Murder Charges Possible in Escazú Shell Station Fire
The spill, explosion and fire that claimed the lives of two children in Escazú Saturday morning has become a headache for authorities, who have come to realize that there is no ongoing control of operations of gasoline stations and Saturday's tragedy can occur at any station around the country.

For that, the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (Minae), has said it will investigate 200 gasoline stations around the country whose operating permits expire on February 28, 2007.

There are currently 345 gasoline stations in the country. The 200 that will be investigated were issued operational permits in 2002.

The Minae has said it will investigate each of the 200 stations to ensure that they meet existing specifications of prevention, security and control, to avoid a repeat of Saturday's accident at the Shell station in the heart of downtown Escazú.

In addition, the head of the Minae, Roberto Dobles Mora, is asking the Dirección General de Transporte y Comercialización de Combustible (a department of Minae), to investigate the exact cause of the Shell Escazú accident, that can come under a number of existing laws, including the requirement to have a contingency evacuation plan in the case of an emergency.

A possibility being discussed is a change in the way gasoline station permits are issued. Currently, permits are restricted to be issued to individual gasoline stations, but rather as a group to an individual or company that can own more than one gasoline station.

The regulations in place cover the transport and discharge of fuel from tanker trucks to the gasoline station tanks, however, it does not mean that gasoline stations have an emergency plan in the event of an accident.

"What is worrying us is the security of the public and employees of gasoline stations", said Dobles.

Investigating the Shell Escazú accident is also the Ministerio de Salud (Health ministry) and the Institucion Nacional de Seguros (INS) - the national insurance company that operates the Cuerpo de Bomberos (firefighters) and insurance policies for gasoline stations - and the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ).

The ministra de Salud, María Luisa Ávila Agüero, said that the Shell Escazú complied with all health requirements and that it had all its permits in order.

However, the tragedy occurred and investigators are looking for the cause and possible criminal charges to be laid against those responsible if negligence is found.

Authorities are looking into the possibility that the individual or individuals who were in charge of changing the filter violated protocol and may be charged with manslaugther.

One theory that investigators are working on is that of a pressure change while the filter at one of the pumps was being changed, causing a spill of the highly flammable liquid. A spark, which origin is yet unknown, is said to have caused the explosion of the gasoline fumes from the spill.

The director of the Cuerpo de Bomberos, Héctor Chaves, and investigators of the OIJ are looking into why seven vehicles were in the station at the time of the filter change operation was taking place, any of which could have caused the igniting spark.

Chaves added that, fortunately, the fire was never out of control, consuming only the spilled gasoline, as the pumps disconnected and isolated the underground fuel tanks. If that had not been the case, the accident would have been much worse and the loss of life much greater.

On another side of the situation, Eduardo Castro, head of general insurance for the INS, explained that, as far as he knows, gasoline stations are not required to purchase an insurance policy, as it is a voluntary thing and could not say if the Shell Escazú had such a policy that would indemnify the victims.