Chemical accidents at Coode Island

1980 Feb 12	Amonium Thiocyanate at 1 West Swanson Dock
1980 Jul 1	Mercapatan at Seatainers Container Depot McKenzie Road
1980 Nov 24	Tobacco Flavouring at Seatainers
1981 Jan 13	3 Litres of Toluene Di-Isocyanate at Powell Duffryn
1981 Mar 6	Benzene in unknown amounts at Anchortank
1982 Apr 23	Leak of mixed unknown chemicals at Seatainers
1982 Jun 5	Unknown quantities of Methylence Chloride on ship the 'Mariangi Bay' at West Swanson Dock
1982 Jun 25	Ethylene Benzene at Terminals
1983 Feb 2	40 litres of Toluene Di Isocyanate at Terminals
1983 Mar 4	3 litres of Ethyl Acrylate at Terminals
1983 Mar 4	100 litres of Styrene Monomer at Terminals
1983 Apr 19	Leak of Toluene Di Isocyanate in drum at Terminals
1983 Sep 23	Leak of 1 tonne of Benzene from Anchortank
1983 Oct 14	Styrene Monomer from ship the 'Rich Seagull'
1983 Oct 23	100 litres of Toluence Di Isocyanate from terminals
1984 mar 29	Leak of Benzene on deck of ship 'Oceania Glory'
1984 Mar 29	Methyl Methacrylate Monomer at Terminals
1985 Feb 1	Benzene on ship the 'Golden Glory'
1985 Jun 3	100 litres of petrol at Terminals
1985 Jul 9	Ethyl Acrylate at Powell Duffryn
1985 Aug 13	12 litres Styrene Monomer on ship 'Oceania Glory'
1985 Sep 9	Leaking drums of unknown quantities of Tin Tetrachloride at Seatainers
1985 Sep 20	Leak of Methyl Methacrylate
1986 Feb 27	Spill of 4000 litres of mineral turpentine at Powell Duffryn
1986 Jun 26	Leak of Styrene Monomer at Powell Duffryn
1986 Jul 6	Leak of Ethanol in unknown quantities at Terminals
1986 Jul 22	Leak of used oil at Anchortank
1986 Nov 3	Leak of 5 litres of Ethyl Acrylate at Powell Duffryn
1986 Nov 14	Leak of Benzene in excess of 500 litres between terminals and ships
1986 Nov 28	Leak of 1 litre of Acrylate at Powell Duffryn
1987 Feb 24	Leak of 10cm of Benzene in the pump room of ship the 'Andula' Anuraga
1987 Mar 7	Leak of Methanol at No. 1 Maribyrnong
1987 Mar 28	Leak of 600 litres of petrol. Ships tank top No. 1 Maribyrnong
1987 Apr 29	Leak of Toluene Di-Isocyanate on ship the 'Brumager'
1987 May 14	Leak of 500 litres of transformer oil on McKenzie Road
1987 Sep	Coode Island. 79 workers given medical treatment after leak
1987 Nov 5	Leak of oil at Seatainers
1987 Dec 1	Leak of 200- 300m of Benzene in the pump room of the ship the 'Southern Cross'.
1988 Jan 7	Causitic Soda at Seatainers
1988 Feb 7	50 litres of Toluene Di-Isocyanate at No. 1 Maribyrnong
1988 Jul 22	200- 1000 litres of Toluene Di-Isocyanate at Powell Duffryn
1988 Oct 11	30-50 litres of Genklene at No. 1 Maribyrnong
1988 Nov 29	5-15 litres at No. 1 Maribyrnong
1988 Dec 20	5 tonne of Cyclohexanone at Anchor tank
1989 Jan 25	20 litres of Thinner at Conaust
1989 Apr 21	200 litres of Titanium Tetrachloride at Conaust
1989 Apr 27	200 litres of Methanol on ship the 'Stolt Azalia' No. 1 Maribyrnong
1989 Oct 12	1 litre of Mercury at Conaust
1989 Oct 29	Benzene in ship the 'Pacific Rica' No. 1 Maribyrnong
1990 Jan 29	800 litres of Benzene in ship the 'Southern Queen' in the pump room
1990 Apr 2	Leak of unknown substance at Seatainers
1990 May 4	Leak of Ethyl Acrylate on ship the 'Stolt Sincerity'
1990 May 24	20-30 litres of Methyl Methacrylate at Powell Duffryn
1990 Jun 29	30 litres of Styrene Monomer on ship the 'Stolt Sunrise' No. 1 Maribyrnong
1990 Sep 28	30-50 gallons of Methanol. On road way No. 1 Maribyrnong
1990 Oct 15	Tanker, the Iver Hawk, tried to berth at Holden Dock. Between the Westgate Bridge and Coode Island the engines cut out and the ship missed Holden Dock and almost careered into Coode Island. A major disaster was narrowly averted. The tanker was over 20 years old and therefore prone to to equipment failure.
