Following a fluid leak at the Aire de Berchem filling station on the A3 motorway, Luxembourg’s Ministry for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure summonsed representatives of Shell Luxembourg SARL to their offices for a meeting with representatives of the Public Works Department, the Department of Environment, the Administration of Water Management, the Administration of Highways and the Administration of the Environment.
The urgent meeting was due to the leak of the “AdBlue” product (aqueous urea solution, a diesel exhaust fluid) at the Shell station at the Aire de Berchem, in order to prevent further damage and prevent another leak from happening.
The Minister of Environment, Carole Dieschbourg, ordered the operators of the filling station - by means of a formal notice - to identify, limit and measure the impact on the environment of the leak. The notice further demanded the operator to find a short-term solution to prevent a new leak from occurring.
In addition, the operator must monitor the oil and "AdBlue" distribution facilities, provide a detailed programme of necessary modifications to the layout and management of both the disposal facility and water treatment from the platform at the Aire de Berchem.
The results of the tests to be performed will be available in early October 2016.
AdBlue is non-toxic and non-flammable and has been specially developed for diesel engines, whose exhaust systems are fitted with selective catalytic reduction. It is injected into exhaust gases within the catalytic convertor of diesel engines to reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX). This produces urea contained in an ammonia solution (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The ammonia (NH3) subsequently reacts with nitrogen oxides (NOX), which are created through diesel combustion. A harmless nitrogen (N2) and water vapour (H2O) results from the chemical reaction leaving the exhaust.
