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Chemical Accidents (Seveso II) - Prevention,
Preparedness and Response
What is Seveso?
Major
accidents in chemical industry have occurred world-wide. In
Europe, following the Seveso accident in 1976 prompted the
adoption of legislation aimed at the prevention and control
of such accidents. In 1982, the first EU Directive
82/501/EEC – so-called Seveso Directive – was adopted.
On 9 December 1996, the Seveso Directive was replaced by
Council Directive 96/82/EC, so-called Seveso II
Directive. This directive was extended by the Directive
2003/105/EC. The Seveso II Directive applies to some
thousands of industrial establishments where dangerous
substances are present in quantities exceeding the
thresholds in the directive.
The Seveso accident
The "Seveso" accident happened in 1976 at a chemical plant
in Seveso, Italy, manufacturing pesticides and herbicides. A
dense vapour cloud containing tetrachlorodibenzoparadioxin (TCDD)
was released from a reactor, used for the production of
trichlorofenol. Commonly known as dioxin, this was a
poisonous and carcinogenic by-product of an uncontrolled
exothermic reaction. Although no immediate fatalities were
reported, kilogramme quantities of the substance lethal to
man even in microgramme doses were widely dispersed which
resulted in an immediate contamination of some ten square
miles of land and vegetation. More than 600 people had to be
evacuated from their homes and as many as 2000 were treated
for dioxin poisoning.
The Seveso Directives I and II
In 1982, Council Directive 82/501/EEC on the
major-accident hazards of certain industrial activities (OJ
No L 230 of 5 August 1982) – so-called Seveso Directive
– was adopted. In the light of severe accidents at the Union
Carbide factory at Bhopal, India in 1984 where a leak of
methyl isocyanate caused more than 2500 deaths and at the
Sandoz warehouse in Basel, Switzerland in 1986 where
fire-fighting water contaminated with mercury,
organophosphate pesticides and other chemicals caused
massive pollution of the Rhine and the death of half a
million fish, the Seveso Directive was amended twice, in
1987 by Directive 87/216/EEC of 19 March 1987 (OJ No L 85
of 28 March 1987) and in 1988 by Directive 88/610/EEC
of 24 November 1988 (OJ No L 336 of 7 December 1988).
Both amendments aimed at broadening the scope of the
Directive, in particular to include the storage of dangerous
substances.
On 9 December 1996, Council Directive 96/82/EC on the
control of major-accident hazards - so-called Seveso II
Directive - was adopted. Member States had up to two years
to bring into force the national laws, regulations and
administrative provisions to comply with the Directive. From
3 February 1999, the obligations of the Directive have
become mandatory for industry as well as the public
authorities of the Member States responsible for the
implementation and enforcement of the Directive.
The Seveso II Directive has fully replaced its predecessor,
the original Seveso Directive. Important changes have been
made and new concepts have been introduced into the Seveso
II Directive. This includes a revision and extension of the
scope, the introduction of new requirements relating to
safety management systems, emergency planning and land-use
planning and a reinforcement of the provisions on
inspections to be carried out by Member States.
In the light of recent industrial accidents (Toulouse, Baia
Mare and Enschede) and studies on carcinogens and substances
dangerous for the environment, the Seveso II Directive
96/82/EC was extended by the
Directive 2003/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 16 December 2003 amending Council Directive
96/82/EC. The most important extensions of the scope of
that Directive are to cover risks arising from storage and
processing activities in mining, from pyrotechnic and
explosive substances and from the storage of ammonium
nitrate and ammonium nitrate based fertilizers. This
Directive is addressed to the Member States.
The review of the Directive
A review of the Directive is currently underway. For more information click here.
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