TNPCB to calculate environmental compensation for Ennore oil spill

CHENNAI: Following an assessment by IIT-Madras, which estimated that approximately 517 tonnes of oil were spilt during the Ennore oil spill incident, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has decided to calculate environmental compensation within the next few days.

According to TNPCB documents, IIT-Madras has submitted a report titled 'Assessment of Ennore Oil Spill During Michaung Cyclone' on July 1 and National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa submitted its 'Pilot studies for assessing environmental benefits for cleaning/bioremediation of oil spillage at designated locations in the Ennore Creek, Buckingham Canal and Kosasthalaiyar River through the application of Biodispersant comprising of Alkyl poly glucosides, fatty acids and botanical extracts' on August 2.

Based on these reports, TNPCB recently held a meeting with technical team members to discuss the environmental damage and restitution costs. The board will use a methodology from the research publication 'Oil Spill and Cleanup Costs' by Cao Thi Thu Trang of the Institute of Marine Environment and Resource, Vietnam.

The compensation calculation will be based on IIT-Madras’s conservative estimate of 647 cu.m (cubic metres) or 517 tonnes (most conservative) to 3,212 cu.m or 2,569 tonnes of oil in less conservative scenarios.

The IIT-Madras report notes that the technical team’s January 2024 report estimated that more than 400 KL of oil may have been washed away, based on factors such as daily operational slop oil quantities, crude receipt amounts, and sludge accumulation, etc.

Regarding the bioremediation study by NIO, Goa, it was noted that the study, including dosage trials, was conducted on a trial-and-error basis. The team recommended further extensive, long-term studies with a systemic approach to fully assess the efficiency of the biodispersants used.

The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is currently hearing a suo motu case related to the oil spill, which occurred in December 2023, and is allegedly linked to Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL)

Additionally, the IIT-Madras report suggests that CPCL's open tanks, which flooded during the incident, might be a primary source of the oil spill, with estimates indicating over 1,000 tonnes potentially released into the environment.

In a related matter, the Tribunal imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on CPCL in May for an oil leak incident in Nagapattinam that occurred in March 2023.