National Green Tribunal
St.Mark Educational Institution vs M/S Siflon Drugs on 7 January, 2022
Author: Adarsh Kumar Goel
Bench: Adarsh Kumar Goel
Item No. 09 (Court No. 1)
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPAL BENCH
(By Video Conferencing)
Original Application No. 114/2020
Secretary, St. Mark Educational Institution
Society Group of Institution Applicant
Versus
State of Andhra Pradesh Respondent
Date of hearing: 07.01.2022
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ADARSH KUMAR GOEL, CHAIRPERSON
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR AGARWAL, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE BRIJESH SETHI, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. NAGIN NANDA, EXPERT MEMBER
Respondent(s): Mr. TVS Raghavendra Sreyas, Advocate for A.P PCB
Mr. P. Venkaiah Naidu, Advocate for M/s Siflon Drugs
ORDER
1. Question for consideration is remedial action against violation of environmental norms by M/s Siflon Drugs at Ranchanpalli, District Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
2. Vide order dated 14.10.2020, the Tribunal directed remedial action by the State PCB and District Magistrate, Anantapur and filing of an action taken report. The matter was thereafter considered on 03.03.2021 in the light of report of the State PCB dated 23.02.2021, after inspection by the joint Committee finding continued violations and recommending further steps by the industry, particularly with regard to control of odour adversely affecting public health and the environment.
3. The matter was last considered on 09.09.2021 in the light of further report of the State PCB dated 02.09.2021 that odour nuisance 1 continued on account of deficiency in recovery of the solvents in the distillation/recovery process. The Tribunal considered the deficiencies found in the report and directed remedial action, including assessment and recovery of adequate compensation on 'Polluter Pays' principle. The operative part of the order is reproduced below:-
"1&2...xxx.........................xxx............................................xxx
3. In pursuance of above, the State PCB has filed further report on 02.09.2021 after inspections on 04.03.2021 and 05.03.2021 to ascertain the status of compliance. The State PCB issued directions on 18.05.2021 for compliance followed by further inspection on 18.06.2021 and 19.06.2021 and show cause notice dated 01.07.2021, the order dated 10.08.2021. The relevant extracts from the report are:
"xxx......................................xxx ....................................xxx
12. The APPCB, Zonal Laboratory, Kurnool have conducted stack monitoring for the stack attached to boiler, vent of the scrubber and also Ambient Air Quality & VOC Monitoring within industry's premises, nearby villages and also in the complainant's premises in March, 2021 i.e., on 04.03.2021 & 05.03.2021 and also in June, 2021 i.e., on 18.06.2021 & 19.06.2021.
i. Inferences from the monitoring conducted by APPCB on
04.03.2021 &05.03.2021:
a) The Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) monitored within the industry premises show that the VOC values were in the range of 0.1 PPM to 2.8 PPM indicating that the characteristic odour nuisance prevailed within the premises.
b) The VOCs monitored in the nearby villages viz., Kodimi and Rachanapalli which are at an aerial distance of 0.9 KM and 1.9 KM respectively from the industry, show that the VOCs were below detectable limits.
c) The VOCs monitored in the premises of Chiranjeevi Reddy Institute of Engineering & Technology (CRIT)(belonging to the Petitioner), Rachanapalli (V) at an aerial distance of 0.7 Km from the industry, show the values in the range of 0.1 PPM to 0.2 PPM during night hours from 10:20 PM to 2:30 AM on 4-5th March 2021.
d) The stack & ambient air quality monitoring conducted within the industry shows that the parameters viz., SPM, SO2 and NOx are within the stipulated standards. The copies of the anlaysis reports are enclosed as Annexure - 3.2
ii. Inferences from the monitoring conducted by APPCB on 18.06.2021 & 19.06.2021:
a) The Stack and Ambient Air Quality Monitoring conducted within the industry's premises shows that the parameters viz., SPM, SO2 and NOx are within the stipulated standards.
b) The VOCs monitored within the industry premises show that the VOC values were in the range of 0.1 PPM to 4.4 PPM indicating that the characteristic odour of organic compounds in the industry's premises, which may be due to the solvent losses. The industry has to further reduce solvent losses by improving the efficiency of the solvent recovery systems.
