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Elgin explosion (North sea)

Explosion d’Elgin (Mer du Nord)

Information

  • Year : 2012
  • Dimensions : 47.2441 x 23.622 inches

The artistic process

On March 25, 2012, in the North Sea,TOTAL lost control of its Elgin gas platform which was releasing every day 200,000 m3 of gas, condensates and hydrogen sulfide for three months. The breach was then partially plugged, but the platform continued to pollute the atmosphere until October 2012. It was again the safety valve at the bottom of the well that had failed. In 1991, during the Gulf War, Nicole King, then spokesperson for WWF International was the only expert to denounce the oil industry’s failure to respect international safety standards: 300 wells had caught fire because the BOPs (mandatory safety valves at the bottom of wells) had never been installed. 
* WWF International Discussion paper
”Lessons to be learned from the environmental consequences of the Persian Gulf War” by Nicole King-Volcy (1991).