Closure notice to Assam gas field over blowout

The Assam Pollution Control Board issued a closure discover on Friday to the Baghjan oilfield of Oil India Limited (OIL) on the grounds that the corporate has been working it with out prior permissions, together with the important thing “consent to establish” and “consent to operate” clearances.

Any trade prone to discharge effluents or emit pollution is meant to get these permissions from the state air pollution management boards underneath the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

A blowout that started within the oilfield on May 27 led to the uncontrollable circulation of oil from fuel properly 5 — inflicting intensive injury to biodiversity and wildlife the area, in response to a preliminary report on the environmental injury brought on by the incident. The wildlife within the area consists of, amongst a number of different species, the endangered hoolock gibbons and the Gangetic dolphins.

There are 17 oil wells and 5 fuel wells within the Baghjan oil discipline, Baghjan oil discipline generates 1,200 kilolitres of crude oil per day and 1.5 to 2 million metric commonplace cubic metres per day of fuel. OIL provides crude oil to a number of refineries together with Digboi refineries in Assam, it additionally provides fuel to numerous energy firms and fertiliser firms and 400+ tea estates in response to OIL.

The letter issued to OIL — a replica has been reviewed by HT — states that the Baghjan oilfield in Assam’s Tinsukia district is positioned at a distance of solely 500 metres from the Maguri-Motapung wetland, which is part of the eco-sensitive zone of Dibru Saikhowa National Park, which is “severely affected” by OIL’s “negligence”.

According to the letter,OIL was required to take enough measures to forestall spillage of hazardous waste into water our bodies via designated drains and therapy amenities. The surroundings clearance granted to OIL was additionally on the situation that the corporate set up a blowout prevention system to keep away from accidents throughout drilling.

“But you have failed to do it,” the letter said.

“It is observed that you have been operating your production as well as drilling installations without being equipped with proper safety and precautionary measures for which major accidents are occurred at the drilling sites,” the letter added.

The board has sweeping powers over tasks in eco-sensitive zonesunderneath Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

“We have ordered complete closure because of their negligent behaviour,” DN Das, member secretary of the Assam Pollution Control Board, mentioned.

An OIL spokesperson mentioned the consent was already sought. “We have applied for consent to operate a number of times, and even deposited fee for it with the pollution control board. The consent has come through for certain installations, rest are pending,” mentioned Tridiv Hazarika.

“The PCB had mailed us on June 11 asking us for details of various permissions and data. We had asked for time to reply. It’s a 15-year-old oil field. We managed to send them a response on June 18 but got a closure notice on June 19. It’s not technically possible to close the wells immediately as it will affect reservoirs. Many industries are dependent on OIL for their operations. We are also considering a legal option for a stay on the closure order,” the spokesperson added.

Later on Sunday, OIL issued a press launch saying it intends to file a writ petition earlier than the Gauhati excessive courtroom difficult the air pollution management board order. It additionally mentioned that an surroundings affect evaluation research of the blowout and fireplace was pending.

A preliminary report on the injury, by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) discovered that oil had leaked into the principal stream of Lohit river, polluting the water and the adjoining Maguri-Motapung wetland. “The toxic fumes and oil coating have universally affected flora and fauna. The contaminants and oil are continuing to be released and immediate steps are needed to contain this spill over. The toxins released are known to have long-term persistence in soils and sediments,” the report mentioned.