Openreach Still Struggling with Underground Petrol Leak in Surrey UK UPDATE2

Network operator Openreach (BT) has issued an update on a long-running petrol leak in the village of Bramley (Surrey, England), which is having a “significant and ongoing impact” on their underground broadband and phone network. Sadly, the dangers involved mean that the problem is now likely to affect their local work and services for “several months“.

According to a new notice sent to local communication providers and seen by ISPreview, the situation technically began “at least two years ago” after fuel began leaking from an ASDA Petrol Station in the village. But over the course of that time this petrol has begun to cause fuel smells in the area, harming local businesses, and has since leaked into the surrounding groundwater, as well as local utility services.

The local authority now reports that Thames Water has had to issue “do not drink tap water” notices to 616 Bramley properties (GU5, Surrey), with Water Stations being setup at Bramley Library and Artington. Both Openreach and Thames Water have since been busy investigating whether the work of both parties can be safely undertaken to help resolve the situation and minimise disruption time for residents.

Bramley Fuel Pollution – Affected Properties Map (Council)

The operator has today sent out a new notice to local communication providers, which underlines how challenging the situation has become to resolve (it goes without saying that petrol can be highly flammable and explosive).

The bad news is that it may now take “several months” before the situation is resolved, and that’s to say nothing of the longer-term environmental clean-up and impacts. Openreach understandably states that their engineers cannot work while the area is so unsafe, and are thus “proceeding with extreme caution“. A specialist contractor (OHES) has also been instructed to advise the operator and help “put safety measures in place to mitigate any immediate risk.”

The good news is that, right now, the direct impact upon local phone and broadband services is said to be “minimal” and only a “handful of customers” are known to have reported faults via their ISP. But it’s worth remembering that the restrictions are having a much wider impact than just the area itself, with Openreach noting that “the network that’s impacted [serves] thousands of customers in Bramley and the surrounding area.”

In other words, while the operator hopes that there won’t be any major service-related issues over the coming months, they do warn that they “won’t be able to fix every issue that’s reported to us” (many can be resolved remotely, but some cannot). “In these cases, we’ll be working with Communications Providers to provide alternative and temporary services until we can – for example via a mobile/wireless signal,” said Openreach.

The fact that no physical service repairs, engineering work, fault management, end customer provision or fibre (FTTP) build can take place (i.e. at least until the immediate explosion risk is mitigated) is naturally very disruptive, and some customers will no doubt be caught out. But at the same time Openreach are still encouraging ISPs to “continue placing orders“, even though in the short-term they may only be able to deliver those that don’t require an engineer visit.

In the end, it is VERY important to remember just how dangerous and extraordinary this situation is. We can’t recall seeing anything quite like this before. On the upside, there is a massive team effort going on behind the scenes, involving Jeremy Hunt MP, Bramley Parish Council, St Catherine’s School, Asda, EPS, Thames Water, WBC’s Environmental Team, Openreach, the EA, UK Health Security Agency and Surrey Trading Standards Officers.

Not quite the “Asda price feeling” locals had in mind, perhaps.

UPDATE 3:27pm

We’ve had a comment from Openreach.

An Openreach spokesperson told ISPreview:

“The ongoing petrol leak in Bramley is affecting part of our underground telecommunications network. We’re working closely with the local authorities, communication providers and other organisations to resolve the incident as quickly and safely as possible.

We’re working with specialists as we manage the issue and we’ve already put safety measures in place to mitigate any immediate risk, including preventing access to our underground ducts. However, it could take many months to make the ducts safe for our engineers to access.

Services for some of our customers in the area have been impacted. In these cases, we’re working with communications providers to provide alternative and temporary services until we can access our underground cables safely.

We will continue to update people as work progresses. If you’re experiencing a problem with your phone or broadband service, please report it to your provider (the organisation you pay your bill to) and we will be informed.”

UPDATE 2nd July 2024

Openreach will this week begin, alongside specialist environmental consultants – OHES (part of Adler & Allan), working outside Grange Cottages and near access to the Holy Trinity Church, where they have underground access points to their network.

“We’re aware that these points are particularly contaminated with petrol, and we’ll be attempting to reduce the concentrations to levels that are safe enough for our engineers to access. We’ve set up a small site behind safety barriers and will visit the site intermittently to monitor the progress of our work. Due to the unique complexity and nature of this process, we can’t guarantee how long it will take, but we hope to be able to give a clearer indication of our position and further next steps over the coming weeks,” said the operator to ISPs.