Exposed: Security Failures at Scottish Petrochemical Plant
By Neil Mackay, Investigations Editor
Armed with nothing but maps and blueprints, a team of Sunday Herald journalists last week walked around large swathes of Grangemouth, the sprawling petro-chemical complex and known terrorist target near Falkirk.
The security breach, which came just days after massive explosions ripped through an oil storage depot near Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, causing the largest ever peacetime explosion in Europe, just a week after al-Qaeda threatened to attack western oil facilities.
Two thousand people are employed at the site, which sits in the heart of Grangemouth, and a further 4000 live within one kilometre of the plant. An attack on Grangemouth, thought to produce 10 million tonnes of fuels a year, would send the UK into a fuel crisis.
As part of an investigation into safety at major oil installations in Scotland, a Sunday Herald reporter and photo grapher were able to walk up to large cylinders marked "explosive gases" and "flammable material" and to travel on foot around supposedly private and secure areas of the oil refinery.
The team deliberately did not pose as members of staff by wearing hard hats, overalls or reflective jackets. Dressed as ordinary members of the public, they were able to enter the plant at three separate locations.
Security staff approached the journalists only once, after they had been inside parts of the refinery complex for around 10 minutes. The team was told that it was in a secure area where the public was not allowed and were asked to leave the premises. Nobody escorted them from the site or asked for identification - instead they were able to stroll from the complex, get into their car and drive away.
Despite being approached on this single occasion by security within the refinery complex, the team was later able to enter two other parts of the site, one just a few metres away, and to walk up to an unprotected pipeline. Many of the security fences are small, unguarded and easy to climb. A criminal or terrorist could scale most fences in seconds without being noticed. There were few signs of CCTV in operation.
The Sunday Herald was also able to buy highly detailed maps and blueprints of the Grangemouth complex from the Scottish Land Registry for under £5. The ease of access to areas of the site and the ability to buy blueprints of the complex has caused fear, anger and bewilderment among the emergency services. Firefighters said a terrorist explosion at the plant would wipe Grangemouth off the map.
Last week an al-Qaeda tape called for terror attacks on oil facilities. Just a few days later there followed the incident at the Buncefield fuel depot in Hemel Hempstead, where 60 million gallons of fuel exploded in a blast that could be heard more than 100 miles away. Investigators are still searching for the cause of the explosion, but an act of terrorism is thought to be unlikely.
Gordon McQuaid, secretary of the Central Scotland Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and an operational firefighter for the Grangemouth area, said it was "frightening" that reporters had achieved access to the plant and that blueprints of Grangemouth were available from the Land Registry.
He added: "The ease of access is a huge concern both for firefighters and oil workers. The Grangemouth site is a lot bigger than the depot at Hemel Hempstead, and the blast there caused a massive blaze. Hemel Hempstead was just a depot; Grangemouth is a depot and a refinery. If it blew up, the explosion would be huge. It would wipe out the town."
Firefighters say that, although they have made detailed preparations for a disaster at Grangemouth, they would still be overwhelmed by an explosion at the complex and would have to call on outside support from other brigades in Scotland. Even a small incident at Grangemouth requires 11 out of Central Brigade's 27 fire appliances to be dispatched in case the situation should spiral out of control.
This is always a possibility to be guarded against at the plant, which contains enormous quantities of oil, gas and chemicals. Crude oil comes into the refinery, where petrol, methane and propane are all extracted. Oil and gas are pumped out in pipelines and shipped out in tankers.
One firefighter, who said he had been called to emergencies at Grangemouth "umpteen times" in a career of almost 20 years, said a drunken relative of his had once simply climbed over a security fence and spent the night wandering around the complex.
David Alexander, leader of Falkirk Council, said he would raise the issue with the council's chief executive, Mary Pitcaithly, who chairs a special UK unit of emergency planners.
"We accept that there is a risk in having the petrochemical industry on our doorstep, but if there are deficiencies then these need to be addressed quickly," he said.
Professor Andrew Watterson, head of Stirling University's Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group, said that there were security concerns about petrochemical installations regardless of members of the public being able to walk into private and secure areas.
He said a terrorist standing a mile away from the plant could use a high-powered rifle or rocket launcher to punch a hole in dangerous areas of the oil refinery.
According to Watterson, oil companies have "an appalling record on health, safety and environmental issues". He added: "Clearly, the security system isn?t working and that is worrying."
Benzene and other highly carcinogenic chemicals would pollute the atmosphere if a blaze hit Grangemouth, causing a severe risk to public health, Watterson warned.
Dr Andrew Rankine, a biochemist and director of Glasgow University's Safety and Environmental Protection Service, said: "It would seem to be very easy for a person of ill intent to plant a small bomb at Grangemouth. I'm alarmed by the idea that reporters could just walk on to the site - think of the mayhem that would ensue if one of the tanks there went up."
He said that at armaments factories even registered visitors were frisked by guards before being allowed access to the plant, adding: "Given what happened at Hemel Hempstead, we need loopholes plugged."
Jim McCourt of the Scottish Hazards Group, which campaigns for industrial safety, said: "These sites should not be close to houses and the local population as it places the inhabitants in danger. It's an absolute disgrace that reporters can get this sort of access to such a site."
Michael Matheson, SNP MSP for Central Scotland, said: "Grangemouth is a national strategic facility. It is essential that there is adequate security to control access to the site ." He called an urgent security review.
Mark Ruskell, Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said there had been a long history of safety and environmental concerns at Grangemouth.
He added: "After Buncefield there needs to be a full review of all practices at Grangemouth to ensure lessons are learned fast and changes made to reassure people who live close by."
A spokesman for Grangemouth said: "We constantly monitor security procedures and the site is patrolled by security." He added that he could not comment further as he did not know exactly where on the site the Sunday Herald team had been.
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