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Vizag Gas Leak: Timely Siren, Evacuation Training Could Have Saved 12 Lives, Says Report

People living in a radius greater than 0.6 km from the plant would have got 30-40 minutes to evacuate the premises if an alarm had sounded within five minutes, a report says. Hyderabad, TELANGANA: A timely siren and proper evacuation training could have saved the 12 people who died in Visakhapatnam after inhaling gas leaked from an LG Polymers plant in the early hours of May 7, according to a report by two independent experts. The report, by Sagar Dhara, a Hyderabad based environmental engineer and former faculty member of IIT-Bombay, and K. Babu Rao, a retired senior scientist of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, was prepared with estimates deduced using the ALOHA software, which was used to model the extent of gas released from the faulty tank inside the LG plant. Taking into account the storage capacity of the plant (1,900 tonnes), wind speed (less than 1 m per second) and the proximity of residential villages, if a siren had sounded five minutes after temperature in the tank, which contained polymerized styrene, rose over 65°C, even residents living within a radius of 0.5 km from the plant would have had 18-27 minutes to evacuate the premises, the yet-to-be-published report, a copy of which is with Huffpost India, calculates. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had said in a press conference held on the day of the leak that he was “concerned that an alarm did not sound when the leak happened”. He, however, also praised LG Polymers as a “reputed company” in the same media briefing. While an expert committee has been set up to probe the reasons for the lapse, it has not submitted its report yet. The company has not yet provided an explanation as to why an alarm did not alert residents to the leak, as per government rules. STR via Getty Images A man carries a fainted young girl (R) to evacuate her following a gas leak incident at an LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam on May 7, 2020. On the day of the leak, Andhra Pradesh politicians had laid the blame for the mishap on LG Polymers and the industrial policies put in place by the former Telugu Desam Party government. The next day, the state government decided to inspect the premises of existing hazardous industries to check if the population density around the plants has gone up significantly. “In several areas, after the plants were set up, the population has increased. For new companies which want to start functioning in AP, Andhra Pradesh government has decided to bring out a new Industries Act after the lockdown ends. This will have stringent checks for polluting industries which want to start operations in AP. The Chief Minister has been clear that AP will not be a dumping yard for such industries,” said industries minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy. Seoul-based LG Polymers, which sent a team to inspect the plant on 12 May, has said in a release dated May 16 that they completed transportation of styrene monomer inventory and tanks to South Korea “to prevent and eliminate all risk factors”. The plant has been nonoperational. since the accident occurred. While LG chairman Koo Kwang-mo issued a public apology for the accident, news reports also say that LG Polymers has filed a defamation case against the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) in the Supreme Court. Reddy has said that the leak occurred when workers were “doing maintenance work” in the plant after it was shut for 40 days because of the national lockdown. The plant had 15 workers on site when the leak took place, a company representative had told the media. While the workers are believed to have fled the spot, a resident alerted the police by making a call to the control room at 3.30 am. What else does the report say? People living in a radius greater than 0.6 km from the plant would have got 30-40 minutes to evacuate the premises if an alarm had sounded within five minutes, said the report. Those who lived within a radius of between 2.6 km and 6.3 km from the plant would have got 80-169 minutes, or over two-and-a-half hours, to leave the area. According to media reports, the majority of the victims of the leak lived within 2-6 km radius of the plant. Family members react as they mourn deceased relatives a day after a gas leak incident at LG Polymers plant, at King George Hospital mortuary in Visakhapatnam on May 8, 2020. Both Dhara and Rao have earlier worked on similar reports on corporate violations that have forced governments to take note. In 2019, a report prepared by Dhara on the environmental hazards caused by an Adani Group-owned coal plant in Udupi prompted the National Green Tribunal to revoke the plant’s environmental clearance. The plant was also asked to pay Rs 5 crore as fine to the Central Pollution Control Board. Rao’s most recent scientific report was on the environmental hazards of uranium mining in the Nallamala forest of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Following the intervention of activists including Rao, the Telangana government denied permission for uranium mining within the state boundaries despite the centre’s clearance. In the LG Polymers report, the researchers point out that the three areas designated as red, orange and yellow zones—according to their proximity to the plant and exposure to a potential leak— were all affected by the leak. According to the report, the accident could have happened because the national lockdown “may have reduced the inhibitor concentration in the tank, or no inhibitor was added for a considerable period, and the refrigeration system was either not working or was working insufficiently for some time before the accident”. This, the researchers say, may have increased the temperature inside the tank up to 180°C. On May 7 morning, a staff member of LG Polymers had also admitted that the company was not able to maintain the tank temperature below 20°C “because of the lockdown”. AP industries minister Reddy told HuffPost India that the government had asked all industries to have “enough personnel on site to restart the plant after lockdown relaxation” and that they had issued “some guidelines and some checklists”. LG Polymers had not asked the government for clearance to operate because they had not planned to restart operations yet, he said. “They were getting the plant ready for production when the accident happened,” Reddy said. The findings of Dhara and Rao’s report are similar to an evaluation done on May 7 by Sukanya Nair of Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi. Stating that all hazardous industries which plan to reopen after the lockdown should strictly follow maintenance and start-up protocol, Nair said in her report that, “the problem began as a result of styrene gas not being stored at the appropriate temperature. This caused pressure to build up in the storage chamber and led the valve to break, resulting in the gas leakage”. While Dhara and Rao have recommended temperature below 18°C for safe storage of styrene, Nair in her report had maintained that the temperature should have been less than 17°C. The latter’s report says that “the container that was being used to store styrene gas was old and not properly maintained…Another issue was the defunct VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) detection system at the plant; there is no monitoring mechanism that was installed to specifically detect styrene”. VOC detection system usually acts as an alarm or is usually linked to a siren. Evacuation training a must Dhara, however, emphasised that a siren alone would not have helped local residents. “As per Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical rules, 1989, the surrounding villagers should have been trained in evacuation procedure. This would have prevented casualties,” he said. According to the report, the company violated not just the 1989 rules which stipulate that “the bystander population be told of the risk they were at and trained in evacuation procedures in the event of an accident”, it also failed to follow a 1999-2000 APPCB order which states that, “all facilities handling hazardous chemicals must put a board intimating the maximum vulnerable zone in the event of a catastrophic accident at their main gate… that is visible to public”. While many companies have put up the warning boards, LG Polymers failed to do so, Dhara added. On May 8, The Indian Express reported that LG Polymers had no clearance from APPCB to expand its production capacity. Trade union activists also allege that the ISO-certified plant had been “selfregulating” its pollution levels and wasn’t inspected at regular intervals. AP Industries Minister Reddy also confirmed that the company has been “selfregulating” its operations, including pollution control. “Self-auditing of pollution controls means that based on complaints from the public, sudden inspections from industries department cannot be made. Only annual checking can be held in such selfregulated plants,” said Ch Narsinga Rao, president of Fertilisers Union, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Employees Union and state president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions. The accident could have occurred only if the workers who were on duty at the plant had skipped two or three of the start-up controls during the maintenance work held on May 7, said Rao, who has been a trade unionist and industrial employee at Visakhapatnam steel plant for 40 years.

