Caracterización de películas de Langmuir 

On the 5th of January 2011, a fire broke out at Chemie-Pack, located at Moerdijk. Chemie-

Pack is a company specialised in mixing and packaging of chemicals. Large quantities of these chemicals were involved in the fire. Because of the fire, fifteen fire fighters had to go to the hospital because of health problems, as well as approximately 150 other people. Also, trains between Dordrecht and Lage Zwaluwe had to be stopped and three highways had to be closed because of the smoke. The fire also caused pollution of water and soil. The total financial damage of the fire at Chemie-Pack was estimated around 71 million euro.

The public prosecutor blamed an employee of Chemie-Pack for the onset of the fire, because he wanted to thaw a pump, which was located near flammable substances. After this crisis, the mayor resigned.

Results content analysis case 3. Riot dance event, Haren

Reputation Before the crisis:good

After the crisis: good

Crisis responsibility Victim cluster

Crisis response strategy Initial: rebuild/deal crisis response strategy (apology)

5.2.2 Reputation

Before the crisis (distinctiveness)

Based on the results of the document analysis (appendix 4, table 18), it can be said the reputation of Denie before the crisis was good.

On the 9th of April 2008, Denie became mayor of Moerdijk. Before he actually became mayor, the city council had investigated whether he could handle a large municipality like Moerdijk. The results of the investigation indicated Denie was capable of that. The fact that Denie received royal honour from the governor Frissen of Limburg may have played a role in that. Denie received royal honour because of his performances as myor in Graft-De Rijp and Swalmen, but also for his ancillary position during his career (Omroep Brabant, 2008a). The chairman of the confidential committee described Denie as authentic, eloquent, humorous, connecting and intellectual who was a good fit for the function of mayor in Moerdijk (Omroep Brabant, 2008b).

After the crisis

Based on the results of the document analysis (appendix 4, table 18), it can be said the reputation of Denie after the crisis was average, which tends more to a good reputation.

Directly after the crisis, Denie received a lot of critique. This critique was mainly about the way he communicated with the media about the crisis, as well as how he handled the crisis itself. This became also clear on Thursday 13th of January during the new-year speech. The royal commissioner Van de Donk complemented the mayor of Breda, Peter van der Velden, and ‘his people’ for their performance around the fire in Moerdijk (Trouw, 2011). Van der Velden had taken over the coordinating role from Denie regarding the crisis in Moerdijk. Van de Donk did not once mention Denie in his speech.

A month after the fire, on the first of February 2011, Denie announced his resignation. At first, Denie didn’t want to elaborate about the fact that he resigned and why. In an interview, Van de Donk said Denie left voluntarily because of the aftermath the crisis would have. Denie would have said he could not deal with the physical and mental effort he had to put into that; it would be too much for him to handle (Omroep Brabant, 2011c). Van de Donk said Denie left because he was not able to fulfil the needs of Moerdijk after the crisis. He also said decisions had to be made because Moerdijk was in need of professionalism and vitality in order to deal with the aftermath of the crisis (Omroep Brabant, 2011c). He is thus rather critical regarding the performance of Denie during and after the crisis.

44 The city council and the citizen members of the council were sorry for the departure of

Denie. They said: “We all find it very sad that you have to leave Moerdijk this way. We have

all find you a ‘father’ of the municipality, jovial and easily accessible to everyone and your presidency within the city council was a joy for everyone.” (Omroep Brabant, 2011b). They further described him as a mayor who was authentic, who had humour and who had the ability to see something into perspective (Omroep Brabant, 2011a; Omroep Brabant, 2011b). The members of the city council even said they would have wanted Denie to complete his period till the first of July. If it was up to them, Denie didn’t had to leave Moerdijk.

5.2.3 Crisis responsibility

Based on the document analysis (appendix 4, table 19) it can be said the municipality, and thus the mayor, had very weak attribution to the onset of the crisis. This refers to the victim cluster.

Permits

Denie rightly granted the permits. Chemie-Pack was responsible for complying the permits. A company like Chemie-Pack is in need of multiple permits because they store and work with hazardous substances. However, in the period of January 2006 till January 2011, thirty-three violations were detected (VROM-Inspection Ministry of Infrastructure and the environment,

2011). Multiple rechecks were needed “as well as enforcement actions by various authorities:

warnings, official reports, imposition requirements and penalty payment procedures”

(VROM-Inspection Ministry of Infrastructure and the environment, 2011, p 57). However, Denie only granted the permits if the violations were resolved.

