Killer Asbestos Plant in Bihiya, Bhojpur

Asbestos Fiber Cement Sheet Plant (1,20,000 TPA) at Industrial Area, Plot No. A1, Village Tehsil Bihiya, District Bhojpur, Bihar by M/s Ramco Industries Ltd. (TORs)

The project authorities and their consultant gave a detailed presentation on the salient features of the project and proposed environmental protection measures to be undertaken alongwith the draft Term of References for the preparation of EIA/EMP. All the Asbestos Cement are listed at S.N. 4(c) under Category ?A? and appraised at the Central level.

M/s Ramco Industries Ltd. have proposed for the Asbestos Fiber Cement Sheet Plant (1,20,000 TPA) at Industrial Area, Plot No. A1, Village Tehsil Bihiya, District Bhojpur, Bihar. Total project area is 20 acres (8,71,200 ft²) and land is allotted by BIADA on lease for 90 years. Gangi Nadi (2 km), Bhitauli Nadi 2 km) Chhar Nadi (3.5 km), Dehra Nadi (3.5 km) and Dehra Nadi (8 km) Bhagan Nadi (10.5 km) and Ganga river (14 km) are located with 15 km radius. PAs have submitted a copy of certificate issued by the Dy. Secretary (industries), Bihar Govt. regarding possession of land. During presentation, PAs have submitted a copy of certificate issued by the Executive Director (Industries), Govt. of Bihar vide letter no. 3168/D/135/DO/ BIADA/09 dated 10^th May, 2010 indicating location of the project in notified industrial area Bihiya. No reserve forests is located within 10 Km. Total cost of the project is Rs. 30.00 Crores. Rs. 50.00 Lakhs and Rs. 10.00 Lakhs are earmarked for capital cost and recurring cost towards pollution control measures. No litigation /court case is pending against the proposal.

Asbestos fibres (850 MTPA), Cement (4.550 TPM), fly ash (2,650 TPM) and other additives (pulp, 50 TPM) will be used as raw materials which will be stored in separate location opened in closed chamber and processed in wet condition.

Fibre bags will be fed into closed bag opening device where bags will be opened. Empty bags will be shredded and mixed with fibre. Then fibre will be mixed with 30% water to avoid fibre dust generation. These milled fibres will be stored in the wet form and further opened for hydro-disintegration in a turbo mixer. Wet fibre will be mixed with cement / fly ash to make an uniform slurry and fed to vat machine and converted into Hot A.C. sheets. The felt mill pass over the sieve cylinder and accumulator drum to form sheets of required thickness and transferred to steel template for requisite corrugations profile. The sheets are then cured.

No gaseous emissions will be generated from the production process since the entire process will be carried out in wet condition. Stack emission from D.G. set will be released into atmosphere through gas stack. Dust emissions from the fibre circuit, cement and fly ash circuit and pulveriser will be controlled by jet pulse filter dust collector. Fugitive dust will be notified by regular sprinkling of water.

Total ground water requirement from bore wells will be 80 m³/day and permission for the drawl of ground water from SGWB, Bihar is obtained vide letter dated 22^nd February, 2010. PAs have submitted a copy of permission for ground water drawl accorded by Directorate of Under ground water resources issued vide letter dated 22^nd February, 2010. The entire treated effluent after settling will be reused/recycled in the process or for dust suppression and green belt development. Sewage effluent will be treated in septic tank followed by soak pit. Municipal solid waste will be used within the plant as manure for plantation. No effluent will be discharged outside the premises and ?Zero? discharge will be adopted.

Solid waste (6.0 TPM) from the fibre cement sheet plant including rejected, cracked, broken sheets will be pulverized, bagged and then taken back to the mixer for use in the process. Dust from the bag filter will also be taken to mixer for reuse. Waste oil and used batteries will be sold to authorized recyclers / re-processors.

PAs have informed that green belt will be developed in 7 acres (35 %) increased to 8.0 acres of the total land 20 acres. Acoustic enclosures will be provided to D.G. Sets. Power (750 KVA) will be sourced from SEB. Fuel (50 l/hr) will be used in DG sets. One D.G. set (750 KVA) will also be installed.

After deliberations and considering the facts mentioned above, the Expert Appraisal Committee (Industry) recommended the proposal for the preparation of EIA/EMP as per the following TORs:

1 Present land use of study area for 10 Km radius should be included. Detailed topographical map indicating drainage pattern and other features of the area should also be included.

2 Proposal should be submitted to the Ministry for environment clearance only after acquiring total land. Necessary documents indicating acquisition of land viz. lease deed, allotment letter should be included.

3 High-resolution satellite image data having 1m-5m spatial resolution like quickbird, Ikonos, IRS P-6 pan sharpened etc. for the 10 km radius area from proposed site should be incorporated. The same should be used for land used /land-cover mapping of the area.

4 Project site layout plan, raw materials, fly ash and other storage plans, bore well or water storage, aquifers (within 1 Km.) dumping, waste disposal, green areas, water bodies, rivers/drainage passing through the project site should be included.

