Software fault caused chemical plant leak

A SOFTWARE glitch at a giant chemical plant caused the accidental release of potentially hazardous vapours for seven hours last month.

An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) probe has found that the accidental emission of 42kg of organic solvent vapours from an emission point at the Eli Lilly plant near Kinsale in Co Cork on Friday, March 1, was caused by a software problem in its abatement system. The interruption lasted for a total of seven hours.

However, EPA officials said their investigations have established that there was no impact on the environment or on human health.

The company has dealt with the problem and no further action is required, the EPA said.

The firm notified the EPA’s Inniscarra office about the incident on March 2.

The EPA issued a Notification of Non-Compliance to the company on March 3 and visited the site on March 6.

“This involved interviewing personnel and reviewing relevant documentation, including air dispersion modelling carried out by Eli Lilly following the incident,” the EPA said.

“These investigations verified that the nature and extent of the emission were as previously reported, and confirmed that there were no effects on human health or the local environment arising from the incident.”

A report was issued on March 7 and has been responded to by the company.

“The EPA considers that no further action is warranted in relation to this incident,” it said.

Meanwhile, Green TD Dan Boyle has again called for reform of the EPA after it emerged the agency shut down for the Easter weekend.

“I am alarmed by the reality that the EPA is now claiming that it is not an emergency response agency, a policy which was implemented over Easter when the agency was closed from Friday to Tuesday,” he said.

“Not only is it highly dubious that licensees are required to notify the EPA themselves about incidents as soon as is practicable, but it is even more alarming that they are now being asked to choose the relevant emergency response agency to notify in the event of an accident.

“The EPA, which after all has the important responsibility of protecting Ireland’s environment, should be the vital link for licensees.

“There needs to be a streamlined process whereby incident notification goes through the one agency that is on call 24-hours a day, seven days a week.”