Chemical incidents in 1993

February	Pesticide spill at South Dynon Railyards
"	300 litres of toxic flammable paint spills from a Jotun Powder Coatings Pty Ltd truck and spills accross a 100 metre stretch of road near the corner of Cawley and Hardie Rds Brooklyn. Four fire units and EPA called
March	Nine tonnes of a foul smelling caustic liquid leaked into a water processing plant at Mobil's Altona refinery. The EPA received over 40 calls from residents complaining of a stench of rotten gas or decaying cabbage. An open valve at the plant's alkylation plant allowed the leak to occur. The liquid was used in the production of aviation fuel. Mobil's Ross Ray said the leak was first detected on March 4 but a 'regrettable oversight' and equipment problems led to the leak being underestimated. Mobil was 'now spending vast amounts of money to ensure this type of incident does not happen again. Williamstown magistrate, Robert Tuppen said 'Mobil had acted irresponsibly after detecting the extent of the problem' and fined the company $10,000 and ordered that it pay $1000 in costs. The maximum penalty is a $20,000 fine. ( Sunday Age, Oct 24, 1993)
"	Chemical accident in Smith street Kensington. Two men taken to hospital
"	Chemical accident in factory in Kensington industrial area
June	A fire caused damage valued at about $ 150,000 to a chemical store in Kensington. The fire, fueled by sodium sulphite was restricted to a loading bay at the Dynon Road store.
July	Yarraville company Albright and Wilson fined $10,000 and $1000 costs for Hydrogen Sulphide leak on 25 September 1992, caused by a malfunction in the company's re-mixing plant.
August	Five fire brigade crews rushed to Brandmill Textiles in Francis Street, Yarraville in the morning after being told a fire had broken out in the factory's highly flamable propane gas area. A rag had caught fire when it was left exposed to an infra-red light (Footscray Mail, 25 August 1993)
"	2000 litre leak of crude oil at Point Gellibrand during a ship to shore transfer
"	Chemical leak at Penzoil in Ponting St Williamstown. Two people complained to the EPA about a foul odour caused by ethylmercaptan which is put in natural gas to give it its smell. The leak occurred when a plug was accidently knocked out of a 44 gallon drum awaiting disposal (Western Times, 20 October)
October	Mobil petrol tanker rolls over and explodes at the intersection of the Princess Highway and South Gippsland Freeway in Hallam, taking the life of the truck driver. A fire flowed 300 metres down the Princess Highway and a further 1.2 kilometres down Wedgewood Road as 40000 litres of fuel burned.
November	Tanker of 245T tips over in Ngambie
"	A chemical explosion in Dandenong South badly damaged a building and released irritating fumes into the air. Police and fire units were called to the Jennings liquid waste site about 2pm after a hydrogen peroxide reactor, being used to neutralised a 12,000 litre tank of caustic solution, exploded. The EPA took air samples. (Source: The Age 13 November, p.6)
"	Radio reports that crude oil has spilt over 2 acres of Kemcor
"	Fire at Four and Twenty pie factory in Kensington. Lots of smoke. One police car was called. (Source: Martin Wurt, Greenpeace)
December	About 3000 litres of petrol leaked from Mobil's blending area in Kororoit creek rd about 10 pm. The leak was caused by a bracket failure. Officers from the Melbourne Fire Brigade, Occupational Health and Safety Authority and the Environment Protection Authority attended. The spill was cleaned up by 11 am. The EPA is investigating. (Source: Western Times, December 15, 1993)