It is now nine months since the explosion at the Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead, and all that remains is an industrial wasteland of melted containers and miles of twisting pipes. The explosion which caused the largest fire in peacetime Europe, occurred when a storage tank overflowed for 40 minutes, spilling 300 tonnes of fuel that formed a highly flammable vapour cloud which ignited. Since the incident took place, the site has been under the control of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). However this has now been passed to the Environment Agency, meaning Hertforshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL), who own the site, can begin the clean-up operation.
Demolition of the site, using hydraulic equipment to avoid the possibility of sparking another fire, is expected to start in November and will take between six to nine months. Then environmental remediation will begin to purify the soil of the dangerous toxins that were put into the ground during the four-day blaze and clean-up process. Company Secretary of HOSL Russell Poynter, stressed, "They had been very pro-active in working with the HSE and the Agency to find out what went wrong and to learn some lessons."
No decision has been made on whether the site is to be rebuilt.
