By Nicole Precel
A FIRE at ExxonMobil’s Altona Refinery last Monday – the third incident in two months – has caused concern in the community and WorkSafe Victoria.
At about 4.20pm on Monday maintenance staff working on equipment noticed a small intermittent fire.
Four Melbourne Fire Brigade units arrived and had the fire controlled by 4.44pm.
ExxonMobil Australia spokesman Alan Bailey said the fire was believed to have self-ignited due to iron scale in the equipment.
“There was no risk to the community from this incident which was dealt with safely in accordance with the refinery’s normal response procedures,” he said.
WorkSafe health and safety acting director Stan Krpan said recent incidents at the refinery were of concern to WorkSafe, which was reviewing the frequency and trends of them.
“As a result of this work, we will be expecting Mobil to clearly articulate its strategy for improving its health and safety record in the future,” he said.
WorkSafe Victoria has conducted three inspections at the Mobil Altona Refinery since early December, in response to incidents including hydrocarbon leaks, waste product leaks, and two small fires.
They carried out a further inspection on Friday in response to two incidents last Monday.
“During this time, we have issued two improvement notices – one requiring Mobil to address issues surrounding one of the hydrocarbon leaks; and a second to review their tank inspection program to manage corrosion,” he said.
“We expect Mobil to implement these improvements across the refinery – and wider where appropriate.”
Altona resident Jason Price said he wanted more information on incidents when they occurred, rather than “sanitised” reports.
“We don’t seem to get told anything,” he said.
The refinery has a ‘telephone tree’, a system to inform key community contacts, which was activated at the time of the fire, to reassure them there was no need for concern.
Mr Bailey said the refinery communicated regularly with its neighbours via quarterly community liaison committee meetings and newsletters.
“Any significant incidents at the refinery are discussed as part of those communication and members of the community have the opportunity to raise any concerns they may have at those regular meetings,” he said.
On 9 February, ExxonMobil’s Altona refinery had a 30,000-litre petrol leak within two kilometres of residences and Kororoit Creek.
And on 4 March emergency services were called to a gas leak at the refinery.
People can call the refinery community hotline on 1800 659 527 with concerns about refinery operations.
