One tragedy after another. The damage count and the death toll from the catastrophic flood of July 15 have not yet concluded that a new disaster strikes North Rhine Westphalia: an explosion in the waste disposal plant of Leverkusen, in one of the largest chemical parks in Europe, which resulted in the death of at least two people and 31 injured, including 5 serious while desperately searching for some missing, employees of the site. But the balance, including the environmental one, could still worsen when the toxic cloud that has extended for over sixty kilometers up to Dortmund will be clarified. With a risk that saw the authorities launch an appeal to all residents: “Do not leave the house, seal the doors and windows.”
Two dead, three missing
Mayor Uwe Richrath speaks of “a black day for the citizens of Leverkusen”, black as the column of smoke that terrified them starting at 9:40 in the morning, when a powerful explosion broke the silence. Powerful enough to be felt by the Hespertal geological and seismic service station, 40 kilometers north of Leverkusen. The fire was only put out after several hours, around lunchtime. It had spread in three tanks filled with between 200 and 300 cubic meters of “organic solvent”, explained the managing director of the company that manages the “Chempark” area, Lars Friedrich of Currenta.
A large contingent of firefighters, police and rescuers arrived immediately on the spot, as pointed out in the press conference. The fear was in fact that the flames could spread again, thanks to the wind, producing new explosions and aggravating the situation. The civil protection alert app, «Nina», has spread the alarm of «extreme danger» for toxic gases dispersed in the air among the inhabitants of the area via mobile phones since the morning. The population was asked to lock themselves in their homes, sealing doors and windows, and to wash fruit and vegetables harvested from the gardens well. City parks and playgrounds have been closed “as a precaution,” says the mayor of the town twenty kilometers from Cologne.
#BREAKING: Emergency services responding to large explosion at chemical plant in Leverkusen, Germanypic.twitter.com/4cILPlciQ8
— I.E.N. (@BreakingIEN) July 27, 2021
As the hours passed, the authorities continued to speak of “danger”, but dropped the adjective “extreme”, and so the three motorways closed to traffic (the A1, A3 and A5) were also reopened. However, it is not yet clear what exactly the substances released by the fire are and an air measurement is underway, the Currenta manager said. “At the moment we don’t have an exact analysis of the cloud and that’s why we haven’t lifted the alert yet,” said Friedrich. According to information from the State Environmental Agency (Lanuv), an assessment of the presence of relevant substances in precipitation after the fire will only be possible towards the weekend.
In addition to being an environmental disaster, the explosion is increasingly looming as a dramatic workplace accident. The employees present in the area, between the hazardous waste disposal plant, the landfill and the wastewater treatment plant were between 50 and 60 at the time of the outbreak, as every day, the Currenta manager said. Of the 31 injured, 5 are currently in intensive care and one of them is dying from numerous and heavy burns. There are still no hypotheses about the origin of the explosion. For the president of North Rhine-Westphalia and candidate for chancellery for the CDU-Csu Union, Armin Laschet, this event is a new spanner in the wheel of an electoral campaign that is proving to be uphill as never before. The president of the CDU expressed his condolences for the families affected by the explosion and thanked the rescuers “who through their courageous mission have prevented the worst from happening”. But the controversy is lurking.
