§ Sir Bernard Braineasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will request the Health and Safety Executive to explain why it considers the cracking of the earth around liquefied gas storage pits on Canvey Island by spreading permafrost not to be a major hazard, yet has recommended some temporary evacuation of local residents as prudent; and if he will now, as a matter of urgency, order an inquiry to be made into the behaviour of permafrost at the British Gas Corporation's storage installation on Canvey Island;
(2) whether, in the light of the Flixborough disaster experience, pipes buried in the ground were fractured in addition to above-ground damage, he will direct the Health and Safety Executive to make a special study of the pipe systems on the oil refinery sites on Canvey Island for which planning permission has been given;
(3) whether, in view of the Health and Safety Executive's admission in its recent report on the safety of the people living in and around Canvey Island that it did not have time to look closely at the risks posed by ammonia-carrying ships, he will, as a matter of urgency, direct that it attends to this matter at once.
§ Mr. John GrantI shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.