Visakhapatnam gas leak

The Visakhapatnam gas leak, also referred to as the Vizag gas leak, was an industrial accident that occurred at the LG Polymers chemical plant in the R. R. Venkatapuram village of the Gopalapatnam neighbourhood, located at the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, during the early morning of 7 May 2020. The resulting vapour cloud spread over a radius of around 3km (1.86 mi), affecting the nearby areas and villages. As per the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the death toll was 11, and more than 1,000 people became sick after being exposed to the gas.

Preliminary investigations concluded that the accident was likely the result of insufficient maintenance of units storing the styrene monomer, improper storage, and operation errors. The Government of Andhra Pradesh announced an ex gratia of for each family of the deceased, as well as funds for the injured. A budget of was allocated for the compensation of all those affected.

Background

The chemical plant of the R. R. Venkatapuram village was originally established in 1961 as Hindustan Polymers. In 1978, it was merged with McDowell Holdings, a subsidiary of United Breweries Group. In 1997, it was acquired by the South Korean company LG Chem, which renamed the company to LG Polymers India. LG Chem expanded its operations at the LG Polymers plant five times between 2006 and 2018. The plant manufactures polystyrene, co-polymer products, and engineering plastic compounds.

Lack of environment clearance

The South Korean parent company, LG Chem, said in its May 2019 affidavit, a part of an application for environment clearance, that the company did not have a legitimate environmental clearance issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), after receiving an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), substantiating the produced quantity and for continuing operations. According to the EIA notification (amendment) of 2006 under the Environment Protection Act of 1986, LG Chemicals India, which is part of the petrochemical industry, falls into the category 'A' and should get clearance from the MoEFCC every time they expanded their plant or brought a change to their manufactured product after November 2006. LG Chem expanded its operations at LG Polymers plant five times between 2006 and 2018 without such clearance. According to the May 2019 affidavit, since 1997, it was instead operating with state permits required for starting a new business with renewals every five years.

However, LG Chem spokesperson Choi Sang-kyu told the Associated Press (AP) that the company had followed Indian laws and operated based on the officials' guidelines at the state and federal level. He said that the affidavit was a pledge of compliance with the law, rather than an admission of violating the law. After the 2006 notification, Choi said that the company consulted the ministry and was told that no clearance was required. However, Environment Secretary C. K. Mishra told the ''AP'' that the plant would have no requirement of clearance in 2006, but a clearance was imperative for any expansion or production change thereafter.

LG Polymers had never asked for a federal clearance until 2017, and as per the minutes of a meeting between the company and the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, the latter denied the former's request for producing engineering plastics at its plant. However, a member of the state pollution board said there was no information regarding any order by the state government to stop the plant's operation. In 2018, the company applied for an environmental clearance for the first time, to expand its manufacturing capacity of polystyrene, a plastic used to make bottles and lids. The Environment Ministry sent the application for a review citing that the company did not have a clearance for the chemicals it was already manufacturing. The company withdrew the application while applying for a retroactive clearance that the ministry offered to companies in 2018 as a one-time amnesty, which remained pending until the fatal leak occurred.

According to the AP, officials and legal experts like Mahesh Chandra Mehta, an environment lawyer, indicated that the plant seemed to be operating in a legal grey area, with the environmental clearance required under central regulations while the state executives are to look after the enforcement. However, to date there is no indication that the lack of environment clearance played a role in the disaster. Experts are also skeptical, as the plant operated for years without any clearance. Mehta also pointed out that many such industries are operating without a clearance, which shows how weak the environmental laws are in India that has to its credit several of the world's most polluted cities. Mehta also said that each time the company renewed that permit, the state pollution board, which has the power to enforce federal environmental law, would have been able to fine the company or deny a permit until it received federal clearance, which it never did. Dr. B. Sengupta, environmental scientist and former head of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), said that the state permits only consider pollution and do not consider the site safety. In contrast, federal clearance assesses risks concerning the handling and storage of hazardous materials, prevention of potential disasters, and mitigation in cases of disaster.

Leakage and effects

Facilities and leakage

The plant was re-opened on 7 May 2020 following the nationwide lockdown implemented as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The plant stored 2,000 metric tons (1,968 long tons; 2,205 short tons) of styrene in tanks, which were left unattended. Styrene monomer must be stored between because higher temperatures result in rapid vaporization. It is believed that a computer glitch in the factory's cooling system allowed temperatures in the storage tanks to exceed safe levels, causing the styrene to vaporize. Between 2:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., when maintenance activity was in progress, the gas leaked from the plant and spread to nearby villages.

Acute effects

The fumes spread over a radius of 3km (1.86 mi). Five villages (R. R. Venkatapuram, Padmapuram, BC Colony, Gopalapatnam, and Kamparapalem) were the most affected areas. Hundreds of people were rushed to hospitals following widespread breathing difficulties and sensations of burning eyes. Many had been found lying on the ground, unconscious as a result of gas exposure. The initial estimate noted at least 11 deaths and 20–25 people in critical condition. By the next day, the death toll had risen to thirteen. More than 1,000 people were reportedly exposed to the gas.

Late at night on 7 May, police ordered the evacuation of people in a radius of the leak. However, police subsequently stated that this evacuation was precautionary and that there had not been a second leak.

Probable leakage and removal of chemicals

Experts from the central government who inspected the plant said that it would have faced a catastrophe had the violation of safety norms at other storage facilities of the plant gone unnoticed for a few more days. They said those facilities were vulnerable to a leak of vapour on a larger scale and stored in a high-risk condition. An expert said polymerization was noticed in another storage.

According to ''Deccan Chronicle'', two experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Dr. Anjan Ray, director of the Indian Institute of Petroleum

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