5 Cumulative data base of last 2-3 yrs. for emissions e.g. aerosols size, optical depth, CO, CO₂, surface and air temperature, NO, CH₄, anions / cations / trace metals as given below in surface/subsurface water with present GW level and its fluctuation for last 5-10 yrs from CGWB.

6 For the project lying within 10 km radius of any major river, Flood Hazard Zonation Mapping is required at 1:5000 to 1;10,000 scale indicating the peak and lean river discharge as well as flood occurrence frequency.

7 Geo-technical data by a bore hole of upto 40 mts. in every One sq. km area such as ground water level, SPTN values, soil fineness, geology, shear wave velocity etc. for liquefaction studies. This will help making a future Seismic Hazard and Earthquake Risk Management area.

8 Site-specific micro-meteorological data including inversion height and mixing height should be included

9 Details of the other industries located in 10 km radius should be included

10 One season base line data on air, water, soil & noise etc. should be included

11 Modern up-to-date Asbestos plant with automatic bag opening devices should be installed.

12 The safety measures adopted during import and transport of Asbestos from Canada and a copy of the ?MOU? signed should be included.

13 A chapter on chemistry of asbestos, handling of asbestos material, precautions proposed for the direct contact, arrangements made for storage and monitoring of asbestos fibres etc. other details as per given below:

i. Size of silica sand, transportation, storage, spillway of melt and temperature management for float glass and mirror Industry along with silicosis management and toxicity studies and management for Ag etc.

ii. Source and location of Asbestos (GPS) even if imported, size in F/ml, levels in environment, Chemical composition of raw material as especially amount of Tremolite, Crocidolite, Amosite and other amphiboles, Hexavalent chromium in raw material especially in serpentine, talc and chrysotile, Electron microscopy, XRD and Raman Spectra studies.

iii. Health Management Plan for Mesothalmia, Lung cancer and Asbestosis related problems in asbestos industries.

14 Petrological and Chemical analysis and other chemical properties of raw materials used (with GPS location of source of raw material) i.e. ores, minerals, rock, soil, coal, iron, dolomite quartz etc. using high definition and precision instruments mentioning their detection range and methodology such Digital Analyzers, AAS with Graphite furnace, ICPMS, MICRO-WDXRF, EPMA, XRD, Nano studies or at least as per I30-10500 and WHO norms. These analysis should include trace element and metal studies like Cr (vi) Ni, Fe, As, Pb, Zn, Hg, Se, S etc. Presence of radioactive elements (U, Th etc.),

15 Petrography, grain size analysis and Major element analysis of raw material and soil from project site and raw material should be done on the same parameters along with analysis for SiO2, Al2O3, MgO, MnO, K2O, CaO, FeO, Fe2O3, P2O5, H2O, CO2.

16 If the rocks, ores, raw material has trace elements their petrography, ore microscopy, XRD, elemental mapping EPMA, XRF is required to quantify the amount present in it and hence future risk involved while using it and management plan.

17 Mode of transport of raw materials from sources are to be shown. All the trucks for raw material and finished product transportation must be ?Environmentally Compliant?

18 Studies are also required for fly ash, muck disposal, slurry, sludge material and solid waste generated if the raw materials used has trace elements and a management plan.

19 Air quality modelling for the Asbestos handling system. Ambient air quality monitoring modelling alongwith cumulative impact. Following are to be included as an annexure for the day (24 hrs) considered for maximum GLC:

I. Emissions (g/second) with and without the air pollution control measures

II. Meteorological inputs (wind speed, m/s), wind direction, ambient air temperature, cloud cover, relative humidity & mixing height) on hourly basis

III. Model input options for terrain, plume rise, deposition etc.

IV. Print-out of model input and output on hourly and daily average basis

V. A graph of daily averaged concentration (MGLC scenario) with downwind distance at every 500 m interval covering the exact location of GLC.

VI. Details of air pollution control methods used with percentage efficiency that are used for emission rate estimation with respect to each pollutant

VII. Applicable air quality standards as per LULC covered in the study area and % contribution of the proposed plant to the applicable Air quality standard. In case of expansion project, the contribution should be inclusive of both existing and expanded capacity.

VIII. No. I-VII are to be repeated for fugitive emissions and any other source type relevant and used for industry

IX. Graphs of monthly average daily concentration with down-wind distance

X. Specify when and where the ambient air quality standards are exceeded either due to the proposed plant alone or when the plant contribution is added to the background air quality.

XI. Fugitive dust protection or dust reduction technology for workers within 30 m of the plant active areas.

20 Sources of secondary emissions, its control and monitoring as per the CPCB guidelines and latest notification vide G.S.R. 414(E) dated 30^thMay, 2008 should be included.

21 Chemical characterization of RSPM and incorporation of RSPM data. Location of one AAQMS in downwind direction.

22 Action plan to follow National Ambient Air Quality Emission Standards issued by the Ministry vide G.S.R. No. 826(E) dated 16^th November, 2009 should be included.

