THE RESIDENT  | | The huge plume of smoke |
Bill Burger is one of those residents whose had his home damaged by the Buncefield explosion. What problems did you suffer? Bill: We've got extensive damage in the house. Obviously we've got the usual windows and doors blown out, but the ceiling's come down, there's extensive cracking everywhere, the roof has shifted a little bit and basically the place isn't habitable at the moment. So what are you doing? Bill: We're in rented accommodation at the moment and waiting for the insurance to get on and start fixing the place. What sort of news is coming through from the insurance company? Bill: They are getting there slowly. Obviously we've had Christmas in the way and they weren't really geared up to deal with the volume of claims that they had over Christmas so things were very, very slow and they've not particularly speeded up now, but we're beginning to get there. When the news happened, the impression that came through was "Don't worry - it will all be taken care of"? Bill: Yes - I guess it will be taken care of in the fullness of time but it's not speedy and the insurance company are obviously doing their best to minimise their losses. How are your children coping? Bill: They're OK but they're not sleeping well at night. They were OK over Christmas - obviously the excitement diverted their attention - but immediately afterwards they started expressing their fears. Even though we're in a house some distance away now, they're worried about the house catching fire so they're not as they were before. Even when the house is fit and proper, will you feel comfortable living there again? Bill: Well, no. We've been complaining about petrol vapour smells coming from the depot for years, both to the depot and to the Council and nothing's ever been done about it. The Council wouldn't even give us a telephone number to call at the weekend to call someone out to at least witness the vapour. So no, I won't be comfortable going back. The smell would come across the fields and would settle around and in the house sometimes. It was horrendous and our complaints fell on deaf ears. I've got a long list of emails and correspondents, particularly with the Council, who in my view failed to respond appropriately. And we were going to move away this spring. We were just about to put the house on the market. We'd had quite a lot of building work done to spruce it up ready to sell, and now of course nobody's going to want to buy it. So we're now a significant amount down on the value of the house. THE SOLICITOR  | | People look on as the smoke billows. |
Solicitors acting for the families effected by the explosion at Buncefield in Hemel Hempstead are calling for a PUBLIC inquiry into the blast. We spoke to Des Collins from Collins Solicitors who are dealing with 40 cases of those who want compensation for redundancy and property damage. He told us why they want another inquiry and why insurers seem to be being rather awkward. There is an inquiry underway at the moment - why aren't you happy with that? Des: There are two enquiries underway, both at the behest of the Health and Safety Commission. One is the immediate inquiry to try and produce a report as quickly as possible as to what happened. Secondly, the Health and Safety Commission under Section 14 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, has asked the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to produce an independent report into the underlying causes of the accident. It's that second report into the underlying causes which we say is bound to be flawed because what you have is the HSE effectively carrying out an investigation of its own performance in allowing this situation to continue. In other words while the HSE can determine what caused the problem I don't think it's the right body to determine the underlying causes and make recommendations. We seem to be using public inquiries less and less. have you any idea why? Des: It's widely regarded in government circles that they are ineffective and expensive and don't really produce any real and effective solutions to problems which arise - but they produce a lot of paperwork. It's regarded as a means of investigation which is regarded to some extent as being over cumbersome and unwieldy. And you've received a petition from hundreds of the people who've been affected? Des: Yes - we have received and are continuing to receive signatures on a petition daily asking for an inquiry into this and the reason we feel that an enquiry is appropriate is because the HSE isn't in a position to investigate itself. And also the underlying problems that this gives rise to must be investigated at a level above Health and Safety. Everybody's cases will be different but how much do you feel the people of Hemel should be entitled to? Des: At a very basic level the residents of Hemel must be entitled to feel secure in the knowledge that whatever went wrong will be put right. And if that means closing this down and not rebuilding it then that's what will happen and it will happen on an independent decision for the good of the people of Hemel Hempstead. As far as monetary compensation is concerned that depends entirely on the extent to which people have been injured. Are the insurers