Security policy

Although a risk analysis was conducted, there was not elaborated enough on the risk of a fire on the outside area of Chemie-Pack. More likely risks, like a fire inside the building, were more extensively worked out (Omroep Brabant, 2011e). Also, not all required security measures were taken. For example, Chemie-Pack had only fire extinguishers on the inside of the buildings, but not on the outside terrain. This, in combination with the hazardous substances on the outside terrain of Chemie-Pack, what was not allowed according to the permit, caused unnecessary risks (VROM-Inspection Ministry of Infrastructure and the environment, 2011). However, the municipality did monitor the follow-up of the security policies by conducting inspections, which often led to observations of violations.

Collaboration chain partners

In the attempt to fight the fire at Chemie-Pack, the emergency cervices of central- and west Brabant needed to cooperate. It can be said this interregional cooperation went good, as there is no information found about bad cooperation. The fire brigade had contact with different parties who were, or could be affected by the fire, amongst others the mayor and other members of the GBT and ROT, ProRail and specialists in hazardous substances.

One of the main conclusions of the Inspection Public Order and Safety was the fact that the communication of the government towards the citizens of the municipality was below average (Inspection Public Order and Safety, 2011). For example, the citizens wanted an answer to one of the most important question: whether there was a health risk or not. In different interviews with the media, it was said there were no risks for people health. But at the same time, people were advised to stay inside. This led to confusion and frustration amongst the citizens.

5.2.4 Crisis response strategy

Initial response

Based on the results of the document analysis (appendix 4, table 20), it can be said the initial crisis response strategy of Denie was the diminish crisis response strategy. He mainly made up excuses for the cause of the crisis. He did that by claiming he had fulfilled his duties and had no control over the cause of the crisis.

During the press conferences on the 5th and 6th of January, Denie explained what had

happened and what was being done to limit the effects of the crisis (Omroep Brabant, 2011b; NB DeStem, 2011). However, when Denie talked with the media the following days, he reacts evasively. In an interview on the 6th, which took place after the press conference, Denie kept repeating he could not have avoided the fire from happening in any way. When reporters want to discuss to the situation on the industrial site of Moerdijk and the complaints that had been

there for years, Denie reacted by saying: “You have to ask the planners from the ‘60’s who

designed the site then. When I came to this municipality, two and a half years ago, this already was the situation.” (Omroep Brabant, 2011a, 1:47). Besides, he reminded people of the fact that every citizen of Moerdijk profits from the industry. He said: I would like to say the municipality of Moerdijk is a prosperous municipality because of the presence of the industrial estates, of which every inhabitant benefits from every day” (Omroep Brabant, 2011b, 5:32). These statements gave the impression Denie was defending himself. A communication expert explained Denie provides the media with short answers to the

46 questions. Also, he takes questions literally and very personal (Omroep Brabant, 2011a, 0:45, 1:57). Because of this, his messages came across as uncertain and unclear.

Secondary response

Based on the results of the document analysis (appendix 3, table 20), it can be said the secondary crisis response strategy of Denie was still the diminish crisis response strategy. He kept repeating he had fulfilled his duties and had no control over the cause of the crisis.

After Denie resigned, a final meeting with the city council took place. During this meeting, he elaborated for the first time about his resignation. He said: “that so-called voluntary departure bothers me very much. Especially because now the impression is created I abandon Moerdijk” (Omroep Brabant, 2011a). He was very disappointed and bittered about the fact that he had to resign because of the crisis. Mainly, because he believed the crisis was handled well. Even years after the crisis took place he felt this way. In 2014, Denie said:

“Apparently it is inevitable someone has to clear the field in these kinds of disasters. I still believe the crisis was handled well.” (Omroep Brabant, 2014).

5.2.5 Case results

It can be said Denies’ reputation before the crisis was good. After the crisis, however, his reputation can be described as average, which tended more towards good. Based on the analysis of permits, security policies and the collaboration between chain partners, it can be said Denie had very weak attribution to the onset of the crisis. After the crisis, Denie used a diminish crisis response strategy: he kept repeating he had fulfilled his duties and had no control over the cause of the crisis at all.

In table 8, the results of the case analysis Moerdijk are presented.

Table 8. Results analysis case Moerdijk

Results content analysis case 4. Fire at Chemie-Pack, Moerdijk

Reputation Before the crisis:good

After the crisis: average (more good than bad)

Crisis responsibility Victim cluster

Crisis response strategy Initial: diminish crisis response strategy (excuse)