Nigeria Tank Farm Accidents: The Need for Proactive Safety Measures

Tank farm

The last week’s explosion near the tank farm of Folawiyo Energy Limited (FEL) has again brought to the fore health, safety and environmental risks associated with tank farm business in Nigeria. Chika Amanze-Nwachuku writes that instituting proactive safety measures will help curb further occurrences

While the storm over the fire that gutted the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC’s) pipeline in Ilado area of Lagos is yet to blow over, twin explosions, Wednesday occurred near the Folawiyo Energy depot and Alex Junction on Creek Road, Apapa killing four persons including a food vendor.

There were different versions of the same incident.  One version was that the explosions, which first occurred near the tank farm of FEL, emanated from improvised explosive device (IED).

The other version was that the twin blasts were triggered by faulty appliances, while yet another aspect of the story was that the explosions were caused by gas cylinders.

The Apapa twin explosions, which would have resulted in yet another major disaster in the country, but for the timely intervention of workers at the FEL, who put out the fire before it could spread, has again brought to the fore how hazardous tank farm business is and why more proactive security measures must be adopted to minimise such incidents.

In 2007, the loading gantry of Folawiyo depot was almost completely razed in an inferno that was reportedly triggered off when a tanker was loading Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at the depot.

A similar incident last year at Aiteo Energy’s depot, also located in Apapa area of Lagos State damaged the oil firm’s loading gantry and resulted in the death of one person. The fire, which reportedly erupted at about 12.30 am on that fateful day was put out almost four hours later, following the intervention of officials of Lagos State Fire Service and the nearby Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO).

The Aiteo depot fire occurred barely three weeks after fire gutted the MRS Oil and Gas Limited’s Barge at the company’s main depot in Tin Can Island area of Lagos.

Several of such incidents were recorded between 2008 and last week in Apapa, where virtually all the petroleum depots and tank farms owned by major and independent oil marketers are located.

Failed relocation bid
As a response to the 2007 fire incident at Folawiyo depot, former Energy Minister, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, had during an assessment of the extent of damage caused by the fire, announced plans by the federal government to relocate some of the depots in Apapa in order to make the area less prone to fire outbreaks.

Daukoru observed that the area was congested and posed a lot of risks to residents. He said the immediately options would be to stop the construction of new tank farms and the relocation of some of the existing depots.

Daukoru said government was worried about both marine and land congestions in Apapa area and had decided that henceforth new developers would be allocated spaces for tank farms at the Akodo Free Trade Zone in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of the state.

Also, the Clever Ikisikpo- led committee on downstream petroleum industry had in 2010 recommended that  tank farms and depots situated near residential areas, schools, military and police formations and other sensitive areas, be relocated as they posed a lot of risks to residents of those areas.

Ikisikpo had argued that since the federal government could relocate Nigeria’s capital from Lagos to Abuja, there was no tank farm in the country that was beyond relocation.

Also worried about recurrent tank farm accidents in the state, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency in 2011 shut down five tank farms located in the Kirikiri area over alleged violation of environmental laws.

The tank farms - Bovas Petroleum Limited, Swift Oil Limited, Fagbems Petroleum Limited, Index Oil and Gas and Techno Oil Limited, were only reopened after the oil firms signed an agreement to construct water hydrant in front of their various depots and to purchase fire engines to fight any outbreak of fire in the area.

The Lagos State Government had explained then those precautionary measures were taken because the tank farms were situated very close to residential buildings.

Also, following the last year’s fire incident at the MRS Oil, Governor, Babatunde Fashola had called for the relocation of high-risk facilities from residential areas.

Fashola said in order to avoid recurrent tank farm disasters, the way forward was for the federal government to tell its agencies to make medium and long-term plans to relocate petroleum depots cited near residential areas, because they posed risks to human lives.

The Governor confirmed that the state had witnessed about 22 similar incidents in the recent past and even expressed his administration’s readiness to provide alternative spaces for the facilities at the Lekki Free Trade Zone.

He noted that relocating the tank farms to such an area would make for more efficient production and guarantees safety of life and property.

However, the planned relocation of the tank farms was stalled because the DPR was said to have kicked against the move, on the ground that it would disrupt products supply and distribution in the country.

An oil industry stakeholder who confirmed the development recently explained that the government jettisoned the plan because of pressures from owners of the tank farms to drop the idea.

He said for now, the agency is more concerned about getting tank farm and depot owners to adhere to laid down safety standards.

Safety standards
The large concentration of oil tank farms in the Apapa area results in unending traffic gridlocks, which paralyse commercial and social activities in the area.

Besides, the high concentration of oil facilities in the area makes it prone to fire outbreaks and environmental pollutions. This is chiefly because most of the firms do not adhere to safety standards recommended by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

The Nigerian environmental laws provide that companies that engage in business activities in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry shall comply with all environmental health and safety laws, regulations, guidelines or directives.

Such companies are required by law to conduct their operations in accordance with internationally accepted principles of sustainable development.

In line with its regulatory functions, the DPR, regulator of oil and gas industry activities, recently issued a directive to oil marketing companies to put in place sufficient safety equipment of internationally approved standards and to make available at every installation of natural gas or petroleum products station, fire fighting and first aid equipment in accordance with good operating practice.

Oil industry experts however argue that getting the operators to comply with these relevant environmental policies in their operating environments has been a major challenge confronting safety managers in the oil and gas industry.

According to sources, inadequate firefighting equipment or the lack of it has been the bane of attaining to fire emergencies in the industry. The Ikisikpo committee had during an assessment tour of petroleum tank farms in Lagos in 2010, observed that some of the depots could not even meet the standards of ordinary filling station and also do not have a single firefighting truck to attend to emergencies.

The committee had recommended that facilities that did not meet the recommended standards should be shut down. THISDAY gathered that the recommendations were also not approved as the regulatory agency was said to have claimed that it exercises caution, when it comes to shutting down facilities especially those located in Lagos because of their strategic nature.

Industry experts who spoke on the recent incident in Apapa noted that most depot accidents in Lagos could have been averted if operators adhered to the health and safety rules that govern the business.

He stated the need for depot operators to be more proactive about the health and safety aspects of their business, insisting that accidents can be averted if risks associated with tank farm business are properly managed.