Had Arcelor ook maar "benaderd"! :-)
Baker Hughes sued by Triuva for wrong steel in valves in German storage field
Bloomberg reported that according to a lawsuit Baker Hughes Inc used the wrong kind of steel in safety valves installed in a USD 2.5 billion German underground gas storage field, where ruptures last year rendered some caverns inoperable and threaten to make the entire facility worthless.
According to a complaint filed Monday in Houston federal court, Truva Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, which owns 47 natural-gas storage caverns in a massive salt-dome under Etzel, Germany, that warehouses 15 percent of the country’s gas supply, claims Baker Hughes supplied defective safety valves that “can crack wide open” if welded into place in a corrosive environment
Triuva said in the complaint, the defective equipment represents “a grave risk of harm with potentially catastrophic consequences,” because a rupture might result in the release of natural gas into the atmosphere and a potentially large fire.
Triuva said “The parts were allegedly made from a type of steel normally used in short-term deep water jobs, where systems are threaded and bolted together. The material is unsuitable for permanent underground systems, as it is difficult to weld properly and welding causes microscopic changes that leave the pipes prone to corrosion cracks.”
Triuva said “Baker Hughes’s safety valves were installed in 2009 and 2010 in 30 of Triuva’s caverns. Two of the valves ruptured in February and November of last year, allegedly along defective welds. Those caverns are now unusable and the safety of the remaining gas storage chambers has been put into question, unless the faulty parts can be switched out for ones made from the right steel”
If German mining regulators yank Triuva’s licenses because they decide the caverns can’t be safely operated, the company says its entire $2.5 billion Etzel investment might become “effectively worthless,” the company said.
Source : Bloomberg