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This occurred on Saturday, 10th December, 2005 at 06:01 hours. Fortunately, there were not
fatalities. There was substantial damage to surrounding properties, both private and commercial.
The Buncefield depot is located on the Chalk aquifer, which supports several groundwater
abstractions for public waster supply in the surrounding area but not in the immediate vicinity
of the site. The incident generated a substantial volume of contaminated liquid that, with one
or two exceptions, was contained at the surface within bunded areas on site during the incident.
The contaminants in the liquid included hydrocarbons and fire fighting foams, a proportion of
which are potentially hazardous (both contain toxic chemicals that are List 1 substances under
the Groundwater Regulations.
The Environment Agency and Three Valleys Water immediately began monitoring both surface and
groundwater quality surrounding the Buncefield site. A number of groundwater monitoring locations
are within the Gade Catchment. All public supply sources are treated prior to delivery of water
to customers and if any contamination becomes apparent it would either be removed prior to supply
or the abstraction would be taken out of service. The water supply operators are responsible for
treating all water to the required drinking water standards set and regulated by the Drinking Water
Inspectorate.
The DEF Water Group, whilst having every confidence that the groundwater continues to be thoroughly
monitored to the highest standards, is not qualified to offer any comments on the situation.
We recommend contacting the official web site
www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov.uk for up to date information.
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