c) The VOCs monitored in the nearby villages viz., Kodimi and Rachanapalli which are at an aerial distance of 0.9 KM and 1.9 KM respectively from the industry, show that the VOCs were within the Below Detectable Limit of 0.1 PPM
d) The VOCs monitored in the premises of CRIT College, Rachanapalli (Complainant premises) at an aerial distance of 0.7 Km from the industry, show that the VOCs were within the Below Detectable Limit of 0.1 PPM. The copies of the analysis reports are enclosed as Annexure - 4 8 to 10. xxx ............................ xxx ........................... xxx
11. The latest compliance of the industry to the directions issued by the Board vide Order dated 18.05.2021 are as follows:
S. No. Direction Compliance
1. The industry shall take all the The industry has upgraded the necessary steps to reduce the receivers used for the Scrubber with odour nuisance within one the jacketed receivers with water month circulation to control the temperature of the Scrubbing media thereby increase the Scrubbing efficiency.
Also, the industry has provided i) Scrubber to the vent of the Agitated Thin Film Drier provided for disposal of HTDS effluents and ii) Covered the HTDS effluent storage tanks and provided the ducting system (with ID fan of capacity 5 HP) connected to Scrubber to control odour nuisance from the High TDS effluent storage tanks.
The industry is also operating MEE
and ATFD only during day time to
control the odour from the
evaporation system.
2 The industry shall provide Earlier, the industry is having
separate stacks for the 4 TPH Common Stack for the 3 TPH & 4 3 and 3 TPH boilers as TPH boilers. Now, the industry is not stipulated in the CFO order operating the 3 TPH boiler and also dt. 21.06.2018 within one disconnected the duct from 3 TPH month boiler to the common stack permanently on 01.06.2021.
The industry representative informed that they are planning to sell the 3 TPH boiler within a month's time.
3 The industry shall not The industry is not manufacturing manufacture new products any new products other than and not exceeding the permitted in the Consent Order. permitted quantity, other than Also, after the issue of Show cause those mentioned in CFO notice dt.01.07.2021 by the Board for payment of Environmental Compensation for excess production, the industry has stopped carrying out of excess production.
Out of the 9 products permitted in the CFO order dt.21.06.2018, the industry has manufactured 3 products namely Oxyclozanide, Niclosamide & Fenbendazole and has carried out production in total (which include all the 3 products) of about 16,500 Kgs i.e., 271.31 Kgs/day (Average) as against the consented quantity of 660 Kgs/Day during the period from 20.06.2021 to 20.08.2021. The industry has manufactured Oxyclozanide -
10,000 Kgs i.e., 163.93 Kgs/day (Average) as against permitted quantity of 166.67 Kgs/day;
Niclosamide - 4,500 Kgs i.e., 73.77 Kgs/day (Average) as against permitted quantity of 70 Kgs/day & Fenbendazole - 2,050 Kgs i.e., 33.6 Kgs/day (Average) as against permitted quantity of 33.33 Kgs/day during the above period.
4 The industry shall dispose The industry is disposing the plastic the Plastic liners, carboys and liners, carboys and scrap waste scrap waste only to the regularly to M/s. Apex polymers, authorized recyclers Visakhapatnam which is an authorized recycler.
5 The industry shall operate the The industry is operating two stage two stage scrubbers for scrubbers for the scrubbing of scrubbing of process process emissions i.e., HCl & SO2 emissions at all emission emissions emanated from the sources. The industry shall production Block -B & C. The maintain online pH meters to industry has provided online pH the scrubbers meters for the scrubbers provided in Block - B & Block - C to monitor the scrubbing efficiency and these pH meters are provided with data logger 4 system.
6 There shall not be any There is no discharge of wastewater discharge of wastewater outside the industry premises. outside the industry premises 7 The online monitoring system The industry has provided online shall be calibrated effluent monitoring system for the periodically as per equipment outlet of RO for monitoring pH, BOD, supplier's manual/CPCB COD and TSS. The industry has guidelines before starting the calibrated the online monitoring production. system on 15.03.2021 and the next due date for calibration of the system is on 15.09.2021.
A copy of the calibration certificate is enclosed as Annexure-9.
12. The industry utilizes solvents namely Tolune, Methanol, Mono Chloro Benzene, Acetone and n-hexane and is recovering the solvents using simple distillation/distillation columns. During inspection, the solvent losses from the recovery systems was found to be in the range of 5.02 to 7.15 %. The industry has to take further measures to achieve more than 95% recovery for the solvents in the distillation/recovery process to control the odour nuisance in the premises.
