The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken down an immediate prohibition notice served on Eni UK over safety concerns at its Point of Ayr Gas Terminal in Wales.
An Eni representative said: “A Prohibition Notice (which prohibited conducting sealed source gauge removals without safe systems of work) was issued but has since been rescinded by the HSE upon appeal by Eni.”
According to the company, during a routine historical inspection, HSE issued an Improvement Notice on the relocation of a gauge on Eni’s Douglas to Point of Ayr gas pipeline, where gas production ceased in June 2023.
“Actions have since been implemented to close out this Improvement Notice to the satisfaction of the HSE. No personnel were harmed during this activity which was completed without incident,” the representative added.
The prohibition notice, which is now no longer available on the HSE website, claimed that Eni the gauge removal work put personnel at risk of ionising radiation.
The Point of Ayr Gas Terminal is based in Flintshire in Wales. Since opening in 1995, it processes gas from the Liverpool Bay offshore fields. Eni bought BHP Billiton’s stake in 2014, becoming the site’s owner and operator.
Around 300 workers are currently employed at the facility.
The terminal is part of the HyNet carbon capture and storage project, which will see existing gas infrastructure repurposed to form an export pipeline to transport CO2 to a newly built Douglas CCS platform.
Ionising radiation, which includes X-rays, has the potential to cause skin and tissue damage, while long-term exposure can increase the risk of cancer.
A prohibition notice is stronger than the more common improvement notice. It stops an operator from performing the prohibiting work immediately, and can only restart once appropriate safety measures are applied.
Updated: 02/04/2024
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