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The Lenzing Group: Incident at Lenzing Lyocell - Production will be Resumed in a Few Weeks
24.09.2003
As announced yesterday, a detonation occurred at the Heiligenkreuz plant at 14.30 hrs. resulting in a fire and considerable damage to property. The incident led to a standstill in production. From today's perspective, it can be expected that production will re-commence in a few weeks. The damage to property is estimated to amount to EUR 5 to 7 mill. and is covered by insurance.
Thanks to the active support by the regional and in-house emergency helpers, it was possible to extinguish the fire within about an hour. Since the alarm system was triggered early, there were only four persons who suffered minor injuries.
Immediately after the incident, a group of experts was commissioned to analyze in depth the source and course of the incident. Today, Thomas Fahnemann, Chairman of the Board of Management, and Franz Raninger, Member of the Board of Management, went to Heiligenkreuz in order to obtain a first-hand impression of the situation and to launch further measures.
At a press-conference, convened at short notice, Thomas Fahnemann underlined "that we continue to be fully behind the innovative Lyocell technology and the site at Heiligenkreuz. Of course, the jobs of the 175 staff members will be maintained. The repair work will begin immediately."
At present, work is under way to double the capacity of the Heiligenkreuz plant from 20,000 to 40,000 tons per year. The detonation did not occur during the normal operation but when starting up the plant after a scheduled shut-down in the course of construction work on the second production line. After first estimates the detonation seems to have occurred on account of a deficiency in an ancillary system.
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