The incident yesterday (2 October) evening is the second time a site owned by Severn Trent in the region has been struck by lightning, after an Agrivert site around 20 miles away in Wallingford, now owned by Severn Trent, was also struck in 2016 causing a “short but intensive” fire (see letsrecycle.com story).
Crews were called to the scene at around 19:20 on 2 October after a tank at the site in Cassington was struck by lightning, with local residents reporting an “explosion”.
The fire has since been brought under control, but crews remain on the scene. It is understood that three of the five tanks have been damaged.
A spokesperson for Severn Trent said this morning: “We’d like to thank the emergency services for their work overnight to contain and lead the incident at Cassington, where our plant was struck by lightning. Keeping our teams and the local community safe has been of paramount importance and we are relieved that no one has been hurt.
“We will continue to work with the emergency services who are still on site as we assess the damage and while the fire is out, we urge people not to come to the site today.”
Explosion North-West of Oxford. pic.twitter.com/d7ypIdvs2m
— Knocker (@Knocker) October 2, 2023
Police
Thames Valley Police also confirmed that they were in attendance, warning of nearby road closures and urging residents to keep windows closed and not attend the scene.
A spokesperson for the police said: “It is believed that lightning struck gas containers at the site during bad weather this evening, causing a large fire.
“No one is believed to have been hurt, but emergency services remain at the scene. As a result of this, A40 has been closed between Wolvercote and Eynsham. To ensure public safety, residents are asked to stay home, shut windows and doors and not to attend the scene.”
The A40 has since reopened.
Site
The Cassington AD plant processes food waste from the company’s long term contract with Oxfordshire county council.
It also processes commercial food wastes, including packaged goods. The facility processes over 50,000 tonnes of solid and liquid waste each year, generating 2.1MW of electricity and producing a bio-fertiliser.
All Oxfordshire households receive food waste recycling collections via their district council. This includes Cherwell, Oxford City, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Oxfordshire councils.
The county council confirmed to letsrecycle.com that while Cassington AD is closed, Severn Trent Green Power has implemented contingency arrangements for food waste collected by the district councils. They are being diverted to Wallingford AD and Ardley IVC.
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