International   

Blaze: Britain faces threat of toxic rain

John Vidal

Health experts warn the elderly and asthmatics against inhaling the fumes

London: Much of south-east England was braced to experience black toxic rain as oily soot from the burning of almost 16 million litres of oil, aircraft fuel and petrol at the oil depot at Hemel Hempstead, just north of London, started to fall over the region and the plume of gases reached ground level in some areas.

According to the U.K. Meteorological Office, a cold weather front was expected to stretch across the region, bringing rain and forcing the pollutants from the fires down to ground level.

Pollution carried up

The intensity of the fires throughout most of Sunday, combined with very light winds and a high pressure system, carried much of the pollution 2,750 metres above an area stretching at one point from East Anglia to Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire.

Health experts warned that the elderly, asthmatics and anyone with respiratory problems should take great care not to inhale the fumes, which they expected to worsen as the fires weakened and were unable to force the smoke so high.

Professor Warren Lenney, of the British Lung Foundation, said the consequences of inhaling soot particles from the acidic thick black smoke could be ``unpleasant''. ``The trouble is there are all sorts of different chemicals in the smoke. Petroleum products are known to produce a whole series of nasty acidic chemicals, as well as carbon monoxide.'' Prof Lenney, senior paediatrician at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, in the English midlands, said side-effects could include coughing, difficulty breathing and a lack of concentration as oxygen levels in the brain dropped.

A police spokesman said: ``We are advising people to close their windows and doors and to go immediately to a doctor if they breathe in the fumes.''

The potential effect of the explosion was being assessed by the U.K. Environment Agency. The agency said the main areas of concern were the potential for water pollution and damage to land quality. A spokesman said that would only occur if any of the substances, including kerosene, diesel, gas oil and gasoline, were to escape from the site. Colin Chiverton, of the agency, said: ``At the moment, we are closely monitoring the situation for any potential environmental impact and will continue to do so.''

A spokeswoman for Total U.K., the British arm of the U.S. oil company which owns 60 per cent of the site, said petrol and kerosene, as well as some diesel and crude oil were held there, but she did not know exactly what had caught fire. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Summit will reinforce ASEAN vision: Malaysia
Osama not in control, says U.S. envoy
16 held for racist attacks in Sydney
Blaze: Britain faces threat of toxic rain
WTO deal still seems a long way off
Jury hung in Merck trial
FDI in retail trade: PM optimistic
Varsity for PIOs under study: Manmohan
"E.U. must cut farm subsidies"
Protest against toxic ship leaving for India

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu