The High Power Committee (HPC), appointed by the Andhra Pradesh government, concluded that it was the all-round failure on the part of the LG Polymers that led to the Styrene gas leak and consequent death of 12 persons.
The committee headed by Neerabkumar Prasad, special chief secretary Environment and Forest department, today submitted the 4340-page report to YS Jaganmohan Reddy, chief minister, Andhra Pradesh.
Stating that the whole management of poisonous styrene gas was reckless, he said the gas was stored without putting any safety mechanism in place.
Neerab Kumar said the Company even failed to alert the people in surrounding areas by sounding sirens post gas leak. “There are about 36 siren activation points in the factory. But not one had been activated which could have alerted the people and averted the casualties,” he said.
He released the findings of the committee to the media and the public.
CONCLUSIONS
*The accident that occurred due to uncontrolled Styrene vapor release from the M6 tank qualifies as a major accident as per the definition under MSIHC rules.
*The temperature in the tank rose substantially. The rise in the temperature caused the styrene liquid to eventually vaporize and increase the pressure. And it was a tank with small vents
ROOT CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT
– Poor design of the tank – Inadequate refrigeration and faulty cooling system – Absence of circulation and mixing systems – Inadequate measures and parameters -Poor safety protocol -Poor safety awareness – Inadequate risk assessment response -Poor process safety management system – Slackness of Management – Insufficient knowledge among staff – Insufficient knowledge of the chemical properties of styrene, especially during storage conditions – The total breakdown of the emergency response of the procedures – The safety protocol was not followed by the authorities during the lockdown period
Apart from the above mentioned conclusions, the committee has also observed that the alarm system was not used despite there being a total of 36 activation points, including one at the factory gate. Using the alarm could’ve alerted the people in the vicinity.
– The committee also observed that the factory has absolutely no stocks of inhibitors and negligible stocks of terminators which could’ve been used to minimize the impact of the accident if not neutralize.
The CM accepted the report submitted by the Chairman and asked the committee to make it available in the public domain. The CM also instructed the committee to inform respective authorities to take necessary legal action against those responsible under relevant sections.
The committee had invited citizens to pose questions. Over 1200 queries, 180 calls, and 250 emails were received by the committee.
Member of the committee
– Neerabh Kumar Prasad, Chairman, Special CS EFS & T, GoAP – Karikal Valaven, Special CS Industry, and Commerce, GoAP – V.Vinay Chand, Collector, Visakhapatnam. – R.K. Meena, CP, Visakhapatnam. – Dr. Anjan Ray, Director, CSIR, Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun. – Vivek Yadav, Member Secretary, APCB. – Dr.RK Elangovan, Director General, DGFASLI – Bharat Kumar Sharma, Regional Director, CPCB, Pune.