§ Mr. Neaveasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that trichlorethylene vapour may be fatal at a concentration of 3½ per cent. in the atmosphere; and whether, in view of the accident to a road tanker at Drayton, Berkshire, on 9th December, he will review the regulations under the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act, 1928 governing the carriage of this substance.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI would accept that a concentration as high as 3½ per cent. in the atmosphere could well be fatal in certain circumstances. But this substance is not generally thought to present a particularly serious hazard during transportation and there are no regulations dealing specifically with its conveyance by road.
§ Mr. Neaveasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on the accident on 9th December in which a road tanker containing trichlorethylene overturned at Drayton, Berkshire, causing fumes which led to the evacuation of 20 houses and the need for oxygen treatment to 26 people.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI understand that at about 8.50 p.m. on 8th December a tanker carrying 2,000 gallons of terchlorethylene and the same amount of trichlorethylene skidded in Drayton, Berkshire, and crashed through a wall into a garden. The tanker ended up on its side and some trichlorethylene escaped into the roadway through a damaged pipe. Temporary repairs were effected to the damaged pipe and the load transferred 455W to another tanker. Trichlorethylene gives off fumes which can in certain circumstances be dangerous. As a precautionary measure, therefore, the police ordered the evacuation of eight houses in the immediate vicinity and alerted the occupants of others in the neighbourhood; an ambulance personnel gave oxygen to 26 people, who, it was thought, might have inhaled some fumes. The incident was efficiently dealt with by the emergency services involved.