27 October 2006
Petronet Gas Pipeline Rupture - Commission fails to find
culpability!
Community Rejects Report!
The results of the ‘Commission of Enquiry into the
rupture of the gas pipeline at Belvedere, Tongaat on 24 December
2001’ – finding that not Petronet nor Sasol nor
government is responsible – is a disappointing outcome
for groundWork, and for civil society in general who are growing
more alarmed each year with the failure of government to appropriately
deal with corporate industrial incidents that harm people
and the environment. The community representatives from the
Tongaat Civil Association, and the Councillor of the area,
Mr Abrahams, rejected the report.
MEC Ndabandaba has missed a key political opportunity to
improve environmental governance with regard to fuel pipelines
in KwaZulu-Natal, and most probably nationally. The fact that
the Commission did not make more detailed recommendations
with regard to future management of pipeline – even
if it was outside the scope of their ambit – possibly
indicates that the Commission has no faith in the governance
systems to respond to such recommendations in a meaningful
and effective manner.
The MEC’s statement that an audit of all pipelines
will be undertaken in the province is welcomed, and his Department
should have commenced with this in 2003, considering the various
pipeline incidents in the province in 2001 and 2002.
During the Commission it was recognised that a variety of
legal cases were taking place between parties – including
government departments – for loss of earnings due to
the rupture of the pipeline. Maybe the failure to apportion
blame could be understood in this light.
We believe that during the Commission a sound argument was
developed to indicate that:
- Petronet failed to effectively monitor their pipeline,
servitude and adjacent areas; in fact during this process,
just a few kilometres away from the sight of the rupture,
houses have been built around the pipeline, on the border
of the servitude;
- Petronet did not keep the necessary records of the pipeline
monitoring and also destroyed records of telephone logs of
that would have informed the Commission of how the response
process did occur on 24 December 2001;
- Petronet did not follow the all American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) procedures which it was required to do when
granted permission to operate and convert the pipeline from
crude oil to gas;
- The pipeline was already moving before the incident of
24 December 2001, and it was not only a suddenly and violent
occurrence which caused the events of the day.
There are various other factors which are of concern to groundWork.
These factors will be reviewed by our legal advisor before
further responses are made on this report, which we only received
on Thursday evening.
Critically, and recognised by the Commission, at various
times information that would have been pertinent to the process
was not available. This in itself is a key challenge that
the Commission should have deliberated on and made a finding
on. The lack of good information systems within government
departments and this failure to call for, hold and act upon
information is in itself an indictment on the process of good
governance.
It is alarming that the Commission accepted Petronet’s
version and interpretation of the Terms of Reference for the
Commission, namely that the enquiry is limited to the area
of impact and that the re-routing of the pipeline was not
to be considered. The re-routing of the pipeline is the one
sure action that would protect the community from experiencing
such a catastrophic event again and, more importantly, adopts
the precautionary principle as advocated within the National
Environmental Management Act of 1998.
In the light of all the above it was our submission that
Petronet had not conducted themselves in the manner of a reasonable
(and prudent) operator, in that they have been negligent with
regard to: the monitoring and patrolling of the pipeline;
the geotechnical information that informed the conversion
process; the failure to note, investigate and follow up the
activities consequent on and including the slippage and unravelling
of the bank of the school sports fields; the failure to adequately
inform the public both in relation to the emergency plan and
in relation to the broader education program; and the inordinate
delay in closing off the closest block valve to prevent further
gas escaping from the rupture.
This Commission’s failure has delivered an indictment
on the process of Commission of Enquiries. Future Commission
of Enquiries will most probably be viewed with scepticism
and caution, and even vetoed considering the outcomes of this
Commission.
The MEC did indicate that he will “revisit a number
of the ideas” that were brought up at the press conference
and in the report, possibly indicates that he himself is not
satisfied with the report. Presently the Durban Metro is planning
on more homes within the vicinity of the pipeline.
End
For more information
-
Bobby Peek, groundWork: 082 4641383
-
Collin Padachie, Tongaat Civil Association: 083 779
1514
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