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Last Monday, it burned brightly at the Equinor gas plant in Melkøya, outside Hammerfest. One of the most serious fires at an onshore facility to date, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority.
Now residents go and wonder what caused the fire.
Trond Børre Halvorsen and Anneke Paulsen are shop stewards at the facility. They demand responses from management.
Hammerfest is rocked by the dramatic fire at the Equinor gas plant in Melkøya. The incident is now being investigated by three different units. Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for an answer about what happened.
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Last week, Melkøya on the outskirts of Hammerfest experienced one of the most serious fires at a land-based facility, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA). A few days in advance, several bypasses were found at the gas plant.
– It was a spectacular experience for many in the plant and in the city, says factory manager Andreas Sandvik to Aftenposten / E24.
A week has passed since the fire. The sun shines. The cafes are full. Life in downtown Hammerfest continues as usual this fall day.
The relaxed atmosphere in the center contrasts sharply with the activity on the island, two kilometers from the center. Here, Kripos technicians walk and investigate. Equinor also has a team looking for answers. The PSA has the same.
– People thought he had to evacuate the city!
Aftenposten / E24 meets Gunnar Bolle outside the QA spiseri cafe. The elevated presidency, as the mayor calls it. Here are people with strong opinions, not afraid to share them.
Bolle is formerly head of exchange 110 at Hammerfest. He previously worked at Melkøya, was an area manager in the National Guard and knows the place like the back of his hand. He himself was not concerned when the fire broke out.
– Too bad to report
– The people of the city are not aware of a gas plant. Equinor has been a shame to report on how it works. It should be possible to get more information. It’s your responsibility, he says.
– If heads roll later, we don’t know. But there will be problems, Bolle says.
A few days after the fire, Equinor itself announced that they did not follow up on a 2017 deviation, which the PSA asked them to clean up. This is what Bolle criticizes.
If it has something to do with fire, you don’t know. Neither does the PSA, the police, Equinor management or its own employees.
Ken Roger Gjøvik and Gunnar Bolle strike up a chat outside the QA restaurant. – If heads roll later, we don’t know. But there will be problems, Bolle says.
Jan T. Espedal
Investigated by Equinor, the PSA and the police
Hammerfest LNG receives natural gas from the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea and cools it to a liquid. The gas is then sold to the US, Asian and European markets. The plant has an annual turnover of around NOK 10 billion and employs more than 300 people.
Technical investigations into the causes of the fire began on Monday of this week. Meanwhile, the plant has been closed and production has stopped.
Fire Chief Arne Myrseth at Hammerfest does not want to be interviewed about last week’s fire. However, he has told iFinnmark about the experience.
– I got a knot in my stomach, I must admit, he told the newspaper, about the minutes on the way to the island.
– Here it was clear from the beginning that there was talk of a violent fire, it is quoted as saying.
Now both citizens, politicians, employees and authorities make a demand:
Find out what happened.
Fire Chief Arne Myrseth at Hammerfest.
Jan Tomas Espedal
– Installation has meant it all
We go back 18 years. Hammerfest lay with a broken back. More than a thousand jobs were lost when the Findus factory was relocated. The municipality was threatened with eviction. They were on the state’s own blacklist for municipalities with weak economies – the infamous ROBEK list.
– It was difficult to move on, says Marianne Sivertsen Næss to Aftenposten / E24.
She is the mayor of the Labor Party in the industrial municipality, where half of the inhabitants vote for the Labor Party in local elections.
Then, in the winter of 2002, the good news came: Equinor invested NOK 46 billion in a gas plant in Melkøya. “Hammerfest is becoming a happier city,” wrote Aftenposten in March of the same year.
In 2007, production started. Since then, the facility has awarded Hammerfest a total of more than NOK 2 billion in property taxes.
– Installation has meant everything. The city has completely changed. I don’t know what we would have been without us, says Sivertsen Næss.
Hammerfest has its own barcode. The house of culture, which is illuminated with pink lights, is one of the buildings that Equinor has helped finance.
Jan T. Espedal
– The seriousness was great
She proudly takes us to the harbor promenade and shows us Hammerfest’s own barcode, as she calls it.
Speaker at Hammerfest, Marianne Sivertsen Næss (Labor Party).
Jan T. Espedal
In the short strip, according to the mayor, they have invested one billion crowns in recent years. It would never have happened without the LNG plant in Melkøya. Schools, kindergartens and care centers have also been built at a rapid pace.
