Major disasters could occur in the future if the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) does not have a disaster management plan, with contingency measures to put out major fires at its fuel storage depots, a CPC trade union warned yesterday, alleging that the Corporation does not at present have proper facilities to fight a major fire.
A union member, who did not wish to be named, pointing to the delay in putting out the fire at the Orugodawatte fuel storage yard on Sunday, said the delay was primarily due to the lack of contingency measures being in place to address emergency situations.
The fire, caused by lightning striking an oil storage tank lasted for more than one hour, before it was put out by the Fire Brigade of the Colombo Municipal Council.
The union member said a major disaster was averted only because of the timely arrival of the Fire Brigade, and alleged it had taken more than one and a half hours - from 4:40 p.m. to 6:25 p.m. - to put out the fire.
"The delay was a result of 'huge deficiencies' within the fire control units of the main Fuel Storage Depot at Kolonnawa and the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery (SOR)," another member of the union alleged.
He alleged that of the three fire trucks at the storage depot in Kolonnawa, only one is in working condition. "The other truck has been in need of serious repairs for more than one year, and the third truck parked in the fire and safety yard for over six months is not being used," he claimed, pointing out that the truck which had finally arrived at the site (CV 3372) where the fire broke out, was 20 minutes late, and carried no water or any chemicals needed to put out the fire.
"All it had was 6,000 litres of foam," he confirmed, alleging that the truck which had arrived from the SOR had been more than 40 minutes late.
"If the CMC Brigade hadn't arrived, the disaster would be unimaginable. There are three fuel tanks, in all. The one which caught fire – tank No.2, had 42,000 metric tonnes of fuel in it. The fire could have seriously affected the quality of the fuel as well," he said.
Commenting on CPC Managing Director, Susantha Silva's statement that the fire had occurred as a result of a faulty lightning conducting rod, he said, "Warnings had been given to the CPC by the Meteorological Department due to the weather patterns prevailing over Sri Lanka. We have also cautioned them in the past regarding sudden situations that could emerge. Fires have sprung up in Orugodawatte, twice in the past, and four times in Kolonnawa."
Spelling out the dangers of an ill-timed lightning strike, he cautioned, "A fuel transfer line from the Colombo Harbour to Kolonnawa is leaking at Meetotamulla, Mahawatte and Papadamwatte. A lightning strike at any one of these locations can be catastrophic."
Minister for Petroleum Industries, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, when questioned about the incident and the allegations said, "The cause or any of the 'information' circulating about the fire is yet to be verified. There are many rumours floating around. A team of CPC officials has been appointed to investigate the matter. A report can be expected in two weeks."
CPC Managing Director Susantha Silva was not available for comment.
VIDEO: JHU SAYS CABINET BEING MISLED ON ARSENI
The JHU today claimed that the report submitted to the Cabinet by the Health Secretary ignores the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), following the completion of its final report on the investigation and evaluation of the Chronic Kidney Disease in Sri Lanka.
Although the report of the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies pesticides and fertilizers containing Arsenic as prime causes for diseases, a report prepared disregarding these dangers was presented to the Cabinet by the Health Secretary without even consulting with the Health Minister, JHU MP Venerable Athuraliye Rathana Thero said.
Ven. Rathana Thero said that the WHO was tasked with asserting pesticides contain Arsenic and that the organization has clearly revealed that they contain Arsenic.
The Thero therefore inquired as to why a report created on Arsenic submitted to the Cabinet without even being shown to the Health Minister in order to protect companies,.
The WHO report identifies Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead and agrochemicals as causes for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), however Ven. Rathana Thero says the report submitted to the Cabinet alleged that there is no such danger.
The Thero stressed that corporations should not be protected in this manner and that now 3 deaths are caused by Arsenic each day.
The Ven. Thero stated that the Minister of Health had taken a good stance against this and that how long he can maintain that was an issue.
Venerable Athuraliye Rathana Thero further said that as far as he knows all Ministry Secretaries are controlled by one Minister and that therefore it is the Secretaries and Advisers who are showing off more than their respective ministers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has made strong recommendations following the completion of its final report on the investigation and evaluation of the Chronic Kidney Disease in Sri Lanka.
The final report of the investigations and evaluation of the CKDu in Sri Lanka by the WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, identified pesticides and fertilizers as prime causes for the disease.
One or more pesticide residues were found to be above reference levels in 31.6% of the people with CKDu.
Residues are demonstrative of the extent of the environmental distribution of pesticides and certain pesticides are nephrotoxic.
Simultaneous exposure to nephrotoxic pesticides may be contributing to the progression of the disease in people with CKDu, the report stated.
“Previous studies have reported high Cadmium values in fertilizer. The maximum Cadmium, Lead and Arsenic values in phosphate fertilizer from the endemic area in the present study were higher than the levels reported in agricultural soils in certain developed countries,” the report explained.
It has been reported that the use of alternative fertilizers, reduction of heavy metals in soil or making them less available, developing rice strains which require less fertilizer and resistant to pests had been recommended.
Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena recently said in parliament that the final report of the WHO, confirming the causes of the Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Aetiology (CKDu), was presented to him and that it was being studied.
UNP Anuradhapura District Parliamentarian, P. Harrison had said that WHO statistics show that 15% of the NCP population, which amounts to approximately 150,000, is suffering from CKDu.
