[Assam] ‘Nature’s Beckon’ should use the expertise of ‘Green Peace’ for their renowned expertise and help bring out the issues to the world focus. In the mean time all work on oil in Assam MUST STOP including pumping out of the reserve there.

[Bartta Bistar]

Key OIL installations face shutdown threat in Assam
http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349

By Syed Zarir Hussain, Duliajan (Assam): Pollution
control<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349>
 authorities in Assam Tuesday threatened to shut down several key
installations of premier
oil<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349>
 exploration firm Oil India Limited (OIL), charging it with causing serious
environmental degradation and posing health risks.

"OIL is blatantly violating pollution control norms with crude
oil<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349>
 seeping to human
settlement<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349>
 areas. Besides, hazardous wastes are posing serious health risks and
threatening the groundwater and soil," Assam Pollution Control Board
chairman Jawaharlal Dutta told IANS.

The board had given an ultimatum to the state-owned OIL to take remedial
measures to check crude seepage and steps for time-bound disposal of oily
sludge found around several pits, some of them close to human habitations
and croplands and near
tea<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349>
 plantations.

"Non-compliance of our directive could lead to arrest of officials or even
shutdown <http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349> of
the installations against which we have found specific
pollution<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349>
 violation evidences," Dutta said. "I visited at least six installations
recently and found specified pollution control norms had not been adhered to
in all the sites. Some of the oily sludge has been lying there probably for
decades."

OIL officials declined to comment on the charges of environmental pollution.
The pollution control board chairman said OIL authorities could face
contempt of court charges for trying to suppress facts as cases of
environmental pollution fall under the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee.

"About a year back we had asked OIL under the direction of the Supreme Court
Monitoring Committee to quantify the number of pits and the volume of oily
sludge," Dutta said.

"But OIL suppressed facts and did not provide us all details. There are a
number of unidentified pits which were not mentioned in the list given to us
by OIL."

The board had asked OIL to submit a report by the month end, besides
suggesting remedial measures to deal with oil seepage and disposing the
hazardous wastes. "Bioremediation of oily sludge should be undertaken,
besides monitoring groundwater around all pits and cleaning all other
installations immediately," Dutta said.

He said the board would be forced to do
satellite<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349>
 imaging to pinpoint the total number of pits if OIL fails to provide
details as sought. "Most of the pits were unscientifically managed and do
not conform to prescribed specifications," Dutta said.

People living around oil installations near the OIL headquarters of Duliajan
in eastern Assam had complained of various physical ailments and the adverse
impact on agriculture allegedly due to pollution caused by drilling
activities.

"It is true that croplands near installations get affected and there could
be accumulated effect on human health as well due to pollution," he said.

India produces about 30 million tonnes of crude annually, with Assam
accounting for about five million tonnes.

OIL produces about 3.5 million tonnes of crude in Assam annually.

Environment <http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=11349>
protection
groups in the area have also charged OIL with not taking enough
precautionary steps to check pollution, especially measures at
eco-conservation.

"OIL has not done enough for the environment considering the irrevocable
damage done to the eco-system due to various drilling works carried out by
the company," Soumyadeep Datta, director of Nature's Beckon, an
environmental rights group, said.
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