CHENNAI: The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday granted temporary relief to Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) by issuing an interim stay on a Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) order demanding Rs 73.68 crore as compensation for socio-economic and environmental damage caused by an oil spill in Ennore Creek in December 2023.
The tribunal, comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati, directed CPCL to deposit Rs 19 crore -- 50% of the environmental damage cost of Rs 38.24 crore — within four weeks as a bank guarantee.
The appeal was argued by senior counsel Abdul Saleem, representing CPCL, who challenged the TNPCB’s compensation order, asserting that the quantification of the oil spill —pegged at 517 tonnes by an IIT-Madras report — was erroneous. Saleem argued that expert objections to the report were yet to be filed, questioning the basis of the penalty.
The TNPCB had calculated the damage using a methodology from Vietnam’s Institute of Marine Environment and Resource, arriving at Rs 35.43 crore for socio-economic losses and Rs 38.24 crore for environmental harm.
Usually, the NGT mandates a 50% deposit of the total compensation in such cases, which would have amounted to Rs 36.84 crore. However, the tribunal reduced the requirement, offering CPCL respite. The NGT also issued a notice to TNPCB and adjourned the matter to April 30 for further hearing.
The TNPCB’s original order had threatened CPCL with closure and disconnection of electricity if the amount wasn’t paid, following an environmental impact assessment by IIT-M and a technical team’s review. The December 2023 spill has drawn widespread attention due to its ecological and social repercussions in Ennore.