She describes the accident that happened a week earlier, as well as dramatic.
She herself was sitting in the office working when the fire broke out. First the power went out, then the journalists called. And then the rescued residents made contact.
– The seriousness was great. The scope was unknown. Then you get restless, she says.
And add:
– I have had it clear Equinor. One must know why it happened. How do you make sure this never happens again? We need to know the causes and the course of events.
– Everyone is waiting for an answer.
Anneke Paulsen is the process operator at the plant and had just returned home when the fire broke out. He had to get in the car and return immediately.
– There was a bit of excitement. You feel a shock in you. But for that we are trained. It worked, she says.
– Management must arrive early with information. Everyone is waiting for an answer. We hope to arrive soon, he adds.
Aftenposten / E24 meets her and her colleague Trond Børre Halvorsen on the pier in Hammerfest, overlooking the island.
Paulsen is deputy director of the Safe Club at LNG Hammerfest. Halvorsen is a member of the board.
Anneke Paulsen and Trond Børre Halvorsen, shop stewards at Equinor’s gas plant in Melkøya.
Jan Tomas Espedal
– Unlucky
They acknowledge that Equinor did not come out early enough with information. The discomfort of the people is due to the fact that they do not know the facility and its security regime, they believe.
– We must reassure the population, says Halvorsen.
– How is society affected by the incident?
– We read Facebook and the newspaper, and people are worried. There are some speculations and accusations. Much is wrong. Like we have a new one Beirut. That would not happen.
They took the incident in stride themselves.
– They were mixed feelings. We had no control over what had happened. We were told there was a fire and we had to respond quickly. We did what we were taught to do, says Halvorsen.
He is excited about what the PSA will come up with.
– What do you think of the fact that the deviation of 2017 was not followed?
– It’s not luck, they both answer.
– Awkward and dramatic
Here, but not anymore. This is Equinor’s message when Aftenposten / E24 embarks on the long journey north to visit the facilities. Coronary restrictions prevent us from entering.
Therefore, we meet the factory manager, Andreas Sandvik, at the gate, on the other side of the tunnel connecting Melkøya and the mainland.
Andreas Sandvik, factory manager at Equinor’s gas plant in Melkøya, outside Hammerfest.
Jan Tomas Espedal
Sandvik has been a factory manager at LNG Hammerfest for 2.5 years. He was on the premises when the fire started.
– Are more people asking for better information from Equinor after the fire?
– It was experienced as uncomfortable and dramatic. I understand that there are many questions. We will evaluate the entire incident before we can say anything about what can be improved, he tells Aftenposten / E24.
– Could the incident be due to lack of maintenance?
– I have no reason to speculate, we must see what the investigation says.
– Not well. This is not how we should feel
Equinor itself has stated that incorrect records have been made in the monitoring system of the aforementioned deviation in 2017.
When asked what this means, Sandvik responds that “the deviations do not close with the quality that is expected”.
– Why didn’t you follow up on the discrepancy?
– We take all PSA deviations and findings very seriously. We prioritize getting it right. Something did not close properly. Let’s go up now to find out what happened. We will make sure that it does not happen again.
– Is it symptomatic of how Melkøya works?
– No. We have a daily life filled with security in the main focus. That is priority number one. But discoveries have been made and that fills us with humility. Not good. This is not how we should be. We must have full control over such things. And then we have to work to improve even more.
Just over a year ago, the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority issued a very harsh opinion on maintenance routines at the plant. There, they revealed three discrepancies related to “maintenance management, maintenance strategy and barrier management”.
– Does the report provide a legitimate picture of the situation?
– I don’t want to comment on that. We continually work to ensure proper maintenance at the right time, says Sandvik.
Equinor gas plant in Melkøya.
Jan Tomas Espedal
– Verstinganlegg
According to the PSA report, the plant has deficiencies in the ability to perform operation and maintenance.
– Do you agree?
– I note that it is noted in the report.
– Can the residents of Hammerfest be sure you are doing enough maintenance?
– A prerequisite for us to be able to drive is that we can document the correct level of safety. We document and work with this continuously. It is safe to live near Hammerfest LNG.
The leader Frederic Hauge of the Bellona environmental foundation is ruthless with the Snøhvit plant. He called the facility a “worse facility” versus E24 last week.
– What do you think of that description?
– We have a modern facility with competent people. We have many employees, all of whom are constantly working to ensure that we have the proper level of security in accordance with regulations. It’s leading what I think about such a statement, responds Equinor’s factory manager.