Covid fear may push more vehicles on road, says study

Noida: Despite steps being taken to ensure social distancing and sanitisation in metros and buses, public transportation might not be the preferred mode of commuting in the near future, according to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The fear of the novel coronavirus could actually push people towards using private vehicles, which in turn could worsen the air quality, it said. The study was conducted during the first two phases of the lockdown in the National Capital Region (NCR) and revealed a ‘massive clean-up’ in air quality. It was carried out on two parameters, PM 2.5 and NO2, which are markers for vehicular pollution. The average drop in PM 2.5 over the first two phases of lockdown has been 39% in NCR. The drop in NO2 levels has been 49%. Figures shared by CSE show a 39% drop in pollution levels across NCR cities compared to the average recorded in the first 10 days of the first phase of lockdown. While Delhi showed a 33% dip, Gurgaon saw a 35% dip, Noida and Ghaziabad recorded a drop of 34% and 38%, respectively. The NO2 levels showed an average drop by 49% in NCR when data from 10 days before and after lockdown was compared. While Noida showed a drop of 55%, Gurgaon reported a 44% drop. The data for Ghaziabad was not recorded. Asked about the apprehension regarding the air turning poorer when vehicles return, Anumita Roy Choudhury, CSE’s executive director, research and advocacy, told TOI: “Despite significant improvement in AQI, people will take out their four-wheelers and two-wheelers, which may lead to a spike in pollution levels. In global studies, we have shown how air pollution affects respiration. An increase pollution levels could make people more prone to respiratory problems. We will continue the study till end of lockdown 4.0 and we suggest that the government keeps in mind the ramifications.” What can be done? Talking about possible solutions, Roy Choudhury said: “There is a need to bring about restraint when it comes to travel demand and controlling movement through developing virtual work places, digitisation and staggered timing. We need strategies for crowd management and cleanliness during a pandemic that can be adapted to make public transportation attractive. Walking and cycling are immediate contact less and independent travelling options that should be scaled up.” Experts in government, however, said traffic load might not be an immediate concern. “More and more firms are likely to encourage work from home even after lockdown, which will take away the need for daily commute. So, we don’t see too many vehicles on roads at least for the next 20 days,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer, UP Pollution Control Board, Ghaziabad. Times of India | Delhi | May 21, 2020

