Hasty job? Hyderabad scientists fault panel report on styrene leak at LG plant

HYDERABAD: City scientists have criticised a report submitted by a joint monitoring committee to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the styrene leakage in LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam.
Scientists — Sagar Dhara, co-convenor, South Asian People’s Action on Climate Crisis, and Babu Rao, representing ‘Scientists for People,’ — said the May 28 report lacked professionalism and appeared to have been “hastily put together with minimal field or desk work”.The scientists said there are far too many loopholes in it, while also not recommending that it should be discarded.
“There are differing statements regarding the number of points from where styrene vapour may have leaked,” said Dhara, adding one, two and five orifices were mentioned on different pages.
It is also not clear what kind of orifices they were — valves, breather vents, goose necks and dip hatch nozzles, he said. “Information of the orifices is important for modelling vapour dispersion, which can help understand the impact on humans and the environment. Also needed for dispersion pattern is the wind direction data, which was not mentioned,” he alleged.
The report makes no mention of whether the department or any other regulatory agency gave guidance to LG Polymers on reopening a plant that was shut for nearly two months during the lockdown. Most importantly, the report should have stated that absolute liability should apply to LG Polymers India Private Ltd and LG Chemical, South Korea, including prosecution of executives, compensation, medical expenses, health surveillance and remediation, Dhara said.
Babu Rao said, “We wonder how some of the committee members who never visited the plant have approved the report.” He said he doubts if the members held human and environment sacrosanct. “The committee has failed in both these respects.”
Dhara said the time of evacuation of people is not provided and the report does not explain why the siren was not sounded to alert them.