Openreach Updates on Petrol Leak in Bramley as Altnets Allowed to Build

Network operator Openreach has issued a progress update on its efforts to help tackle a long-running underground petrol leak in the Surrey (England) village of Bramley. This has revealed, among other things, a new proposal that would allow alternative broadband networks to start building fibre (FTTP) in the area again.

Just to recap. Openreach is currently still dealing with the “significant and ongoing impact” of the incident (here), which technically began 6 year ago after fuel started leaking from a local Petrol Station (this wasn’t owned by ASDA at the time). But the full impact of this wasn’t fully appreciated until recently. Over the course of that time the leak has begun to cause fuel smells in the area, harming local businesses, and has also spread into the groundwater (i.e. disrupting the drinking of tap water in certain areas) and even local utility services.

At the last update it was noted that least 300 metres of Openreach’s underground cable ducts in the area had been affected. Cleaning it up has involved a lot of specialist equipment, processes and lots of detailed coordination among the impacted organisations and relevant authorities.

For example, Openreach have worked alongside Thames Water and others to extract vapour and fuel from their network, and the surrounding groundwater (ongoing). Various other actions, such as duct & chamber flushing and a consultation on nitrogen purging, as well as the deployment of a nitrogen compressor inside the local exchange, have also taken place. But this is a long process, and the operator states that “petrol contamination is still in our network (liquid and vapour)“.

In addition, Openreach has replaced the impacted joint box lids with new vented ones to improve air flow, and they’ve brought in experts with vapour extraction units who are still on-hand to deploy if vapour levels rise again in the area. The HSE have also carried out a study on the risk and steps the operator has taken to confirm the approach.

Suffice to say that a big part of the area was originally designated as a strict ‘Exclusion Zone‘ (pictured), although some parts have since been downgraded to a less restrictive ‘Contamination Zone‘ (i.e. work in certain areas can now take place, provided proper safety procedures are observed). The distribution (D-side) side of Openreach’s local network can now be accessed in a “carefully controlled manner“, but the E-side is still not fully accessible due to the presence of vapours.

The progress means that Openreach is now looking to soften some of the local restrictions, which would allow alternative network operators to start running new fibre via existing cable ducts; provided they agree to follow the safety measures (e.g. protective gear, carrying gas detectors and monitoring oxygen levels where nitrogen has been deployed etc.). Openreach itself is also making their own plans for a return to deploying full fibre (FTTP) broadband infrastructure in the area.

A spokesperson for Openreach told ISPreview:

“Safety remains our top priority in Bramley – for our people, our partners, and the public.

We’re making steady progress towards resuming more normal operations in Bramley but fuel hazards remain in our network and they’re likely to persist for the foreseeable future.

This week, we updated our Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) customers on our next steps: by mid-July, we plan to redesignate the current ‘Exclusion Zone’ as a ‘Contamination Zone’.

In practice, this means they’ll have access to some previously restricted underground ducts on the distribution (‘D’) side of our network – but only under a carefully controlled and safe system of work.

The situation in Bramley continues to evolve, so we’re actively monitoring conditions and sharing updates on the hazards and the controls we’ve put in place. If needed, we won’t hesitate to reintroduce safety measures to protect everyone involved.”

In short, some of the measures in certain areas are being lifted, which will make it easier for network upgrades, new provisions by engineers/retail ISPs and repair work to take place again (previously certain repairs and new service provisions were not possible). Naturally, it’s unsafe for engineers to fully access the entire network, until the risk is eliminated.

Once again, it’s very important to stress just how serious and dangerous this situation is, both for local residents and the engineers who are trying extremely hard to resolve an incredibly challenging problem. At the start of this month Openreach additionally revealed that making their network “safe and accessible” again could take “at least” another 12 months.