Lockdown spells cleaner air with stubble burning at lowest in 5 yrs

Although the National Capital Region gets engulfed in smoke from stubble burning during the winter season, particularly in the villages of Haryana and Punjab, rabi crop residues are also burnt during this time of the year across north India. The heavily polluted Indo-Gangetic plains have recorded the lowest agriculture residue burning this year since 2016, satellite images from US space agency NASA have shown. Researchers and government officials said of the several reasons behind the decline in the springtime farm fire count could be the nationwide lockdown after the outbreak of Covid-19. “Springtime fire activities (mostly agricultural) over the Indo-Gangetic Plain have been the lowest this year in comparison to the last five years during the Covid-19-led lockdown period,” Hiren Jethva, a researcher from Universities Space Research Association at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, tweeted on Saturday. Although the National Capital Region gets engulfed in smoke from stubble burning during the winter season, particularly in the villages of Haryana and Punjab, rabi crop residues are also burnt during this time of the year across north India. Air pollution is, however, much lower during summer because of favourable meteorological conditions such as strong winds. Graphs and data tweeted by Jethva showed that while in 2016 the cumulative fire count between April 15 and May 15 was around 70,000, in 2020 the figure has come down to around 10,000 during the same period across various north and central Indian states located in the plains. In 2019, the fire count registered a rise, the data shows. Top officials from the state pollution control boards of Punjab and Haryana confirmed that there has been a sharp drop in stubble burning incidents this year till date. “In 2019 there were around 5,768 such incidents in Haryana till May 15. In 2020 we have recorded around 2,430 incidents. The lockdown effect could be one reason. A clearer picture will emerge when the harvest is completed by the end of May and we take the final survey,” said S Narayanan, member secretary of the Haryana Pollution Control Board. “We have seen the NASA maps and analysed fire counts in the National Capital Region. There is definitely a decline in such incidents. The restrictions during the all-India lockdown and the shortage of labour could be the reasons,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury executive director (research and advocacy) at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi. Though Jethva suggested lower crop volumes could be an additional factor for the decline in stubble burning, government officials said the harvest has been good this year. The reasons notwithstanding, the fall in air pollution levels should come as welcome news. As HT has reported earlier, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, can cling to air pollutants. Tests conducted in Italy have found the same. Also, air pollution is likely to be a major risk factor for coronavirus disease mortality, scientists have concluded. “There has been a definite decline in the number of fire incidents. The reasons behind this need to be verified -- whether it is because of the shortage of labour, whether crop yield is low this time or some other reason. This could provide some vital inputs for future planning,” said Sagnik Dey, coordinator of the Center of Excellence for Research on Clean Air (CERCA) and associate professor at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS) at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. Hindustan Times | Delhi | May 18, 2020

Covid-19 has made the invisible visible

Today, these 'invisible' people have become visible Sunita Narain Of the images that haunt me, these are particularly heart-rending — one, that of the little girl who died off the coast of a European city as her parents were trying desperately to reach there by boat from a faraway land, for a better future. The other, more recent, is of an elderly woman, with all her belongings on head, walking kilometres to get home from a Covid-19 locked-down city in India, leaving behind her dreams of work and going back to the village she came from. The third is of the young man — also escaping from a locked-down city — who died after walking for days, just some hundred kilometres from his village. For the past one year, I have been writing about migration — from the perspective of increased insecurity in villages, wrecked by poverty, agrarian distress, and now the weird weather, which makes agriculture more and more unviable and life unbearable. It was due to the traditional push (people leaving because they had no choice) and pull (people leaving because they wanted more choice) factors, but at a much heightened pace and scale. This exodus was hardly documented. The World Migration Report 2020 says global migration is on the rise. But there is little data on migration within countries. In India, the last official count of migrants was in the Census of 2011, which was outdated and did not explain the huge numbers of what I called “illegal” settlements growing in urban areas, congested, without urban services, and, most often, the hub of industrial activity, which, in turn, is the cause of pollution in the city. Today, these “invisible” people have become visible. We see thousands and thousands of “migrants” are cramped in relief camps because the government will not let them go home, fearing that the disease will spread through them to villages and remote districts. We see them because they are desperate to leave the city, and because there is no public transport operating, they walk back with their belongings and their children, and with no food and no place to sleep. When asked, they have told us they do not want food; they just want to go home. Their cry is unmistakable, heart-wrenching. Now, the numbers are emerging. The Union government in its affidavit of April 12, 2020, filed in the Supreme Court, said there were some 40,000 relief camps in operation across states, where some 1.4 million migrant workers are housed and fed. But this is an underestimation. There are many who are not in the camps; they are on the road, struggling to reach their destination. After April 29, when some 40 days after the nationwide lockdown began, the Union government said that the stranded people could go home — buses would ferry them across states, the numbers are beginning to be better known. We will have to wait to see once this flood of people reach their destination — in trains, buses, or trucks; by road; or any other way they can make it — to understand the real implications of this movement from city to village. What will this mean? The first is about the works they will leave behind. Migrants may have been illegal in some countries and unrecognised in others, but the fact is that their labour is vital for all economies. Today vast parts of Europe, Australia, and the US do not have enough labour to harvest their crops. What then will be the fate of food in the coming months? In India, the impact will be felt as the lockdown ends and labour is in short supply to restart the economy. Will this make us value them more, provide them better opportunities and benefits so that they return? Will this give migrants a makeover in the post-Covid-19 world? There is also the other reality that Covid- 19 has thrown at us. The places where the disease is most likely to breed are where there are no urban services, where settlements are overcrowded, where safe water supply and sanitation are inadequate, and where people have no way to stay safe. This is where we have allowed our workforce to live. Consider Singapore, where the virus has made a virulent comeback. The island nation, always confident of its cleanliness record, is finding that it did not take care of the dense settlements where its migrant labour lives. It is the same elsewhere. So, will we rework the need to provide better housing, water, and sanitation services to our urban poor, including the migrant labour? Will this mean we will invest in improving the environment in which they live and work? Lastly, what happens when the migrants go back home? Will they want to return? This then is the opportunity to invest in rural economies so that they have the choice not to leave?

