SEVERAL Dublin residents had to leave their homes on Saturday night following a petrol leak from a Shell service station.
The incident, described by the emergency services as "a small spill", happened on Finglas Road in Glasnevin. The residents were accommodated at nearby St Vincent's school. They had told gardai and the fire brigade of a strong smell of petrol coming from drains and sewers. The main Dublin to Derry road was closed for three hours.
In the past few months the emergency services have been called to several petrol stations to investigate or deal with petrol leakages into drains. Maxol was fined £1,000 - the maximum penalty allowable under the Pollution Act - for a similar incident at its Ballinteer service station in Dundrum a year ago.
The company was also fined £800 for a similar incident at the same service station a week previously. Another leak forced the closure of the Ashurst Service Station on the Dublin Road at Stillorgan in August.
In all cases the emergency services said the spills were minor and the petrol companies involved moved quickly to ease the dangers and co-operate fully with the emergency services. Attempts to contact a representative for Irish Shell for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.