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The high-level committee constituted to probe into the LG Polymers gas leak at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh that killed 14 persons on May 7 this year has found multiple inadequacies in the South Korean company’s gas plant.
An FIR was registered after the hazardous styrene gas leaked from the plant causing widespread panic in the area. Despite people falling sick and losing their lives due to the leak, no arrest has taken place in the case yet.
In its final report submitted to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the high-power committee has stated “the accident occurred due to uncontrolled styrene vapour release from the M6 tank, qualifies as a major accident as per the definition under Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals (MSIHC) rules”.
The 4,000-page report has blamed the management for the gas leak as no precautions were taken to check the risk of temperature in styrene tanks.
The committee has said that maintaining temperatures in the gas tanks was crucial, but in the case of LG polymers, there was a serious lapse as this aspect was ignored. The report says the refrigeration pipes were replaced in December 2019, but this damaged the cooling system.
The report reads that the temperature measuring device was placed at the bottom of the gas tank due to which it is impossible to know the temperature at the centre of the tank. The company ignored a warning sign in December. Further, even after the accident, LG Polymers was reckless. The factory has 36 riot points, but the siren did not ring even after the gas leak and the failure of the alarm to go off is a huge cause for concern, the report added.
“The temperature in the tank rose substantially. The rise in the temperature caused the styrene liquid to eventually vaporise and increase the pressure; it was a tank with small vents,” the report said.
The report has also suggested that the factories that contain dangerous chemicals, such as LG polymers, cannot be allowed to function in a populated area. “We think it is better to move LG Polymers to a different location,” read the report.
The committee, headed by Special Chief Secretary (Environment and Forests) Neerabh Kumar Prasad, includes Special CS Industry and Commerce Karikal Valaven, Visakhapatnam Collector V Vinay Chand, CP Visakhapatnam RK Meena, Director CSIR Indian Institute of Petroleum Dehradun Dr Anjan Ray, Member Secretary APCB Vivek Yadav, Director General DGFASLI Dr RK Elangovan and Regional Director CPCB Pune Bharat Kumar Sharma as members.
Before submitting the report, the committee had asked citizens to pose questions over the incident and it received over 1,200 queries, 180 calls and 250 emails.
