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Total must pay £750m for staff failures over Buncefield blaze
Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor20.03.09
Oil giant Total was today facing a £750million bill for the Buncefield oil depot explosion after a High Court judge ruled that its staff's failures were to blame for the blast.
In a ruling which ends years of legal wrangling, Mr Justice David Steel said that Total should pay the property damage bills of all the individual and business claimants who suffered losses in the December 2005 explosion, which measured 2.4 on the Richter scale and was heard 125 miles away.
Total had claimed that responsibility for the blast - which occurred after 300 tonnes of petrol spilled from the top of a storage tank and injured 43 people - should be in part borne by Chevron, an oil firm with which it jointly operated the Hemel Hempstead depot.
Today the judge rejected this argument and said that Total should face sole liability because it held the employment contracts of all those working on the Buncefield site. Total's staff determined how the depot was run and managed. By contrast, the judge added, HOSL - a firm jointly owned by Total and Chevron which nominally operated the Buncefield site - had no direct involvement with the depot's day-to-day operations and was not therefore liable for the explosion.
Mr Justice Steel also said that the failure of Total's head office staff to ensure that an adequate system was in place to preventing the overfilling of a tank also indicated the firm's liability.
A spokesman for Collins Solicitors of Watford, which represents a large number of nearby residents affected by the explosion, said they welcomed the judgment.
He said: "This has been a long and arduous process. Through no fault of their own they have been caught up in this protracted litigation which has caused untold stress and further disruption to their lives."
Total said in a statement that it would be considering an appeal, but added: "Total has never sought to avoid its responsibilities as a partner in the joint venture at Buncefield.
"We will continue to make every effort to ensure significant progress is made to settle outstanding claims. Total continues to work to develop and improve safety in all areas of our business."
Total emphasised that the majority of claimants had had their claims settled by their insurance companies and HOSL had settled almost 70 per cent of the 3,545 claims received.
