Vosanite Refinery Disasters

The Vosanite Refinery Disasters were a series of accidents at vosanite refineries in the late 420s and early 430s, including a waste spill in Qime in 428 and a tank overpressure explosion in Vosa in 431.

Qime

In 428, a catastrophic process failure in the Qime refinery complex led to a 6 hour uncontrolled venting of refinement by-product gas, known as ‘black air’. The town of Qime was evacuated and the area is still uninhabitable.

IPRO activated relief protocols, suspending levies on air, food, and medical supplies bound for nearby ports. IPRO ordered all vosanite refineries to be shut down until Ercosian engineers were able to inspect them, and called on the Pax Marshals Bureau to enforce the shutdown. This order was largely ignored, and conflicts between Pax Marshals and refinery workers spiraled into a period of mass civil unrest, later called the Black Air Conflict.

Vosa

In 431, an emerald storage tank at the Vosa train station exploded. The blast and ensuing fire destroyed several tanker trains in a nearby yard and killed over 600 rail workers and residents of Vosa. Pax officials blamed the accident on refineries illegally operating above quota. The disaster broke the stalemate of the Black Air Conflict and led to its resolution.