13. From the VOC monitoring conducted by the Board Officials within industry's premises, in the nearby villages and in the Complainant's premises, it was observed that the VOC's were recorded Below the Detectable Levels (BDL) in the nearby villages and also in the complainant's premises. However, the VOC's were recorded in the industry's premises in the range of 0.1 to 2.8 PPM (during monitoring on 04.03.2021 & 05.03.202) and 0.1 to 4.4 PPM (during monitoring on 18.06.2021 & 19.06.2021) which is due to the solvent losses. The industry has to further reduce solvent losses by improving the efficiency of the solvent recovery systems.
14. The APPCB has reviewed the status of the industry before the External Advisory Committee (Task Force) meeting held on 22.07.2021 and issued directions to the industry vide order dt.10.08.2021 to continue to take all necessary steps to reduce the odour nuisance along with other conditions to comply with."
4. We have considered the matter with the assistance of the learned Counsel for the State PCB.
5. It is clear from the above that all necessary steps to reduce odour nuisance due to the solvent losses have not been taken inspite of direction of the State PCB. While some other steps have been taken, it is necessary to take further steps and also to verify that the violations have actually stopped. As recommended in the report, the industry has yet to take measures for achieving more than 95% recovery of the solvents in the distillation/recovery process to control odour nuisance in the premises. The industry needs to enhance 5 solvent recovery and maintain Work Zone Standards. Standards for channelised VOC emissions may be achieved. The industry may operate with duly approved On and off - site emergency plans under MSIHC Rules, 1989. SPCB may apply the SoP for spent solvent recovery with such conditions as may be necessary for protection of environment and public health.
6. We also find that though compensation has been assessed for the past violations, the commencement of violation has been counted only from the date of inspection without recording any finding that prior to the said date such violation did not exist. As per common course of events once an inspection is found there is a presumption that the same was continuing unless shown otherwise. This aspect may also be looked into by the State PCB. Let a further action taken report and status of compliance as on November 30, 2021 be ascertained and remedial action taken by the State PCB in exercise of its statutory powers, following due process of law. The State PCB may take measures to ensure that state-of-art odour control systems are in place in the interest of protection of environment and public health.
7. A further action taken report may be filed on or before December 15, 2021 by e-mail at [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF."
4. In pursuance of above, the State PCB has filed its action taken report on 31.12.2021 to the effect that a Committee constituted by the State PCB visited the unit in question on 09.11.2021 and suggested following steps to be taken by the unit:-
"
i) shall provide common adsorption column for the scrubbers provided in Production Block -- B & C and the vents from the two scrubbers (water and caustic) shall be connected to the common adsorption column system with granular activated carbon specific to gaseous adsorption.
ii) shall provide proper connections without bypassing of adsorption column provided for the vent of the teriatory condenser provided for the solvent distillation column.
iii) shall connect the vent of the mother liquor storage tank (day tank) to the adsorption column and shall use the granulated activated carbon in the adsorption column to increase the efficiency of the adsorption.
iv) The sampling solutions from the solvent distillation columns should be collected in a closed container and shall be transferred to the Mother Liquor (ML) storage tank by gravity in a closed loop.
6v) shall provide proper railing in all stairs of distillation facility in order to avoid any accidents.
vi) shall use cold water by adding ice blocks in the Cooling tower provided for the vent condenser of solvent storage tanks and to observe the inlet and outlet temperature by providing the thermometer.
vii) shall pass the vent of the scrubber provided for the Agitated Thin Film Drier (ATFD) outlet through appropriately designed activated carbon adsorption system.
viii) shall completely cover the Equalizing tanks (for both high and low TDS effluents) and biological treatment systems (aeration tanks) with powder coated sheets and the vents of the tanks shall be connected to scrubbing system.
ix) shall segregate the Sulphur powder bags in raw material warehouse and to store them in a separate closed room or enclosure with proper exhaust arrangement connected to scrubbing system.
x) shall frequently check for leakages in gaskets of all the flange joints and replace accordingly.
xi) shall provide appropriate clamps to the metal pipes connected with HDPE tubing for avoiding leakages."
