After the explosion in Gulen
This is a joint project between Helse Bergen/Haukeland University Hospital and the University of Bergen. The health problems of the people in Gulen will be identified in the aftermath of the explosion.
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On May 24, 2007, two tanks exploded at Vest Tank’s facility in Sløvåg in Gulen Municipality. The explosion caused a major fire, and a black cloud of smoke spread over a large area in the Gulen and Masfjorden municipalities. The tanks that exploded contained petroleum products, including sulfur-containing products from the desulfurization of such.
After the accident, there were reports of a strong odor in the environment around the facility and various symptoms among workers in Sløvåg and residents in the Gulen and Masfjorden municipalities. Cleanup work began immediately but was not completed until almost three years later, and throughout this period, there was foul-smelling waste from the accident in the area.
On July 9, 2008 a public meeting was held in Gulen and Masfjorden, where among others the Minister of the Environment, Erik Solheim, and the Director of the Norwegian Directorate of Health Bjørn Inge Larsen were present. In this meeting, it was promised that those who were exposed in the accident in Sløvåg should be offered a medical examination. In July 2008 a request was sent to Helse Bergen enquiring whether they could be willing to undertake this study.
Helse Bergen received the following mandate from the Norwegian Directorate of Health dated July 10, 2008:
We mean there is a good reason for performing a health examination of the exposed:
1. It is important that people’s health issues are taken seriously.
2. We want the people who are having problems to get an offer of an examination, registration of ailments and that samples are taken for current and possible future analysis.
3. We want to learn from the incident, both by obtaining knowledge of problems the individual person has, or has had, and consequences for the community after an incident like this.
4. The Norwegian Directorate of Health wishes that a survey like this can have effect, both by giving good information and a follow up of the sick, and that it can help us plan better on a community level for a possible chemical accident in the future.
The project is finished. It has produced 3 doctoral theses:
Luftveisplager i årene etter «Sløvågulykken» | Nye doktorgrader | UiB Jens-Tore Granslo 15.11.2016
Påvirker miljøet blodcellene våre? | Nye doktorgrader | UiB André Sulen 09.12.2016
Illeluktende avfall etter Sløvåg-ulykken og helseplager | Nye doktorgrader | UiB Gro Tjalvin 02.02.2018