Meet 3 Indian environmentalists fighting to save the planet

Their work will inspire you to do your bit towards fighting climate change Sunita Narain DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT (CSE) AND EDITOR OF DOWN TO EARTH MAGAZINE Sunita Narain’s curiosity for environmental issues started while she was still in school, inspired by her mother who was an avid gardener. However, her first brush with a real movement was the Chipko movement. The Padma Shri awardee now plays an active role in policy formulation on issues of environment and development and has been listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in the Time magazine. “As an environmentalist, we strive to ensure human beings improve their livelihood while being in tune with nature. To create a resilient economy that is nature-friendly but benefits the poorest,” she says. Over the years, she has helped in implementing rainwater harvesting systems across villages, chaired the Tiger Task Force for the conservation of the big cats and has continued to research and advocate local participatory democracy as the key to sustainable development.

India Air Purifier Market Market – Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2019 – 2027 | Eureka Forbes, Koninklijke

New York, United States, Thu, 14 May 2020 04:46:06 / Comserve Inc. / — The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) of the Energy Policy Institute at the University Of Chicago (EPIC), stated in one of their statistics that, weighted pollution in Delhi alone reached 113.9 units in the year 2016 from 72.88 units in the year 2012. Research Nester has released a report titled “India Air Purifier Market – Regional Demand Analysis & Opportunity Outlook 2027” which also includes some of the prominent market analyzing parameters such as industry growth drivers, restraints, supply and demand risk, market attractiveness, year-on-year (Y-OY) growth comparisons, market share comparisons, BPS analysis, SWOT analysis and Porter’s five force model. The World Air Quality Index project (AQI) displayed the air quality level to 999 AQI on the 3rd of November’19, at around 2 pm. Moreover, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) stated in one of their reports that every third child in Delhi (India) alone have impaired lungs due to the high level of pollutants that are present in the air of the city. The report also added that life expectancy grew down by 2.6 years in India owing to outdoor and household air pollution together. Additionally, The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) of the Energy Policy Institute at the University Of Chicago (EPIC), stated in one of their statistics that, weighted pollution in Delhi alone reached 113.9 units in the year 2016 from 72.88 units in the year 2012. The statistics portray the severely growing concerns for the rising air pollution levels and the associated health threats that it possesses. Owing to various sources of pollution, for instance, agricultural practices, such as jhum cultivation, industrial pollutants, and road transport dusts amongst others, all of these factors are contributing towards greater air pollution in India. Owing to such a factor, there is a rising demand amongst individuals for devices that can provide filtered and fresh air, emitting all the hazardous particles present in the air. Additionally, with the rising gross national income of the nation, and anticipations for greater purchasing power of the individuals, coupled with rising awareness for health amongst people, all of these factors are anticipated to contribute significantly towards the growth of the India air purifier market. “The Final Report will cover the impact analysis of COVID-19 on this industry (Global and Regional Market).” The India air purifier market is anticipated to record robust CAGR over the forecast period, i.e. 2019-2027. The market is segmented by end user into residential, commercial and others. Among all these segments, residential segment is anticipated to hold largest market share on the back of rising concerns for air borne diseases that can affect the children, who may generally have a weak immune system and are likely to remain susceptible to such diseases. However, the concern for restrictions in the purchase of the product by lowincome populations owing to high endproduct cost and greater maintenance cost is estimated to act as a barrier to the growth of the India air purifier market during the forecast period. This report also studies existing competitive scenario of some of the key players of the India air purifier market, which includes profiling of Eureka Forbes, Koninklijke Philips N.V. (AMS: PHIA), Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Kent RO Systems Ltd., Blueair, Panasonic India, Crusaders, Sharp Business System India Pvt. Ltd., Daikin Airconditioning India Pvt. Ltd., and Dyson Technology India Pvt. Ltd. “The Final Report will cover the impact analysis of COVID-19 on this industry (Global and Regional Market).” The profiling enfolds key information of the companies which comprises of business overview, products and services, key financials and recent news and developments. Conclusively, the report titled “India Air Purifier Market – Regional Demand Analysis & Opportunity Outlook 2027”, analyses the overall India air purifier industry to help new entrants to understand the details of the market. In addition to that, this report also guides existing players looking for expansion and major investors looking for investment in the India air purifier market in the near future. Research Nester is a one-stop service provider, leading in strategic market research and consulting with an unbiased and unparalleled approach towards helping global industrial players, conglomerates and executives to make wise decisions for their future investment and expansion by providing them qualitative market insights and strategies while avoiding future uncertainties. We believe in honesty and sheer hard work that we trust is reflected in our work ethics. Our vision is not just limited to gain the trust of our clients but also to be equally respected by our employees and being appreciated by the competitors. | May 15, 2020

