CHENNAI, Aug 13: The Tamil Nadu government today allowed Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd to reopen its copper smelter factory at Tuticorin. The decision follows the fact-finding committee absolving the unit of the responsibility for the gas leak incident.

The committee, constituted by the Tamil Nadu government to go into the Tuticorin gas leak which occurred on July 5, has completely exonerated Sterlite Industries' copper smelter plant and attributed the possible cause for the leak to the `fumigation' process carried out by the adjoining factory of Ramesh Flowers Ltd. (RFL), without the prescribed precautions.

According to a detailed report, copies of which were released to the media, the committee while recommending the reopening of the Sterlite plant, has attributed the cause for the leak as the chemical process carried out ``openly in the sheds without provision for any exhaust facility'' at RFL, situated about 430 metres from the Sterlite plant.

While not directly blaming the RFL for the gas leak which affected 40 of its workers, the panel nevertheless came down hard on its dyeing/bleaching process, indicating that ``the fumes or gas mixtures'' which emanated from these processes and carried out in the work sheds of the company ``would have combined with the sulphur-di-oxide concentrations (prevalent in the RFL campus) and produced synergistic effect leading to the health symptoms reported by the affected individuals.''

It further charged that RFL had not revealed the operational procedures adopted for the dyeing/ bleaching processes when the team visited the factory on July 10.

The committee, while recommending resumption of operations at Sterlite, advised the government to screen the requests for setting up such plants in future.

The panel suggested ``a total of nine ambient air quality monitoring stations'' around the Sterlite's campus. It also advised the setting up of a team to monitor the data on ``fugitive and stack emissions'' from the plant 24 hours a day, throughout the year.

The plant should be further directed to increase the stack exit velocity of the gas to a minimum of 20 m per second, if it was not possible to increase the height of each stack. ``This arrangement would ensure and encourage production and pollution control simultaneously,'' the report added.

The committee suggested that the RFL be instructed to complete the construction of its effluent treatment plant and to carry out bleaching and dyeing operations only under the supervision of a qualified chemist and monitored by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.