Ammonia leak: State govt slaps Rs 6 crore penalty on fertilizer plant

CHENNAI: Forty days after ammonia gas leak from a fertilizer plant owned by Coromandel International Limited created panic in Ennore and sent more than 50 residents to hospitals, the Environment, Climate Change and Forest Department has imposed a penalty of Rs 5.92 crore on the company.

The authorities are also moving to initiate legal action against the company for violating the mandatory conditions given in the consent order under Air Act. At present, the plant is shut temporarily as per the order issued by the government after the ammonia leak.

In a statement on Sunday, the department said the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has been directed to collect the environmental compensation for environmental mitigation and to also take legal action against the unit for non-compliance with the conditions of the consent order issued under the Air Act. The directions are based on a report filed by the technical committee formed to study the incident that occurred on December 26.

After inspection and deliberation, the technical committee concluded that the leak had occurred from the under-sea pipeline of the fertilizer plant close to the shore. “It was also observed by the committee that significant relocation of heavy granite boulders around the pipeline due to Cyclone Michaung could have caused damage to the pipeline which resulted in the ammonia gas leakage, “ the statement said.

The committee recommended the unit to replace the existing offshore pipeline with a new pipeline with the state-of-the-art monitoring, automatic control and an accident prevention system.

“The pipeline is not properly protected at the location where it emerges out of the sea water and crosses the road to reach the plant. It has to be secured and should not be easily reachable to avoid any accidental damage,” the recommendation said.

The unit should also provide necessary arrangements including high-volume sirens to alert nearby villages during accidents and abnormal operations of the plant. Moreover, it should conduct capacity-building campaigns for all the nearby villages on the dos and don’ts during emergencies including the emergency evacuation procedures.

“The unit shall monitor ambient ammonia levels every hour in the offshore pipeline at the shore point, mooring point and villages located within 2 km from the plant in the prevailing downwind and upwind directions during the pre-cooling and unloading operations. It must communicate the consolidated report to DISH (Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health) and TNPCB,” the panel stated.

Directing the unit to install safety equipment and run periodic tests, the technical committee has also directed them to provide (and has made it mandatory) essential personnel protective equipment (PPE) to all its employees.

The State government accepted the recommendations of the Committee and directed the TNPCB to implement them immediately.

Meanwhile, an official said that the government is also in the process of fixing compensation to people affected by the gas leak and all details of the compensation will be made public soon.

Residents of Ennore continue their protest of permanent closure of the plant.

“There are 33 villages in Ennore. Villages are taking turns in protesting in front of the plant. We’ll keep protesting till the plant is closed permanently,” averred K Tamil Selvan, one of the coordinators, Ennore Makkal Pathu-kappu Kuzhu (Ennore Residents’ Protection Group).