People fear for their health as mystery dust coats cars

Cars have been coated with a thick layer of grey dust in Ellesmere Port today. Concerns were raised after a large cloud of smoke was reported coming from Stanlow Oil Refinery on Tuesday (September 17).

Nearby residents told the ECHO they are concerned for their health after seeing the smoke. Gareth Black reported seeing a “thick grey cloud” coming from a chimney at the refinery around 1pm, one hour later he says his car was “covered” in a grey dust.

ECHO readers have shared photos showing a cloud of smoke coming from the Refinery. Others show the soot-like substance that has coated nearby cars. the company which runs Stanlow later responded to residents' concerns in a statement released shortly after 6pm.

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Gareth, 44, from Ellesmere Port, said: “It's a fine soot, but it’s falling so quickly. I work just off North Road [in Ellesmere Port] near the Pioneer Industrial Estate and our cars in the car park are covered in it.

“It’s on all the cars in the car park. It’s like a fine grey dust. I’m not sure if it's in the air or not but smoke was spewing out of the Stanlow Oil Refinery at about 1pm. Within an hour it covered our cars in that stuff.”

Gareth said he is concerned about people’s health and fears it could be harmful. He said: “I'm worried. What if we inhale it? Should we inhale it? Should we stay inside? I’m worried in case it turns out that it is harmful and we should have stayed inside.”

A statement released this evening by Essar Energy Transition, which runs Stanlow Refinery, said: "We would like to apologise for the release of non-hazardous dust that occurred from our site at approximately 1.30pm on 17/09/2024. This followed some disruption yesterday which resulted from the unplanned shutdown of a process unit.

"We know that this type of incident can cause distress, and we would like to assure you that this dust is non-toxic and non-hazardous and does not pose any health or safety risks.

"We can advise that the source of the dust release has been identified and has been effectively managed. The affected unit is currently being restarted and I regret to have to inform you that during this period you may continue to experience increased levels of noise and flaring from the refinery.

"Please be assured that this activity is being undertaken in a safe and controlled manner. Supplies of products to our customers will continue as normal. For further information or questions, please reach out to Communications@eetfuels.com.

"Thank you for your attention in this matter."

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