5. The State PCB directed the unit to implement above measures.
The State PCB carried out inspection on 07.12.2021 and 08.12.2021 to ascertain the status of compliance. The said status has been compiled as follows:-
" S. Additional state-of-art odour Compliance No. control systems suggested by expert team
1. shall provide common adsorption Complied.
column for the scrubbers provided in Production Block -- B & C and The industry has provided the vents from the two scrubbers candy filter with (water and caustic) shall be granulated carbon connected to the common adsorption system for the adsorption column system with vents of the Scrubbers granular activated carbon specific provided at production to gaseous adsorption. Blocks
2. shall provide proper connections The industry has without bypassing of adsorption provided candy filter column provided for the vent of the with granular activated teriatory condenser provided for carbon adsorption the solvent distillation column. system for the vents of the condenser provided for the two solvent distillation columns.7
3. shall connect the vent of the The industry has mother liquor storage tank (day connected the condenser tank) to the adsorption column vent of mother liquor and shall use the granulated storage tanks (day tank) activated carbon in the adsorption to the candy filter with column to increase the efficiency granular carbon of the adsorption.
adsorption system.
4. The sampling solutions from the The industry has provided solvent distillation columns should 100 Liters of closed be collected in a closed container collection tank for and shall be transferred to the collection of sampling Mother Liquor (ML) storage tank solution for each of the by gravity in a closed loop. two distillation columns.
5. shall provide proper railing in all The industry has provided stairs of distillation facility in railing in all stairs of the order to avoid any accidents. distillation column.
6. shall use cold water by adding Not Complied.
ice blocks in the Cooling tower provided for the vent During inspection, it condenser of solvent storage was observed that the tanks and to observe the inlet industry was in process and outlet temperature by of installation of separate cooling tower providing the thermometer.
of capacity 50 TR for
the condensers
provided to the solvent
storage tanks.
The industry has to
install temperature
indicator for the
cooling tower for
recording inlet and
outlet temperatures.
7. shall pass the vent of the scrubber Complied.
provided for the Agitated Thin Film Drier (ATFD) outlet through The industry has provided appropriately designed activated candy filter with granular carbon adsorption system. carbon adsorption for the vent of ATFD scrubber outlet.
8. shall completely cover the Complied.
Equalizing tanks (for both high The industry has covered and low TDS effluents) and Equalizing tanks (for both biological treatment systems high and low TDS effluents ) (aeration tanks) with powder and also aeration tanks of coated sheets and the vents of the the biological ETP with tanks shall be connected to powder coated sheets. scrubbing system.
The industry has provided suction hood (with ID fan of capacity of 5 HP) for HTDS 8 and LTDS Equalizing tanks and connected to scrubber.
The vent of the scrubber is provided with candy filter with granular carbon absorption system.
9. shall segregate the Sulphur Partially complied.
powder bags in raw material The industry has provided warehouse and to store them in a separate room for the separate closed room or enclosure storage of Sulphur powder with proper exhaust arrangement bags. The industry has to connected to scrubbing system.
provide exhaust arrangement connected to scrubbing system
10. shall frequently check for leakages The unit is regularly in gaskets of all the flange joints checking the leakages of all and replace accordingly. the flange joints.
11. shall provide appropriate clamps The industry has replaced to the metal pipes connected with the HDPE pipe with MS pipe HDPE tubing for avoiding at Solvent storage tank area leakages. and the industry has to replace the HDPE pipes with MS pipes at Effluent Treatment area to avoid leakages. The photographs depicting the implementation of recommendations of expert Committee is enclosed as Annexure - 6 "
6. The report concludes that there is partial compliance by the unit.
There is some reduction in solvent losses and there is need for further remedial action. Relevant extract from the report is reproduced below:-
"9. The industry has implemented 9 of the state-of-art odour control system recommended by expert team of IICT, Hyderabad and JNTU, Ananthapuramu and has to implement the other 2 recommendations of the expert team i.e., providing of separate cooling tower for the condensers of solvent storage tanks and providing exhaust arrangement connected to scrubbing system for the sulphur storage room.
