Amaravati: Poor safety protocols and total breakdown of the emergency response of procedures were the root causes of the May 7 styrene vapour gas leak in the LG Polymers unit at Visakhapatnam. In the gas leak 12 people were killed and hundreds fell sick. This information was shared Monday by the high powered committee (HPC) constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government.
Citing multiple inadequacies on the part of LG, the HPC faulted the ‘slackness of management’ for poor safety protocol. It also said poor safety awareness and inadequate risk assessment response aggravated the situation.
The HPC was headed by Environment and Forests Special Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad. It submitted a 4000-page report to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here Monday.
Also read: LG Polymers blames vapour leak from storage tank caused accident at Vizag plant
“The accident occurred due to uncontrolled release of styrene vapour from the M6 tank at the LG plant. It qualifies as a major accident under the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989. Poor design of the tank led to the accident. Among other deficiencies were inadequate refrigeration and faulty cooling system, absence of circulation and mixing system. Also there was total breakdown of the emergency response of the procedures,” the HPC report said.
The HPC also observed that the factory has ‘absolutely no stocks’ of inhibitors and negligible stocks of terminators. Those could have been used to minimise the impact of the accident, if not neutralise it.
“The temperature in the tank rose substantially. It was a tank with small vents. The rise in temperature caused the styrene liquid to eventually vaporize and increase the pressure,” the HPC noted.
The committee also observed that the alarm system (at the plant) was not used. There were 36 activation points of the alarm, including one at the factory gate. Using the alarm could have alerted the people in the vicinity (from the impending danger), the report added.
Director of the Indian Institute of Petroleum (Dehradun) Anjan Ray, Director General of DGFASLI R K Elangovan and other officials were members of the HPC.