There should be no doubts that the blasts and fires at the Buncefield oil terminal, just outside Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, on the 11th December 2005 will be discussed and the outcomes debated for many years to come.
The largest fire in peace time Europe with its huge black cloud sweeping south west towards the Hampshire and West Sussex coast and then over the English Channel, will live long in the memory of the British people and our European neighbours.
More than 180 fire fighters were deployed from 16 fire services, 26 appliances and 20 support vehicles and as much as 300,000 litres of foam concentrate used, resulting in 20 million litres of firewater.  It reminds us all that this type of incident can happen at any time, anywhere. The impact of such an enormous incident on the environment, is sometimes impossible to measure.
Site context
The Buncefield site is operated by Total and Texaco and is the fifth largest oil storage facility in the UK, storing some 30 million gallons of fuel, including petrol, diesel and aviation fuel supplied by underground pipework to Heathrow Airport.
Amazingly, there were only two people seriously injured from the 43 initially hurt in the blast at 06.03am on the morning of Sunday, December 11th. The timing of the blast appears to be the main reason so few people were hurt and thankfully why there were no fatalities at this massive fire.
We can all grateful for the bravery and dedication of the firefighters from the fire services involved and other specialists who all worked tirelessly over three days to extinguish the blaze.
It is thanks to the training of our firefighters and operational proceedures deployed in the UK, that serious injury and loss of life amongst firefighters and other emergency services personnel was avoided.
The consequences
History shows that Europe is likely to experience a large incident such as Buncefield at least five  times per decade. That’s a major fire every two years. Following the Flixborough fire in 1974, a major review of safety regulations was undertaken in the UK and prompted other European countries to consider their own safety regulations.
This review eventually led to the introduction of ‘The Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards’ (CIMAH) in 1984 and ‘Control of Major Accident Hazards’ (COMAH) in 1999, the later being the result of an EC Directive 96/82/EC also known as SEVECO2 Directive. 
Industry is certainly safer because of the introduction of these regulations. However, the UK alone has experienced three major incidents since 1994: Milford Haven in South Wales (1994); Humberside refinery (2001) and now Buncefield. In Europe, the fire at the Sandoz warehouse in Basel (1986) caused catastrophic pollution to the Rhine. 
Advancements in fire prevention and fire protection have increased dramatically in the past 20 years - but these improvements in hardware and even firefighting chemicals cannot reduce the likelihood of an incident taking place on a high-risk site.
The investigation into what led to the initial blast and the resulting fire is already underway and it is likely to be several months before the reasons for this environmental disaster are known in detail. Whether the initial blast that started the fire was caused by a catastrophic failure of equipment or human error, the environmental consequences could be with us for many years to come.
Pollution, PFOS & particulates
If we think of the environmental implications, we first think of that huge plume of smoke billowing south across the country. Its visual impact was frightening and worrying.
What we do not think about is the 20 million litres of firewater runoff, containing foam and the inevitable pollution from the site. Pollution such as oils and particulates can be separated by centrifuge from the firewater on site.
However, the foam used is likely be PFOS-based (Perfluorooctane Sulphonate) or will contain fluorinated material. The only viable way to remove this type of damaging molecule is via carbon  tower filtration such as the perfFECT filtration system - the carbon  is then destroyed through incineration.
PFOS, as with any other persistent substance, is a List 1 material as described in the Ground Water Regulations 1998. If the firewater contains persistent substances such as PFOS and this firewater finds its way into groundwater, then the environmental implications and contamination  in the groundwater could last for many years - not three weeks like the smoke.
The UK goverment has been prepared to invest in the large pumping equipment able to pump the vast volumes of water required and used so effectively at the Buncefield fire and in Carlisle during the floods in 2005.
We know that the oil companies invest hugely in fire protection for their sites to deal with fires; even these events as unlikely as Buncefield.
But have the oil companies and other industrial businesses with this high risk invested enough in post-fire clean-up equipment? It’s time they did.        
They need to ensure that clean-up operations cause no additional - and potentially more damaging - effects to the environment than the fire itself.

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