile of the problem.
He also claimed that a camera crew had been told to stop filming near the site due to the risk of an explosion, but children living even closer to the incident had not been evacuated.
The traffic management put in place following the spill was described as ‘almost non-existent’ and where it did exist, as ‘a liability’.
In terms of supporting local farmers affected by the leak, Cllr Williams claimed that this amounted to ‘a promise of cattle food for one farmer, which was withdrawn the following day’.
He suggested that the fault had been caused by encasing the pipe in tonnes of concrete, rather than a closed chamber, where it passed under the A48, and that efforts to remove this concrete had led to the leak.
Carmarthen Town and County Councillor Alun Lenny said that the original road closure, coupled with the leak, had led to ‘a miserable period for traffic in Carmarthen’, adding that traffic was now backed up as far as Glangwili along Priory Street during busy times – which could affect emergency response vehicles.
Cllr Lenny added that he had approached Valero to ask why the works could not take place round the clock – only to be told that this would disturb the local ecology. He remarked that the traffic issues were not helped by a local farmer – incredibly – still crossing a large herd of cattle on the B road that traffic was diverted along.
He concluded his remarks by asking the council to call on Valero to financially compensate Llangunnor and Carmarthen, suggesting that a six-figure sum would be appropriate.
Huwel Manley, the operations manager for NRW in the west of Wales, clarified that the regulation of the pipeline was the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive, and added that there would be ‘a large-scale investigation into this tragic incident’.
Mr Manley said that NRW were on-site at Nantycaws at around 1pm on Tuesday, and that at that point there had been some difficulty ascertaining where the leak had come from.
Cllr Colin Evans asked whether the source of the leak had actually been located yet, and following on from concerns raised by Cllr Williams about which valve had been closed, asked how far apart the sensors were. Chief Executive Mark James pointed out that no one at the meeting was qualified to answer these questions, and Cllr Evans replied that he thought the point of the discussion was to raise questions which could be asked by the council at a later stage.
Cllr Lenny then proposed that the council write to Valero asking for compensation, which would be distributed to Community Councils in the affected areas. In addition, he asked that the company should compensate the farmer, ensuring that cows were not crossed on the diversion route, especially during the coming weekend.
This was unanimously agreed.
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