LG Vizag Styrene Leak: Unabated Corporate-Regulatory Collusion

The LG Vizag plant was operating in knowing violation of environmental regulations, with regulatory agencies either turning a blind eye or passing the buck between themselves. The horrific leak of Styrene vapour from the LG Polymers plant in Vizag in the early hours of May 7, 2020, causing at least 13 deaths and serious injuries to several hundreds of people near the plant, has revived memories of the Bhopal Gas Disaster in December 2004. Like in Bhopal, the LG plant was once in the city suburbs, but dense habitations had been allowed to come up in its vicinity. The Bhopal tragedy was, of course, far larger in scope and scale, as regards deaths and disabilities, including long-term effects on victims and on their children to come. Yet the parallels are striking in important ways. The Bhopal Disaster triggered a slew of environmental regulations, especially as regards hazardous materials and industries using them. It is shocking, though, that almost four decades later, India is witnessing the same gross flouting of rules and regulations and, worst of all, a systemic collusion between regulatory agencies and corporate entities, making a mockery of these very protections for the environment and for people. The LG Vizag plant was operating in knowing violation of environmental regulations, with regulatory agencies either turning a blind eye or passing the buck between themselves. Ironically this incident draws attention to the proposed Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2020 written about in these columns just last week, which seeks to condone and give post-facto legitimacy to precisely the kinds of violations the LG plant committed. The LG Vizag Styrene leak is a text-book case study of this systemic fraud in environmental governance in India. Styrene & Health Effects Styrene is among the top 20 hydrocarbons used industrially worldwide, to produce a variety of materials, such as polysterene, expanded polystyrene (EP) and enhanced plastic compounds (EPC) used for products in refrigeration, fibre glass and other composites, food containers, electrical insulation, synthetic rubber and so on. Under the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989, Styrene is classified as a toxic and hazardous chemical. Styrene is normally a liquid, mistakenly referred to in much recent media coverage as a gas. It is flammable and gets easily vaporised even at low temperatures. Styrene is a monomer i.e., a single molecule that combines with other molecules to form polymers or chains of molecules. Styrene occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables, meats, cinnamon, coffee and peanuts, and is also produced by plants, bacteria and fungi. It is present in combustion products, such as automobile exhaust and cigarette smoke, and is also released from photocopiers and styreneusing industries. So, our everyday air contains styrene, albeit at a low background level of 0.06- 4.6 ppb (parts per billion) outdoors, with automobiles contributing about the same proportion as industries. Indoor air usually contains higher levels of 0.07-11.5 ppb, mostly due to cigarette smoke. Health effects of exposure to Styrene have been studied mostly in occupational contexts, resulting mostly from inhalation of Styrene vapours and, to a far lesser extent, contact with skin. Effects are mainly on the nervous system, and the symptoms include fatigue, loss of concentration and balance, slow reaction times and a feeling of being drunk. However these effects occur only at 1000 times or more Styrene than background levels. The US Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) has set a legal limit of 100 ppm Styrene in air over an eight-hour work day in workplaces. Average exposure of workers rarely exceeds 20ppm. A few studies have described inhalation of 360ppm Styrene for 30 minutes as “acute exposure.” The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and other agencies say Styrene is a possible carcinogen, but not conclusively. There are also no definitive findings on possible birth defects, still births or low birth weight. Once in the body, Styrene is converted into other compounds that are usually excreted in urine over a few days. Styrene absorbed in water bodies and soil is degraded quickly by different microorganisms. However, the massive leak of Styrene vapours over several hours on May 7, would have led to far higher levels of exposure, especially near the LG plant. Local media reported levels of around 700ppm. One study by experts at IIT Kanpur, as reported by the Centre for Science & Environment, has estimated that Styrene vapours would have had significant impact over 2-3 km downwind of the plant, with levels of about 1,100ppm in the immediate vicinity, 130ppm in a 1-km radius, and 20ppm at 2-3 km from the plant with exposure of two hours or more. Such high exposures have not been known or studied earlier. Therefore, the short-term and long-term effects on people, as well as on milch animals, poultry, vegetables and plants, now need to be systematically investigated and mitigated. Leak at Vizag LG Plant This section on how and why the leak took place relies mainly on published material from different media outlets, some independent studies, and the industrial and scientific literature. All details of the sequence of events are not known yet, but some aspects are reasonably clear. The LG plant used liquid Styrene stored in large tanks. The stored Styrene was supposed to be maintained at 20 degrees Celsius, but the temperature controls failed for reasons yet to be determined, and temperatures in the tank started rising. Auto-polymerisation inhibitors were apparently also not used as they were supposed to be. Inhibitors like Tetra Butyl-Catechol (TBC) used here, are normally used during storage and transportation of Styrene to prevent a self-driven process of polymerisation, that is, transformation of styrene monomer into polymers. Auto-polymerisation is an exothermic process, meaning it releases heat, which further accelerates polymerisation, vaporisation of styrene, and vapour pressure. The danger is of a runaway reaction, which begins around 65 C and turns extreme if temperatures exceed the boiling point of styrene 145 C. On May 7, auto-polymerisation appears to have taken place in the tank due to lack of temperature control, Styrene vapours were generated at increasing rates as both temperatures and vapour pressure inside the tank rose rapidly. If the safety valve, like the “weight” in a pressure cooker, had not worked, an explosion would have resulted. As it happened, the safety valve blew, releasing Styrene vapours high into the air over a prolonged period till measures to lower the temperature were taken. Temperatures are said to have exceeded 180 C, and were only slowly brought below a