Environment Report 2015

There were no large releases of high hazard chemicals between 2010 and 2013, as shown in Figure 32. The 2014 trend of high hazard releases being less common and larger, in general, than low hazard and PLONOR releases is also true of these years. When analysed by source and cause, most high hazard releases over the last few years fall into the production systems and related equipment category, in line with the trend for all hazard types. From 2010 to 2014, 1,650 tonnes of chemicals were reported in PON1s on the UKCS, representing a total of 1,054 incidents. PLONOR and low hazard category chemicals make up the majority (1,450 tonnes) of the mass released and the number of incidents in this longer time frame. High and medium hazard category chemicals contributed approximately five per cent each by mass, with the remaining mass falling into the unattributable category. There has been an 83 per cent (more than 500 tonnes) decrease in the mass of chemicals accidentally released between 2010 and 2014, with a 28 per cent net increase in the number of incidents (from 162 to 207). Therefore, a similar number of releases have been reported, but those releases were of smaller amounts.

1

2

3

Figure 32: Mass of Accidental Chemical Releases by Hazard Category and with Number of Releases

4

Unattributable

High

Low

PLONOR

Number of Releases

Medium

250

700

5

600

200

500

150

400

6

300

100

200

Number of Releases

50

100

7

Accidental Chemical Release Mass (Tonnes)

0

0

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Source: DECC July 2015

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