Production at Huddersfield’s Syngenta chemical works remains suspended a week after what the company described as a “small fire.”
An electrical component in a power plant failed causing a blaze.
The unit was shut down for repairs to be carried out and production halted. Some staff shifts have been affected.
The combined heat and power plant supplies steam for use in manufacturing processes across the Leeds Road site.
It had been expected to be running at a reduced capacity by last Friday night.
Two fire engines from Huddersfield and a third from Mirfield were called to the site at 9.45am last Wednesday. A component in the switch room of the heat and power plant failed. Crews spent three hours at the scene. No-one was hurt.
The plant is run under contract by Syngenta’s partner company Cofely and staff from both firms have been working to restore production.
Officials from the Heath and Safety Executive are also on site as part of their “normal investigatory procedures,” a Syngenta spokesman said.
The spokesman added: “Production on site remains temporarily suspended but the site has full supply of electricity. Temporary boilers have now been installed to enable us to heat buildings and storages using steam.
“We are now working on installing additional boiler units, aiming to re-start manufacture as soon as possible. Until the boilers are installed and operational, we cannot say when production can re-start.
“Day staff at the plant are working as normal and some shift staff are being flexible with their working patterns, a practice which is normal in Syngenta.”
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The company would not speculate on the cost of lost production but the spokesman said: “We are doing everything we can to minimise disruption in the supply chain.”
Syngenta makes herbicides, fungicides and insecticides for the agriculture industry.
Its UK manufacturing operations are centred on Huddersfield and Grangemouth in Scotland and employ 700 people, 400 of them at Huddersfield.
