Vizag gas leak was disaster in waiting as LG Polymers worked in populated area with no clearances for 2 years

The industrial unit of LG Polymers was operating right in the middle of a thickly populated area in Vishakhapatnam without due Environmental Clearance (EC) from authorities.

On May 7, toxic styrene gas leaked from the LG Polymers chemical plant in Vishakhapatnam and killed 12 people, caused the hospitalisation of hundreds. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

The industrial unit was operating right in the middle of a thickly populated area without due Environmental Clearance (EC). The company had carried out expansion in production capacity two years ago in 2018 and was carrying out operations illegally, with no required clearances.

LG Polymers had been storing, handling and producing hazardous substances for years without following protocols.

However, the Andhra Pradesh environment watchdogs got late in showing the red flags. The company applied for an EC almost a year after the expansion.

The Andhra Pradesh government’s State-Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) prior to June 2019 had ruled that LG Polymers’ operations involving increased toxic styrene capacity was illegal without the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests’ (MoEF) permission.

Still it took the Andhra Pradesh SEIAA 8 months to send a file for post-facto EC to the Union Environment Ministry. A top source in the central ministry confirmed told India Today TV that the company’s file for seeking the Centre’s environmental clearance reached them a couple of days before the first lockdown.

A senior MoEF official said, “The file reached the ministry in March and before any team could be sent for assessment to the plant, the coronavirus lockdown kicked in.”

The leak, failure of the company to get due clearances and the lack of efficiency by the Andhra Pradesh government departments clearly indicates that no lessons have been learnt from the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, which killed thousands people, maimed many others after the highly toxic Methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide plant.

A team from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that is probing the leak is scrutinising the documents to track how the company owned by the South Korean industrial giant was functioning without complying with the rules and regulations.

India Today TV has accessed a series of documents to string together a series of events which conclusively show that the state anti-pollution and environment authorities failed in enforcing the law.

Prior to June 2018 the company enhanced its production capacity by 36.67 TPD of engineering plastic that involves the use of toxic styrene.

LG Polymers applied for permissions from the AP Pollution Control Board in 2018 after installing the enhanced capacity.

On June 20, 2018, the company received the environmental clearance from the AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) for the enhanced production capacity.

But in 2017, following a Supreme Court order, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest changed the rules and a second layer of clearance from the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) over and above the Pollution Control Board clearance was made mandatory.

On May 10, 2019 almost a year after the company had expanded production capacity but not secured the requisite permissions, LG Polymers filed an application for Environmental Impact Clearance.

A senior MoEF official said, “The clearance was pending, thus operations of the plant was a clear violation of rules. Also, LG Polymers had applied for post-facto approval after already expanding capacity.”

On May 8, a day after the gas leak, NGT slapped an interim penalty of Rs 50 crore on the firm and sought response from the Centre and others in the gas leak incident. NGT said, “There appears to be a failure to comply with the said rules and other statutory provisions.”

A five-member probe committee set up by NGT, headed by former Andhra Pradesh High Court judge Justice B Seshasayana Reddy, is said to be studying all the documents in the case.

India Today tried contacting LG Polymers but didn’t get any response.