Both police and the fire brigade were alerted when there was a gas leakage on the Snøhvit LNG-plant at Melkøya in northern Norway on Thursday. According to NRK the leakage is caused by a broken valve. All employees at the plant were immediately evacuated off the island.
The owner of the plant, StatoilHydro, does yet not know how severe the leakage is. Now the remaining gas is being emptied from the pipe. After that is done, they can start fixing the leakage.
The LNG-plant at Melkøya has experience a number of problems since it opened last year, and it does not seem to end yet.