23 Action plan for rainwater harvesting measures at plant site should be submitted to harvest rainwater from the roof tops and storm water drains to recharge the ground water and also to use for the various activities at the project site to conserve fresh water and reduce the water requirement from other sources. Rain water harvesting and groundwater recharge structures may also be constructed outside the plant premises in consultation with local Gram Panchayat and Village Heads to augment the ground water level. Incorporation of water harvesting plan for the project is necessary, if source of water is bore well.

24 Actual source and permission for the drawl of 80 m³/day water from bore well from the SGWB, Bihar accorded vide letter dated 22^nd February, 2010 and water balance data including quantity of effluent generated, recycled and reused and discharged should be included. Methods adopted/to be adopted for the water conservation should be included

25 Ground water monitoring minimum at 8 locations should be included.

26 Scheme for proper storage of asbestos fibres and disposal of solid/hazardous waste should be included.

27 Presence of an aquifer/aquifers within 1 km of the project boundaries should be included. Management plan for recharging the aquifer should be given so as to limit the water extraction within permissible limit of CWC or CGWB should be included.

28 Source of surface/ground water level, site (GPS), cation, anion (Ion Chromatograph), metal trace element (as above) chemical analysis for water to be used. If surface water is used from river, rainfall, discharge rate, quantity, drainage and distance from project site should also be included.

29 Ground water analysis with bore well data, litho-logs, drawdown and recovery tests to quantify the area and volume of aquifer and its management should be included.

30 Ground water modeling showing the pathways of the pollutants should be included

31 Column leachate study for all types of stockpiles or waste disposal sites, at 20^oC-50^oC should be conducted and included.

32 All samplings for water have to be done during the peak summer time (Sampling number, dates and standard deviation should be included.

33 Incorporation of water harvesting plan for the project is necessary, if source of water is bore well should be ensured.

34 Provision of traps and treatment plants are to be made, if water is getting mixed with oil, grease and cleaning agents should be included.

35 If the water is mixed with solid particulates, proposal for sediment pond before further transport should be included. The sediment pond capacity should be 100 times the transport capacity.

36 Wastewater characteristics (heavy metals, anions and cations, trace metals, PAH) from asbestos bearing effluent should be included.

37 The pathways for pollution via seepages, evaporation, residual remains are to be studied for surface water (drainage, rivers, ponds, lakes), sub-surface and ground water with a monitoring and management plans should be included.

38 All stock piles should be on top of a stable liner to avoid leaching of materials to ground water.

39 The green belt should be around the project boundary in 33 % area and a scheme for greening of the traveling roads should also be incorporated. All rooftops/terraces should have some green cover.

40 Disaster Management Plan including risk assessment and damage control needs to be addressed and included.

41 Arrangements for the proper monitoring of the occupational health of the workers should be included. Occupational hazards specific pre-placement and periodical monitoring and periodical monitoring should be carried out. The detailed plan to carry out above mentioned activity should be mentioned. The measures to protect the workers from accidents and other safety issues. Detailed plan for the same. Man machine relationship. How the issue of man-machine relationship to protect the workers from musculo-skeletal disorder such as backache, arthritis, body ache etc.

42 Detailed action plan for compliance of the directions of the Hon?ble Supreme Court of India regarding occupational health and safety measures in asbestos industries should be included.

43 Detailed description of the flora and fauna (terrestrial and aquatic) should be given with special reference to rare, endemic and endangered species.

44 Compliance to the recommendations mentioned in the CREP guidelines should be included.

45 An action plan on entire operation should be automatic and closed system for all operations for fibre handling and processing should be included.

46 Details of arrangement for measurement and monitoring of asbestos fibre (Phase contrast microscope) should be included.

47 Detailed Environment management Plan (EMP) with specific reference to details of air pollution control system water & wastewater management, monitoring frequency, responsibility and time bound implementation plan for mitigation measure should be provided.

48 EMP should include the concept of waste-minimization, recycle/reuse/recovery techniques, Energy conservation, and natural resource conservation.

49 EMP should include a clear map for plantation/green belt.

50 Commitment that laboratory for monitoring asbestos fibres will be established at the site.

51 At least 5 % of the total cost of the project should be earmarked towards the corporate social responsibility and item-wise details alongwith time bound action plan should be included. Socio-economic development activities need to be elaborated upon.

52 Any litigation pending against the project and/or any direction/order passed by any Court of Law against the project, if so, details thereof should also be included.

The Expert Committee (Industry) decided that PAs may be communicated the above `TORs` for the preparation of EIA/EMP including other information as per the generic structure given in Appendix-III of EIA Notification, 2006. As soon as the draft EIA/EMP report is prepared, the same may be submitted by the PAs to the MoEF for prior environmental clearance. It is noted that no public hearing/consultation is required since the project is located in notified industrial estate as per Section (iii), Stage (3), Para (i)(b) of EIA Notification 2006. Document submitted was placed before the Committee.

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