relatively safe level of 100C, and then to 78C. After the incident, tons of inhibitors and other stabilising chemicals were flown in to Vizag on IAF transporters. All the Styrene in the tank had been converted to solid and stable polymers. The remaining styrene stocks, including thousands of tonnes stored at Vizag port, were scheduled to be re-exported either to Singapore or to the LG headquarters in Seoul. There are reports that skilled workers were not available on site, but this may also be a management tactic to blame the incident on “human error.” The condition of bulk-stored Styrene is supposed to be monitored regularly, especially with respect to temperature and quantities of inhibitor, oxygen and polymers that may have formed. Some reports have also spoken of problems with other sensors for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). Prolonged storage in the absence of effective monitoring may also have led to formation of polymers that may have clogged valves, pipelines, gauges and controls. Whether necessary precautions were taken, supervised and ensured is not known. All these possible failures and weaknesses, and the causes and sequences of events, will hopefully be established soon by the inquiry team set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) or by other inquiries in future. Two key issues have been insufficiently addressed so far. First, the LG plant should have conducted safety audits and drills, and trial runs before restarting operations. Second, and ideally, the plant should have been allowed to run till the stored Styrene had been exhausted, obviating prolonged storage and attendant dangers. But the lockdown had been announced with just for hours’ notice, negating this option, yet another bitter lesson of the consequences of a sudden lockdown with inadequate notice and preparations. In belated acknowledgement of the dangers posed, the Central government has, but only after the Vizag leak, announced guidelines for chemical industries to conduct safety drills, test runs and gradual build-up to full-scale operations. Regulatory Violations The most shocking aspect of the Vizag LG plant case is the scandalous violations of environment regulations by LG and the casual attitude or even collusion by the authorities. The plant in Vizag was first established in 1965 by Hindustan Polymers. It was taken over by McDowell & Company in 1982, later a part of the liquor giant UB Group. LG acquired the plant in 1997, but using imported Styrene. LG obtained consents for establishment and operation from the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) in November 2001 and May 2002 respectively, before the Environment Impact Assessment (EAIA) Notification 2006, requiring prior environmental clearance (EC) had come into effect. However, when LG wanted to expand plant capacity from 415 TPD (tonnes per day) to 655 TPD, it had to seek prior EC for which it applied to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) in 2018. In September 2018, SEIAA objected on the grounds that the plant had been operating without EC. In a notarised affidavit filed with the SEIAA later in May 2019, now reproduced in many newspapers, LG admitted that it had earlier undertaken six rounds of “minor expansions” of plant capacity, for expandable polystyrene from 45 to 102 TPD and for polystyrene from 235 to 313 TPD, between 2004 and 2017 without prior EC, in violation of the EIA 2006 Notification, but surprisingly with permissions from APPCB. These permissions by the APPCB, clearly bypassing the SEIAA, for which the APPCB acts as the Secretariat but without the powers of the Authority itself, are probably illegal, as affirmed by many experts in environmental law. LG argued that the EIA Notification 2006 did not apply to its type of plant, and that the State authority was authorised to decide on Category B projects applicable to the LG Vizag plant. However, SEIAA referred the matter to the Union Ministry of Environment, saying the plant fell under Category A which required EC from the Centre. Officials of the Environment Ministry in Delhi are reported in sections of the press to have claimed that there was confusion about whether the Centre or state was to grant the EC, but did not comment on how the plant had been operating so long without EC, except to casually say this “would be investigated.” Peculiarly, LG seems to have withdrawn its application to the Ministry for expansion, and the Ministry’s website has a “Deleted” entry dated November 2019 with a noting that LG “appears to be no longer interested.” Yet, the case seems to have continued bouncing between Centre and state (Andhra Pradesh), and the application is apparently again pending with the Centre since March 2020. And all this time, LG Polymers has continued operating in Vizag without EC, but with a highly questionable permission from the APPCB! LG’s case is not unique. There are thousands of projects operating without EC or after committing flagrant violations over the years. A special projects category of “Violations” was constituted by the Environment Ministry in 2017 towards one-time amnesty to regularise many, if not most, of these projects, and thus bring them back into the mainstream. However, this is now sought to be converted into a permanent provision under the Draft EIA Notification 2020 to enable continuous violations by projects, including starting operations, without prior EC, in the full-knowledge that the rules themselves allow condoning these with a mere fine and granting of post-facto EC! The NGT and the Supreme Court have often ruled against post-facto EC. As recently as April 2020, a Supreme Court bench ruled that “the concept of an ex post facto EC is in derogation of the fundamental principles of environmental jurisprudence and is anathema to the EIA Notification dated 27 January 1994.” The NGT, therefore, has slapped punitive damages of Rs.50 crore on LG Polymers pending a full assessment of the harm to life and environment caused by the leak, on the grounds that there is a prima facie "failure to comply with the Rules and other statutory provisions... [and that] the statutory authorities responsible for authorising and regulating such activities may also be accountable for their lapses.” It is hoped that the NGT inquiry team will unravel the circumstances and reasons for the LG Vizag plant leak, and, more importantly, unambiguously pin the responsibility for the flagrant violations of environment regulations. However, this team also includes a representative of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, whose ability to resist pressure from the government in Delhi is uncertain. And the government’s intentions, made clear by its determination to press forward with the Draft EIA Notification 2020, also do not lend confidence of a clear, transparent and fair outcome.

