After 12 years of successful operations, the Madras High Court ordered Sterlite Industry to shut down its Tuticorin copper smelter. But the company soon got a breather from the Supreme Court, which stayed the HC’s order on an appeal. The hearing on this is now set for October 18. In an interview with Dilip Kumar Jha, Sterlite Industry CEO (Copper Sector) Kishore Kumar discusses the company’s plans for a permanent reprieve. Edited excerpts:
What did you feel when the HC ordered you to shut down the Tuticorin smelter?
The petition was allowed on mere allegations of violations without any evidence proving the same. We strongly feel that the order did not consider the situation and facts after the high court permitted the unit to run at full capacity, vide order dated April 30, 1999. No fresh report was called by the high court from the MoEF/TNPCB (Ministry of Environment and Forests/Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board) on the environment performance of the unit.
What about the public hearing, as required by the MoEF?
No public hearing was required in 1995, when the environment clearance was granted on the basis of the then EIA Notification, 1994. The project was cleared by MoEF after examining all aspects. It is the specialised body to examine such proposals. In the subsequent expansions of 2004 and 2006-07, when a public hearing was mandatory, two public hearings were conducted and, thereafter, environment clearance and consents were granted. The unit has expanded from 391 tonnes per day (tpd) to 900 tpd in 2004-05 and, then again, to 1,200 tpd in 2006-07 after a public hearing, EIA processes and taking the necessary approvals. MoEF and TNPCB have granted all approvals and, hence, have considered all relevant facts related to environment according to existing rules and regulations.
What are the findings of the committees set up by the HC and TNPCB during 1997-98?
The HC as well as TNPCB appointed three committees in the year 1997-98 to examine various issues related to environment, safety and health hazards, who gave clear-cut findings that the unit should be allowed to operate.
There is an allegation that the unit is located in the eco-sensitive area of the Gulf of Mannar...
The issue regarding location of a unit outside 25 km of the eco-sensitive area of the Gulf of Mannar was only a guideline. The MoEF, vide its EIA Notification of 2006 dated September 14, 2006, notified that the restriction regarding location of any unit will be only for 10 km. Any unit which is located within 10 km can be set only after an environment clearance from the MoEF. The unit is located outside the 10-km range of the notified eco-sensitive area of the Gulf of Mannar islands. The unit is a complete zero-discharge unit and does not have any impact on the marine eco-system.
What has been the role of TNPCB in this entire issue?
According to TNPCB, the plant’s performance (water sampling on monthly & quarterly basis) is being monitored and all parameters are within regulatory standards. The complete plant is monitored by continuous ambient air quality-monitoring stations all around the plant and the values are displayed on an electronic scrolling board outside the plant.
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Sterlite has employed the ISASmelt process for smelting, which is considered to be an advanced environment-friendly technology globally. Further, the company is a zero-discharge, low-energy and -water consumption plant and these efforts have been recognised by various institutes and bodies. The unit has upgraded its technology and infrastructure across time. All stacks are monitored with trip mechanisms, continuous ambient air-monitoring, tail gas scrubbers in SAP, enhanced sulphuric acid plant, a state-of-the-art effluent treatment plant and sewage treatment plants, etc.
The company, through installation of tail gas scrubbers for sulphuric acid plants in March 2006, brought down the SO2 emissions to levels lower than a kg of every tonne of sulphuric acid produced. The company currently spends more than Rs 100 crore annually on running costs on environment control measures. It has further spent Rs 500 crore as capital expenditure on various pollution control equipment.