Fawley Refinery: HSE investigates flare incident
- Published
The flares could be seen as far away as the Isle of Wight
An incident at an oil refinery is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
ExxonMobil declared the "operational incident" at the Fawley refinery, near Southampton, on Tuesday evening.
The company has given few details about the problem which it described as "an issue on one of our units" and led to flares being used for about four hours.
The HSE said its investigation was ongoing and inspectors have been at the site.
"There were no injuries and the area of the plant nearby was evacuated and made safe," a HSE spokesperson added.
The use of flares at the site to manage excess gas could be seen for miles around.
About 2,500 staff and contractors work on the 3,250-acre site which first opened in 1951
A spokesman for ExxonMobil said: "We deployed our flares, as part of our standard safety and operational procedures, to help our teams conduct their work.
"We apologise to communities for any disturbance caused by their use."
The firm said there were no injuries and no fire during the incident which its on-site emergency teams dealt with.
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- Published8 November 2022
