Dutch prosecutors demand Shell pays $3 million fine for 2014 plant blast
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch prosecutors on Tuesday said Royal Dutch Shell should pay a fine of 2.7 million euros (2.34 million pounds) for failing to prevent an explosion at its Moerdijk facility in 2014 and for breaching emissions limits at the plant.
Shell has said it "deeply regretted" what happened and had taken measures to prevent it from occurring again.
In their case at the district court in Den Bosch, prosecutors said Shell had not done enough to prevent an incident on June 3, 2014 which resulted in a series of explosions and a large fire at the Moerdijk chemical plant.
"Shell endangered employees and people in the surroundings", the prosecutors said of the incident, in which two workers were injured.
The prosecutors also said Shell had not noticed a leak which resulted in the emission of ethylene oxide far above legal limits from the end of 2015 until early 2016.
The court has not yet set a date for its verdict.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Alexander Smith)
