“Roads closed in acid leak probe”

Bristol Evening Post - July 23, 2004

By ROADS and fields have been closed in Avonmouth after a leak of poisonous and  highly corrosive acid.

Hydrofluoric acid has been found leaking in the Kingsweston Rhine watercourse, and the area has been declared out of bounds.

An investigation has been launched into the leak of the acid, which is used mainly for industrial purposes such as metal cleaning and glass etching.

It was first discovered on Monday, when a fisherman reported dead fish in a pond fed by the rhine, and is still being monitored by the Environment Agency, the Health
Protection Agency, Bristol City Council, and the Bristol North Primary Care Trust.

Investigators said the source of the acid leak had been traced to a nearby firm, Rhodia Organique Fine Ltd, which has a site in St Andrew's Road, Avonmouth.

They said the leak had been isolated, the rhine was being treated to remove the pollution, and that no health problems had been reported. Residents on a nearby travellers' site were said to be unaffected.

Joyshri Sarangi, director of the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Health Protection Unit, said roads and fields surrounding the leak would remain closed as a safety measure.

She said: "We are confident every precaution has been taken to protect the public and to deal with the environmental consequences."

City council spokeswoman Tamsin May said: "There are road closures in place to assist with the clean-up of the spillage.

"We would urge members of the public to observe these closures as anyone caught ignoring the road closure signs can be prosecuted unless they can give good reason for doing so."

Rhodia Organique Fine, which employs 165 people in Avonmouth, said it had set up its own investigation into the cause of the leak.

The firm makes anaesthetics for humans and animals, as well as chemical compounds for pharmaceutical and agricultural uses.

Rhodia site manager Gary Bowler said: "Early indications are that a failure of a pipeline containing a solution of hydrofluoric acid may have been the cause of the incident.

"The leak was stopped swiftly and an extensive clean-up and neutralisation operation began immediately.

"Rhodia has arranged for suction tankers to remove water from a pond fed by the watercourse which will then be treated on site.

"Pumping and treatment of water out of the rhine local to the site began on Tuesday and is continuing today.

"Although the low level of hydrofluoric acid still present in the water is not thought to be hazardous to health, as a precaution Rhodia has supplied and erected fencing and safety notices around the pond. Water has also been supplied for a number of horses grazing nearby.

"Rhodia is cooperating fully with the Environment Agency and other local agencies in the investigation."

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