Vizag Gas Leak Incident: A Case For Absolute Liability

With 12 people dead in a major accident after the leakage of Styrene, a hazardous and toxic chemical[i], the question of civil liability of the chemic https://www.livelaw.in/columns/vizag-gas-leak-incident-a-case-for-absolute-liability-156745 https://www.livelaw.in/columns/vizag-gas-leak-incident-a-case-for-absolute-liability-156745

Vizag Gas Leak Incident: A Case For Absolute Liability

With 12 people dead in a major accident after the leakage of Styrene, a hazardous and toxic chemical[i], the question of civil liability of the chemic https://www.livelaw.in/columns/vizag-gas-leak-incident-a-case-for-absolute-liability-156745 https://www.livelaw.in/columns/vizag-gas-leak-incident-a-case-for-absolute-liability-156745

9% of Child Deaths Before Age Five in India in 2017 Were Due to Air Pollution: The Lancet

India’s under-five mortality rate (U5MR) has reduced by almost 50% in the past two decades, according to a report published on Tuesday in The Lancet. But the country still continues to lose at least a million children before they turn five, and one of the major factors leading to their deaths is air pollution. About 9% of the children under five who died in 2017, died due to air pollution, the year in which data for the papers was gathered. The papers have the first comprehensive estimates of district-level trends of child mortality in India from 2000 to 2017. Besides air pollution, the top four causes of under-five mortality include preterm birth, diarrhoeal diseases, followed by birth asphyxia, and trauma. Air pollution can cause childhood cancers, asthma, poor lung function, pneumonia, and other types of acute lower respiratory infection, the report said. According to a report by the World Health Organization, household air pollution from cooking and outdoor air pollution contribute to the development of lower respiratory infections that affect the airways, in young children, especially in low-and middle-income countries. Children are more vulnerable to the impact of air pollution because they breathe more rapidly than adults, and therefore end up absorbing more pollutants at a period of their life when their brains and bodies are still developing. This can ultimately impact their growth and cognitive ability, while also triggering the possibility to developing asthma and childhood cancer. Children are also closer to the ground, where pollution concentrations are higher and therefore, they may end up inhaling more pollutants than adults. And, certain pollutants (small enough to penetrate the alveolar wall) could also be inhaled by a pregnant mother which enter her bloodstream, crossing the placental barrier and reach the fetus. This could also affect the baby’s growth and development. “Air pollution is stunting our children’s brains, affecting their health in more ways than we suspected,” said Maria Neira, the head of the WHO’s department of public health and environment in the report. Experts have proposed measures to reduce road traffic by raising fuel taxes and parking fees, but these efforts are yet to take shape in smaller cities. However, some of the most effective ways in which tier-II and tier-III cities could keep their pollution levels in check could include preventing children’s exposure to diesel exhaust by restricting its use in school buses for cleaner fuels, and focusing on ways to increase public transport, says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at the Delhi-based Center of Science and Environment (CSE), an environmental think tank. | May 14, 2020

