India’s BEIL to dispose of Bhopal toxic waste

01 June 2007 10:43  [Source: ICIS news]

MUMBAI (ICIS news)--India’s Bharuch Environ Infrastructure Limited (BEIL) will dispose of toxic waste from the 1984 Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, chemical disaster despite environmentalists’ protests, senior general manager PN Parmeshwaran said on Friday.

 

“The toxic waste we would destroy is manufacturing residue from the Union Carbide factory, which has been shut down since the chemical disaster,” he told ICIS news.

 

Following a directive from the state high court to destroy the toxic waste, the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, which is in possession of the land, has given the project to BEIL.

 

“BEIL’s treatment, storage and disposal facility at Ankaleshwar, an industrial area in the western state of Gujarat, has the technical capability to dispose such waste and it poses no threat whatsoever,” Parmeshwaran said.

 

“The waste has been lying in Bhopal for 22 years and there are grave concerns regarding contamination of both water and soil. BEIL’s facility is well-equipped to handle the disposal of such waste and it should not be a problem,” SK Hazra, chairman of the Indian Chemical Council environment, safety and health committee, told ICIS news.

 

A senior industry source said: “350 tonnes of toxic waste will be transported from Bhopal to Ankaleshwar by July. 200 tonnes of that would be incinerated (burnt), with the remaining being detoxified and dumped.”

 

Disposing this waste would cost the Madhya Pradesh government around Indian rupees (Rs) 9m-12m ($297,313/€220,787), he added.

 

Environmentalists objected to disposal of the waste in Ankaleshwar, and said BEIL was not up to the task.

 

"No incinerator in India, including BEIL’s, has the capability to dispose off such waste. It is a highly complicated and expensive business," said Nityanand Jayraman, a volunteer for the international campaign for justice in Bhopal.

 

“Neither does BEIL’s incinerator come up to international standards, nor does the company monitor for emission of heavy metals, mercury and dioxins, which would be released when such waste is burnt. Incinerating the toxic waste in Ankaleshwar, which itself is a toxic hotspot, is just not acceptable,” Jayraman added.

 

But Parmeshwaran rubbished these allegations.

 

“BEIL’s Ankaleshwar facility treats around 10,000 tonnes/year of toxic waste. So, disposing of 350 tonnes would surely not pose a problem,” he said.

 

In the December 1984 tragedy, a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, vented methyl isocyanate, killing nearly 4,000 area residents and sickening thousands more. 

 

Amnesty International USA said that since the accident a total of 22,000 people have died as a result of the chemical exposure and another 100,000 continue to suffer toxic effects.

 

In 1989, Union Carbide paid $470m in compensation to victims and said responsibility for the clean-up lay with officials. Michigan-based Dow Chemical acquired Union Carbide in 2001.

 

“In all of Dow’s communications regarding Bhopal, including with the Indian government, we have consistently, clearly and openly stated Dow’s position that we have always taken regarding Bhopal,” the company said earlier.

 

“That is, Dow never owned or operated the plant site involved with the Bhopal tragedy and, as such, has no responsibility or liability for the plant site.”

 

($1 = Rs40.62/€1 = Rs54.62)

By: Divya Chowdhury
+65 6780 4359

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