News
Power and Disaster Management Ministries teams to study situation
Power company says no way it is responsible
On Tuesday students of Tellippalai Union College staged a protest complaining the water in the well located in their school is also contaminated with oil and was not in a condition to be used for drinking.
A three-day hunger strike was yesterday called off by residents of Chunnakam against alleged oil leakage from the Northern Power Plant (NPP) after their representatives were given assurances by government authorities that immediate remedies have been taken to address their issues.
The residents of Chunnakam, medical doctors and Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) collectively commenced a hunger strike on Tuesday in front of the Chunnakam Sivan Kovil demanding the immediate closure of the Northern Power Plant and urged the authorities to declare the region as a ‘disaster zone’.
“Our representatives met Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka, Disaster Management Minister John Amaratunga and the Prime Minister’s Secretary and were assured that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) will stop buying power from the power plant if it is causing the oil leakage,” said Dr. Ganeshanathan Senthuran, one of the protesters.
Dr. Senthuran said two separate teams from the Power and Energy Ministry and the Disaster Management Ministry is yet to arrive to study the ground situation.
“If the authorities fail to address the concerns within two weeks we are planning to protest at district level comprising all sections of the people,” he said.
The Power and Energy Ministry has suggested the appointment of an independent committee consisting of officials from the ministry and the Central Environemtal Authority to study the oil contamination problem, Ministry Secretary Dr.M.S. Batagoda said.
“I have suggested to the minister to appoint such a committee and once we got the committee’s report we will take action to resolve this issue. There are many power plants in the country. We cannot shut them down without studying scientific data,” he said. Dr Batagoda added there had been media reports suggesting the ministry had issued orders to close down the NPP but there were no such orders from the minister to do so.
Jaffna District Secretary Sundaram Arumainayagam said the oil contamination of the water was initially identified in 1987 and recently it started to spread rapidly throughout the region. He said he has sent the reports to the relevant authorities including the Disaster Management Ministry in early 2013.
“Now we have taken immediate measures to address this issue. We are providing water through bowsers while the Water Board too is carrying out tests in the area to assess the root causes,” he said.
According to Mr. Arumainayagam around 5,000 families have been affected in the area with most of them engaging in farming and continue to use this water for their farming purposes. Northern Power Company (Private) Ltd., a private power firm comes under MTD Walkers PLC whose parent company is in Malaysia on Friday rejected all the allegations levelled against it saying the company is the root cause to the water contamination in the Chunnakam area.
Lal Perera, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTD Walkers PLC said even though there are many allegations against them there has been no single professional investigation carried out to report where this pollution is occurring or to determine the role of the NPP in this issue.
The NPP is registered as a Board of Investment (BOI) company and its client is the CEB having a power purchase agreement with it for ten years ending in 2017.
“We have observed all the standards required by the CEB and Environmental Authority and the BOI rules and regulations. The licence to operate was issued by the Central Environmental Authority to the BOI where tests for water pollution, air pollution and emissions were analysed and the licence issued for one year. Still the licence is in force with quarterly check ups by the Central Environmental Authority,” he said.
Explaining the system of disposal of waste oil, Mr Perera said if the engines operate continuously for 24 hours they have a consumption of 1000 litres of oil per day. ”We try to minimise the oil wastage as much as we can. It is only about of one percent which is a very small amount and that waste oil is preserved in a separate tank to be re-seold. There is no way we would waste or leak a drop of oil into the ground. We are a business organisation intending to make profits,” he said.
Mr. Perera claimed the wells three kilometres away from the plant are said to be polluted but there is an unpolluted well from which water is used for drinking purposes, in our premises comprising 33 acres of land. ”We are owned by a public listed company. We are liable to the shareholders that we make the best use of their money. There is no way we can discharge oil into the ground,” he said.
While the allegations continue to be made, the NPP said it would welcome an independent expert committee consisting of groundwater experts and environmental specialists to study and asesss the situation. Northern Province Council Chairman C.V.K. Sivagnanam told the Sunday Times that the expert committee which has been appointed by the council has commenced its research to identify the key issues regarding the matter.
“Before we act on this, the council needs a report on the matter by the specialists in their respective fields. The committee consists of academics from all over the country with the sound knowledge on the matter.” he said. Head of Environmental Protection Forum Shantha Abimanasingham, who has filed a case under the public nuisances provision in the Mallakam Magistrate’s Court seeking a conditional order to close the NPP, told the Sunday Times that the case will be taken up for hearing on Tuesday.
“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data the minimum amount of oil should be less than 0.2 g in drinking water per litre but here the tests done by the Water Board in a well near the power plant indicates 211 g of chemical organisms.” she said.