Deadly humidity events accelerating – study

Deadly humid heatwaves that exceed the upper tolerance of the human body are happening decades earlier than expected under climate change models, researchers say. According to a research paper in Science Advances published last week (8 May), thousands of episodes of extreme heat and humidity have happened across Asia, Africa and South America, as well as Australia and North America. “Previous studies projected that this would happen several decades from now, but this shows it’s happening right now,” says lead author Colin Raymond, who carried out the research as a PhD student at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “Humid heat is more dangerous than dry heat since sweat does not evaporate in humid conditions and so the human body cannot cool itself.” Richard Betts, chair in climate impacts at the University of Exeter and head of climate impacts at the United Kingdom’s Met Office Hadley Centre. The study looked at instances where the so-called wet-bulb temperature reached 35°C – the temperature at which sweat stops evaporating from human skin. A wet-bulb reading is taken by passing air over a thermometer with a wet cloth wrapped around it. Tens of thousands of people have died and suffered serious health impacts in heatwaves this century, while extreme heat-humidity combinations doubled between 1979 and 2017, according to the study. It says repeated heat-humidity incidents appeared in much of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, along the coasts of the Red Sea and Mexico’s Gulf of California. The highest readings occurred 14 times in the Saudi Arabian city of Dhahran, in Qatar and Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. Parts of southeast Asia, southern China, subtropical Africa and the Caribbean were also hit. This crucial study illustrates “a key impact of global heating”, says Richard Betts, chair in climate impacts at the University of Exeter, who was not involved in the study. “It is quite logical that as global temperatures rise, sooner or later conditions will start to approach the upper end of the range we can tolerate,” Betts says. “Humid heat is more dangerous than dry heat since sweat does not evaporate in humid conditions and so the human body cannot cool itself. This research shows that dangerously hot, humid conditions are already occurring more often.” At the 2018 UN climate change conference in Katowice, Poland, Betts argued in favour of using ‘global heating’ to describe how anthropogenic climate change is altering the earth’s energy balance. ‘Heat’ is energy, while ‘warm’ is a description of the temperature, he says. The study’s findings link climate modelling to realities on the ground, says Tarun Gopalakrishnan, deputy programme manager at India’s Centre for Science and Environment climate unit, who was not involved in the study.

Lockdown, increased western disturbances may have led to cooler start to summer in Delhi

New Delhi Delhi is experiencing an unusually cool summer this year. Compared to the average temperature recorded in the national capital since 1980 between March and May, the city’s average temperature has been three to six degrees lower this year in the same period, researchers observed. Limited industrial and commercial activities and vehicular movement because of the nationwide lockdown, along with an increased number of western disturbances this year, could be the reasons behind this change, environment experts said. Two researchers, Mudit Kapoor, an associate professor of economics at the Indian Statistical Institute (Delhi Unit), and Shamika Ravi, a senior fellow at Brookings Institute, compared Delhi’s average daily temperature from 1980 to 2017 and marked the deviation against 2018, 2019 and 2020. The researchers observed that this year, between March and May 5, the temperature was three to six degrees lower than the average. “We compared the temperatures of Delhi, Ahmadabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Lucknow via a visual presentation. We marked the average temperature of a particular day based on data from 1980 to 2017. We marked any recording above this average in red and any recording below this average in blue for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020,” Kapoor said. He said, “In Delhi, April 2019, was very hot compared to the average April, but April 2020 is much cooler.” While the researchers have only made these observations, and are yet to come up with an analysis of the reasons behind the variation in temperature, they are not ruling out the effect of the 49-day nationwide lockdown to control the Covid- 19 pandemic, which has restricted industrial and commercial activities in the city and limited vehicular movement on roads. “It has been an unusual year. Compared to the average temperature (from 1980 to 2017) in Delhi, this year’s lower temperatures so far are an anomaly. This might be because of the lockdown,” Ravi said. Experts are divided over the reasons behind the dip in temperatures in the city. Some credit the increased number of western disturbances that brought intermittent wet spells through March, April and even the first week of May for the comparatively low temperature. Others are not ruling out the possibility of lower pollution levels in the Capital. Scientists at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Delhi received six WDs in March and six in April, which is unlikely for these months. This trend, however, began from January, when nine WDs passed Delhi, and seven crossed in February. On May 10, thunderstorm and light rain in certain parts of Delhi-NCR also brought down the temperature. The IMD forecast has predicted cloudy weather for the week, with maximum temperature hovering between 34 degrees Celsius and 39 degrees Celsius. “There has been an increased effect of WDs in the whole of north-west India, which has kept the temperature in Delhi lower than usual this year. By this time of the year, the normal temperature touches 40 degrees Celsius, but the mercury is yet to rise,” Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said. He added, “We have also noticed that even when it doesn’t rain, clouds hover over the city after the WDs pass, which does not allow the temperature to rise.” In the summer forecast issued in February, the IMD had indicated that the average temperature in Delhi from March to May is likely to be warmer than normal by 0.5-1 degree Celsius. Other experts said that though a proper analysis is yet to prove the connection between the lockdown and the lower temperature levels this time, there is scientific proof that vehicular and industrial emissions add to the heat levels of the city. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy) at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said the pollution levels in Delhi and NCR have remained in the green zone for this duration and its positive impact will surely be visible. “These are such unique circumstances; it is like Earth is in repair mode. We know that emissions from vehicles and industries add to the heat island effect, which increases temperatures in urban centres. It is highly possible that we are benefitting from the restriction in emissions,” Roychowdhury said.