THOOTHUKUDI: As the Supreme Court two weeks ago, allowed the Tamil Nadu government to permit removal of chemicals from the Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi as was recommended by the High-Power Committee constituted for the plant’s upkeep of the copper smelter plant, activists have now urged the government to deploy labourers on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) instead of engaging Sterlite Copper staff for the evacuation.
On April 11, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud permitted Sterlite to carry out “necessary consequential steps” for the upkeep of the copper smelter, while hearing a case in this regard. Sterlite was allowed to carry out the evacuation of remaining gypsum and ‘Secured Land Fill (SLF) Leachate Collection Sump Pump Operations’ every day to avoid any environmental degradation and also undertake the maintenance of the green belt and clearing of the wild bushes and dried trees. The state government is yet to give assent for the Sterlite to evacuate the remaining gypsum. The case comes up for further hearing on May 4.
Environmentalist Sundar Rajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal met district collector Dr K Senthil Raj on Thursday and appealed to him not to permit the Vedanta authorities to carry out the evacuation of hazardous materials, since the government is the custodian of the plant following its permanent closure. He suggested the formation of a committee headed by the TNPCB and comprising technical experts, for the evacuation process, under the direct supervision of the monitoring committee. “Allowing Sterlite authorities, at times when the case is sub judice, to utilise its contract labourers for removing hazardous materials is questionable in the light of legal procedures,” he said.
Activist M Krishnamurthy said the authorities of a permanently-closed plant cannot be allowed to enter the plant premises again. “If allowed, they might just take up maintenance works of the defunct plant closed by the High Court and the state government through a policy decision. So, the TNPCB must carry out the evacuation,” he observed.
When asked, a senior official from Sterlite Copper, wishing anonymity, said the safety of the labourers and machinery is paramount given that the chemicals have been wasting away in the plant for years. The evacuation process should be handled with utmost efficiency, he added.
Previously, the evacuation process was carried out under the direct supervision of the district-level monitoring committee. Even when oxygen was produced to meet hospital requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was done under the supervision of government authorities. “Why the activists are getting bothered now is beyond my understanding,” the official added.
It may be recalled that the High-Power Committee recommended the disposal of 11 different hazardous materials and acids, after inspecting the plant premises when the sulphuric acid storage tank began to leak in 2018, and the district administration allowed the deployment of 250 workmen for the process.
An inspection conducted by the local-level monitoring committee on April 13, 2022, revealed that the copper concentrate and the rock phosphate were removed completely, while the treatment of secured landfill leachate and treatment of gypsum pond leachate were put on hold wanting fixed furnace oil-based captive power plant to treat the respective leachate. The portion of the heavy furnace oil/light diesel oil and other acids below the pumpable level were present, whereas the phosphoric acid turned semi-solid form.
It may be noted that the initial assessment of the gypsum was about 4.5 lakh tonnes, however, the Sterlite had evacuated over 12,32,999 tonnes in 2.5 years (when allowed to evacuate it within 90 days) until the day before the inspection, and still had a remaining quantum of 1.28 lakh tonnes to be removed. The district collector ceased the removal of gypsum on April 25 last year, stating that it was not disposed of fully despite the lapse of two and a half years from the expiry of timeline prescribed by the High-Power Committee.