1991 Feb 23	Hydraulic oil spill on Botany Tribute
1991 Apr 9	Peroxide leak at Coode Island. The fire brigade disposed of the potentially dangerous drums of the chemical which had been leaking in a storage depot in McKenzie Road
1991 May 23	Hydraulic oil spill at Vessel M/T Shelly
1991 Jun 15	200 litre oil spillage on Botany Triad at No. 1 Maribyrnong
1991 Jun 26	Hong Kong ship the Bauhinia sinks in Swanson dock, next to Coode Island, releasing oil. On October 15 1990 the Tanker, Iver Hawk almost careered into Coode Island as a result of engine failure. Shipping is badly regulated and many ships are over 20 years old and therefore prone to equipment failure. This latest incidence provides further evidence that a major chemical disaster on Coode Island, involving shipping, is quite likely.
1991 Aug 21-22	Fire and explosion in tanks at Terminals, involving acrylonitrile (acts like cyanide on the human body), Benzene (effects nervous system and causes leukemias), Phenol and Methyl Ethyl Ketone. Residents and workers evacuated from the immediate vicinity; other residents told to stay inside. Smoke plume carried as far as Fern Tree Gully and covered the Central Business District. A number of firefighters were injured.
1991 Aug 29	Powell Duffryn shut down because of breaches to Department of Labour dangerous good regulations. Inspectors find problems with fire fighting equipment and safety valves.
1991 Sep 6	200 litre spill of Benzene on 'Stolt Magnolia'
1991 Oct	Acrylate vapours leak from a faulty extraction system at Terminals Pty Ltd
1992 Apr 8	Forklift rams container on Swanson dock, releasing propylene oxide. Emergency services called in and area cordoned off for six hours.
1992 Sep	Terminals fined $7500 for leak of acrylate in October.The company could have faced a fine of $20,000, and the fine is described as lenient.
1993 Sep	Fire in hull of BHP ship on Swanson Dock
1993 Nov 30	600 litres of the highly flammable, cancer - causing chemical benzene leaked from a hose at Maribynong No 1 Dock. The chemical is a class three indicator which means it is grouped with mercury and asbestos as being among the most dangerous substances. Andy Gash of the Port of Melbourne Authority said about 50 litres had entred the waterway. About 15,000 tonnes of benzen was being pumped from a ship to the Terminals facility for use as a solvent and a petrol additve. The accident was reported at about 5.45 am. A hole about the size of a 20 cent piece had opened up in the hose, allowing the benzene to spill out on the wharf. Officers from the EPA, the Department of Labour and Melbourne Water attended the scene. The EPA sopped up the spill with absorbent material by 9.15 am. (source. Western Times, December 1, 1993). The ship involved in the incident, the Stolt Azalia, has had a 200 litres spill of Methanol at Coode Island on April 27 1989. It was also blacklisted by Shell in December 1990. The Stolt company also features heavily in this accident list.
1993 Dec 9	Odour release of Styrene from Terminals as a result of tank flushing.
1994 May 16	At 6.30 am on Monday 16 May (today), a ship, docked at No 1 Maribrynong, Coode Island, spilt 200 litres of Benzene. This accident comes after a similar accident in November 1993, involving the Stolt Azalia which leaked 600 litres of Benzene.
1993 Jan 6	9.45. pm Friday LPG container explodes at Comet injuring one worker.
1993 Jan 15	11pm Spill of 3000 litres of Benzene from ship San Antonio in a ship to shore transfer with Terminals (Source: Colleen, Terminals, ABC radio)