§ Mr. Grimondasked the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has received from the Health and Safety Commission with regard to any lessons which may have been learnt from explosions of liquefied gas in the United States of America which might be relevant to the storage of these gases at Sullom Voe.
§ Mr. John GrantI have been asked to reply.
I would refer the right hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department of Energy on 20th March—[Vol. 946, c. 418–20]—in which he said that the lessons of the incidents in the United States would be studied by the Health and Safety Commission as soon as information on them became available. I am informed by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the report by the Ameri- 494W can authorities has not yet been published but that it will be studied as soon as it becomes available.
§ Mr. Grimondasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has requested the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission to examine the recent explosion in Spain with a view to learning any lessons in the handling of gases which might be relevant to the storage of these gases at pipeline terminals.
§ Mr. John GrantI have been asked to reply.
I am informed by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the incident in Spain is still under investigation by the appropriate authorities. A specialist inspector of the Health and Safety Executive is at present in Spain to gather information about the circumstances surrounding the disaster, but at this stage it is unclear whether these will be relevant to the storage of liquefied petroleum gases at pipeline terminals. As soon as any information on the Spanish disaster becomes available, it will be studied to see what steps may be necessary in the United Kingdom to reduce the possibility of such an incident occurring here.