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Author Topic: 60 million gallons of gasoline blow up near London Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-13-2005 05:32 AM                        BBC radio newsreader just now: 'The retailer Marks & Spencer has won a landmark court case against the government over tax; the convicted gang murderer, Stanley 'Tookie' Williams, has said that firefighters hope to extinguish the Hertfordshire oil blaze by lunchtime; and the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, has been executed.' Freudian slip?  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 12-13-2005 11:23 AM                        That's pretty funny... "...and more traffic in minutes."  |  IP: Logged Paul Konen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 981 From: Frisco, TX. (North of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-14-2005 08:48 PM                     Here are a couple of images. Source is obvious.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 12-15-2005 05:50 AM                        Looks like LA.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 12-15-2005 11:05 AM                        Kodak's UK marketing facility at Hemel Hempstead was just a few blocks away from the explosion. The building is closed, and most people are telecommuting from home:  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-15-2005 06:14 PM                        And the National Film & Television Archive's complex which holds its conservation centre and acetate vaults is 6 miles north of the explosion site, at Berkhamsted. A colleague there told me it was very lucky that the cloud went south rather than north, as their air handling systems could have sustained quite a bit of damage if they'd ingested substantial amounts of soot.  |  IP: Logged William Hooper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1879 From: Mobile, AL USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-16-2005 04:34 AM                        quote: John Pytlak Kodak's UK marketing facility at Hemel Hempstead was just a few blocks away from the explosion. I thought it was suspicious, too.  |  IP: Logged Dick Vaughan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1032 From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-20-2005 08:37 AM                        Kodak may have benn spared but Fujifilm Electronic Imaging didn't fare so well according to this BBC online article here Blast depot 'must not be rebuilt' The deputy PM faced pleas for financial help Residents and business people near the Buncefield oil depot have told Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott the site should not be rebuilt. Mr Prescott held meetings with local people on Saturday, nearly a week after the explosions at the site in Hemel Hempstead. He described the scale of the blast damage as "just unbelievable". Nearby residents and workers at the destroyed site said they wanted financial help from the government. Mr Prescott held the meeting with 30 local residents and businesses on the Mayland Industrial Estate. The local MP had urged him to bring "a chequebook in his back pocket" before the meeting. The deputy prime minister said the government would draw from its experience helping those affected by the Boscastle floods. 'Tax rebate' After surveying the devastated site he said: "The scale of the damage is just unbelievable. I don't think I've ever seen such destruction like that. It is total destruction and I could not imagine anybody would have survived had that have been during normal business hours Fujifilm spokesman "It's well understandable why perhaps companies and indeed residents have been saying to me is it safe to live and work alongside them? That is a fundamental question which we will have to address ourselves to." A spokesman from Fujifilm, who were based at the site, said: "We have about 140 people on that site normally. "We were completely and utterly shocked to see... it is total destruction and I could not imagine anybody would have survived had that have been during normal business hours." 'Total disaster' Workers who have lost their jobs face Christmas with no income, while some families will remain unable to go home. Helen Morrell, 44, has run a sandwich shop near the depot since 1999. Nearby businesses have begun to assess damage She said: "The shop pays my mortgage. I would like some monetary aid, at least a tax rebate. That's the sort of thing the government should be thinking of." Residents Debbie Zikmund and Derek Hood face thousands of pounds in repair bills on their house, which they were planning to sell. "It's just a total disaster," said Ms Zikmund, 35. "We were due to exchange contracts and have people move in, but they are now refusing to." Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited, which runs the depot in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and is jointly owned by Total and Texaco, has given £150,000 to a council emergency fund. The Conservative MP for Hemel Hempstead, Mike Penning, told BBC News the fire which followed a series of explosions last Sunday had deprived about 5,000 workers of their place of employment. Before the meeting, Mr Prescott said: "My concern was to come... just to hear how people feel a week later. "Of course there are longer term issues. There is the matter of resources." Flight pitstops When Mr Prescott first visited the site on Monday, the day after the explosions, he offered government help to the emergency services but was told they were able to cope. The same day, he told the Commons the government would provide support and assistance after the fire. The blaze sent a plume of thick smoke across southern England The Buncefield depot is a major distribution terminal operated by Total and part-owned by Texaco, storing oil and petrol as well as kerosene for airports across the region, including Heathrow and Luton. Rationing at the airport now means long-haul flights to Australia, the Far East and South Africa are having to make unscheduled stops to take on more fuel. The depot, the UK's fifth-largest, also feeds filling stations for diesel and petrol, industrial oil and domestic heating oil for north London, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 12-20-2005 10:20 AM                        Here's a photo of the Kodak marketing building "HemelOne" that is just across the street from the oil depot. Almost every window facing the exploding oil depot was blown out: Fortunately, no one in the building was killed or seriously injured, being that the oil depot explosion occured early Sunday morning. Because most of our technical staff there have notebook computers with access to the Kodak Lotus Notes and Intranet network, they are able to telecommute from home and when visiting customers. (one of them sent the photo).  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-20-2005 02:31 PM                        A pilot friend is reporting that the Heathrow situation could develop into political trouble. Apparently, if Buncefield is not rebuilt and recommissioned quickly, restoring the fuel supply to Heathrow is going to take years rather than months while an alternative replacement depot goes through the planning process. Heathrow is currently dealing with the shortage by rationing the amount of fuel it makes available to airlines. This means that at the moment, many short haul airliners are having to fly into Heathrow with enough fuel to carry on to their next destination, and fuel is a lot more expensive if you buy it at a small regional airport than if you buy it at a major hub. As the article posted by Dick notes, long haul airliners are having to make a fuel stop somewhere else on their way in and/or out of Heathrow. According to my friend, the extra take-offs and landings burn a lot of extra fuel, increase the maintenance costs and accelerate the depreciation of the capital value of an aircraft. There's also the environmental impact of the extra fuel being burnt to consider. The result is that airlines are willing to put up with the reduced fuel supply and increased cost for a few weeks, but if the shortages go on longer than that some long-haul airlines are thinking seriously about abandoning Heathrow for good, and even looking at somewhere other than London for the main airport of entry to the UK. For the regional cities which have good airports - e.g. Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle - this could potentially be a welcome economic boost, I'd have thought.  |  IP: Logged William Hooper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1879 From: Mobile, AL USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-21-2005 04:18 AM                        quote: Dick Vaughan Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited, which runs the depot in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and is jointly owned by Total and Texaco, has given £150,000 to a council emergency fund. Umm, I think it's a bigger emergency than that. Good luck with Texaco.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 12-21-2005 05:30 AM                     Refectory at the College where I work is now closed, so I went to Mc Donalds just across the road to get some breakfast this morning. There's a printed notice on the counter, saying that some items may be unavailable due to the fire. What I wanted was, indeed, unavailable. Strangely, there was a copyright notice at the bottom of the sheet, that was dated 2006!  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-21-2005 06:55 AM                        So does this mean that McDonald's produces their food products by refining them from kerosene?  |  IP: Logged

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