The 2001 Humber Refinery explosion was a major incident at the then Conoco-owned Humber Refinery at South Killingholme in North Lincolnshire, England. A large explosion occurred on the Saturate Gas Plant area of the site on Easter Monday, 16 April 2001 at approximately 2:20 p.m. There were no fatalities, but two people were injured.
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Effects
The incident temporarily shut down the entire refinery and caused oil prices to increase. Damage was caused to the nearby villages of North and South Killingholme as well as the nearby town of Immingham - mainly doors being blown from their hinges and windows being blown in.
HSE investigation
ConocoPhillips (now Phillips 66) was investigated and subsequently fined £895,000 and ordered to pay £218,854 costs by the Health and Safety Executive for failing to effectively monitor the degradation of the refinery's pipework. The company pleaded guilty to these charges in court and has since implemented a Risk Based Inspection programme.