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EPA investigating gas leak at Sydney industrial site

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is
investigating the leak of the potentially lethal gas, Ethylene Oxide at an
industrial site in south eastern Sydney on Sunday.

The leak occurred at the Huntsman Surfactants Plant at Botany
Industrial Park.

EPA Chief Environmental Regulator, Mark Gifford, said in a statement
that the potential for offsite impacts from the gas was minimal.

“The incident
occurred at around 6:00pm on Sunday night when a purpose built alarm alerted
workers on site to the potential for a leak,” he said.

“Huntsman staff
investigated the leak and correctly initiated the site emergency
procedures. Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW)
attended the site and contacted the EPA.

“The cause of the
leak was quickly identified as a seal on one of the pumps at Huntsman’s
Ethylene Oxide plant and the pump was switched off and isolated. The incident was resolved by 7:30 pm Sunday
evening.

”Based on current
information to hand the potential for offsite impacts from the leak are limited
but given the nature of the gas we will be undertaking additional
investigations as a precautionary measure.”

According to the Huntsman Chemicals website, the Botany
plant produces chemicals for the personal care, agriculture, automotive, mining
and textiles sectors. The chemicals are used to make detergents, cleaning
products, brake fluids and radiator coolants.

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