The municipality of Urk and a contractor are both guilty of a gas explosion in Urk in 2016, in which six homes were destroyed. They are not punished, but they do have to pay compensation to residents. Grid operator Liander has been acquitted by the Amsterdam court.
The explosion at the Grote Fok in Urk happened on June 3, 2016. A gas pipe was hit during work on the sewer system. The gas flowed into the houses via the sewer, after which they were destroyed by an explosion and a fire.
In May, the Public Prosecution Service demanded a fine of 75,000 euros each against the contractor and network manager Liander and 40,000 euros against the municipality of Urk.
The accusation was that carelessness caused the gas leak and the fire. The contractor would have underestimated the risks of working close to a gas pipe. The municipality and Liander are said to have failed.
Act carelessly
The court states that the contractor and the municipality are indeed guilty and acted negligently, Omroep Flevoland reports. The contractor did not consult maps and mistook the gas pipe for a water pipe. Also, the contractor made no contact with Liander and failed to request permission to dig within a meter of the gas pipeline.
After the leak occurred during excavation work, it was not properly sealed. This allowed gas to escape and enter the sewer under the houses, where it exploded. The court sees this as careless action.
According to the court, the municipality of Urk has not properly performed its role as supervisor. In addition, at a number of times the municipality has not recognized the risk of hitting a gas pipe.
Big impact
But no punishment is imposed because it no longer serves its purpose four years after the disaster. The explosion had a major impact on the company’s director and employees. The company has lost assignments, suffered damage to its image and some of its employees have retired. According to the court, the contractor learned from the incident.
The same applies to the municipality of Urk. The judge also believes that Urk acted quickly after the explosion and took responsibility by building new homes in the same place.
The municipality and the contractor will have to pay damages totaling almost 70,000 euros to three residents.
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