coming forward on this or are they being a bit awkward? Des: They're being very awkward. What we're finding here is something we've never found in a situation like this. We've been involved in the Paddington Rail crash, the Herald of Free Enterprise and Pipa Alpha and in all those incidents you saw the insurance industry getting together and saying "Look - we don't mind whose fault this was at the moment. Let's pay out what necessary compensation must be paid then later on, you and I (the industry) behind the scenes will fight each other to say who should be responsible for that payment." And they do argue. They're still arguing about the Paddington Rail crash now. But that's not happening in Hemel. We're seeing no response from the industry and something needs to be done about it quickly. Why are they taking this line? Des: I just don't know. It is almost unheard of. I think they are really concerned as to who will accept liability and I think there's a strong feeling that this was the accident which was never going to happen therefore no one will accept responsibility. It's really like the Titanic. It couldn't happen therefore anything we did was bound to be enough. Now we know with the Titanic, they thought it couldn't sink and it did. They thought that Buncefield couldn't blow up in this way and it did. And no one wants to look at it and say "Hey guys, we got this wrong". THE STEERING GROUP  | | Buncefield Fire: View from a deserted M1 |
Businesses affected by the Buncefield explosion could be entitled to a reduction in rates. Dacorum Borough Council says it is looking at how to help those who lost premises or suffered structural damage. David Furnell is part of a new steering group set up for businesses since the disaster. What do you make of this offer? David: Any offer is gratefully received obviously and anything that can be done to help businesses is always welcome. You met last Friday to talk about regeneration - what came out of the meeting? David: Last Friday's meeting was more about the planning of things and to get the information from everybody to know exactly what people required and what their needs were. It's like all things in business, you're quite good at self-helping yourself but people outside don't know exactly what you do need so that's one of the major parts of this operation - to find out exactly what businesses needed. And that's what was taken to the network meeting yesterday. How are businesses coping? David: I think that businesses ARE coping, both large and small, that's what we do, what we HAVE to do every day, regardless of if we have a disaster on our doorstep. We have to cope because we have to keep the jobs going for our employees and keep servicing our customers. So we are coping - but the strain tells. THE MP  | | The skies dark with thick smoke. |
The Conservative MP for Hemel Mike Penning has kept a close eye on developments following the disaster. What is the latest situation? Mike: I think there's a lot of frustration and quite a bit of anger. I can understand that and I share that anger. The cameras have gone, the fire is out and now the nitty gritty is moving forward and I'm afraid that the nitty gritty isn't coming from the government. The Deputy Prime Minister came down for his photo call and we've not heard anything from him since. I've been banging on his door and there has been lots of promises but nothing coming. And I'm afraid that while some insurers are being very good, to be honest with you, some are just trying to do a damage limitation exercise and I find that very annoying. Why is this happening? Normally the insurance companies help their customers then sort out the business behind the scenes but that doesn't seem to be happening in this case? Mike: I was promised from Day One that that would be what happened and that the government would step in if that didn't happen. That's what happens in countries like France. The government step in, they pay the money and then get the money back from the insurers and the big corporates. What's happened this time is that, to be fair Total have put money up - £150,000 initially - but the insurers seem to be hiding behind a smokescreen of requiring more information. I think it's the sheer size of the devastation in Hemel that is scaring them. I know you're on the case and you're pushing all the buttons you can but is anybody else at a national level, in terms of government, making sure that the residents of Hemel Hempstead are taken care of? Mike: Well - that's the promise they gave me and I shall be banging on the door of the Deputy Prime Minister again today when I arrive in Westminster. They make all the comments but nothing's happened. I want an Enterprise Zone set up for the commercial sector there, like they did in Carlisle, where there were tax breaks for businesses to stay or to come into the area. What I'm really very worried about is that a lot of businesses relocated outside of our area, and we need to make sure that they come back and stay with us, because they're great employers and we need them to stay. And of course the residents have great concerns about the values of their properties and unless the government do their bit I'm afraid I'm banging against a very large brick wall when I try to help them. | 