10. During inspection, the solvent losses from the recovery systems was observed to be in the range of 4.1 to 5.9 % during the period from Aug, 21 to Nov, 21. There is a reduction in solvent losses from 5.02 - 7.15 % (which was reported for the period from Mar, 2021 to Jun, 2021) to 4.1 to 5.9 % (during the period from Aug, 2021 to Nov, 2021).9
11. From the VOC monitoring conducted by the Board Officials within industry's premises, in the nearby villages and in the Complainant's premises, it was observed that the VOC's were recorded Below the Detectable Levels (BDL) in the nearby villages and also in the complainant's premises. However, the VOC's were recorded in the industry's premises in the range of 0.15 to 3.95 PPM which may be due to the solvent losses.
12. The Board earlier levied Environmental Compensation of Rs. 2.4 Lakhs for the period from 23.05.2020 to 16.06.2020 and also Rs. 32.90 Lakhs for the period from 25.07.2020 to 19.06.2021 and industry was under Stop Production from 17.06.2020 to 24.07.2020. The industry has paid Compensation levied by the Board.
13. Also, as per the directions of the Hon'ble NGT vide Order dated 09.09.2021, the A.P. Pollution Control Board (APPCB) relooked into the issue of Environmental Compensation and noted that violations were observed from 16.11.2011 as reflected in the directions issued on 13.12.2011 (based on the inspection on 16.11.2021) and also on 02.04.2017 (based on the inspection on 18.02.2017) and proposed Environmental Compensation of Rs. 3,11,00,000/-for the additional violation period from 16.11.2011 to 22.05.2020.
14. The A.P. Pollution Control Board vide Order dated 31.12.2021 issued the following directions to the industry and directed to file the objections on the directions if any within 15 days' time to the Board:
i) The industry shall pay the Environmental Compensation of Rs. 3,11,00,0001- for additional violation period from 16.11.2011 to 22.05.2020.
ii) The industry shall not manufacture any un-consented products and shall not exceed the production quantities permitted.
iii) The industry shall segregate the Sulphur powder bags in raw material warehouse and to store them in a separate closed room or enclosure with proper exhaust arrangement connected to scrubbing system.
iv) The industry shall use cold water by adding ice blocks in the Cooling tower provided for the vent condenser of solvent storage tanks and also to observe the inlet and outlet temperature by providing the thermometer.
v) The industry shall evaluate the odour control measures undertaken and to take additional measures needed to further minimize odour nuisance.
vi) The industry shall ensure continuous operation of ZLD System and ensure effective operation of Air Pollution Control Systems including Scrubbing Systems."
107. An affidavit has also been filed by the Project Proponent (PP) to the effect that non-compliances have been remedied except excessive production made and maintenance of separate stacks for boilers.
8. We have heard learned counsel for the State PCB as well as the PP and considered respective versions. We find that the pending non-
compliances need to be remedied and action needs to be taken for the past violations, including manufacturing of drugs without consent. The compensation has not been calculated on any scientific basis in terms of the principle laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court inter alia in Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. v. Union of India1 and M/s Goel Ganga Developers India Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India2. The law requires that the basis for assessment of compensation has to be the extent of loss caused, cost of remediation and deterrent element, having regard to the financial capacity. These considerations are not shown to be factored in by the State PCB while calculating the compensation which thus needs to be revised. Thus, the compensation already assessed may need to be revisited by a joint Committee of CPCB and State PCB. Assessed compensation needs to be deposited by the unit as interim compensation within one month and on failure to do so, the State PCB may take coercive measures for recovery. The amount recovered may be utilized for restoration and improvement of environment as per plan prepared/to be prepared by a joint Committee of CPCB and State PCB. The said Committee may also evaluate the current compliance status for the unit as well as consider violations in the last five years so as to determine the remedial action including the quantum of compensation, after interaction with the unit within three months. The deposit of interim compensation 1 (2013) 4 SCC 575 2 (2018)18 SCC 257 11 will not affect right of unit to contest the assessment of compensation and will abide by further decision of the joint Committee on the subject.
The joint Committee by itself or by involving other experts may lay down chemical process, operational codes as well as process safety management protocols. The industry may be required to follow "Integrated Guidance Framework for Chemicals Safety in respect of Isolated Storage and Industries" prepared by CPCB and circulated on December 24, 2021.
The application is disposed of.
A copy of this order be forwarded to the CPCB and State PCB by email for compliance.
Adarsh Kumar Goel, CP Sudhir Agarwal, JM Brijesh Sethi, JM Dr. Nagin Nanda, EM January 07, 2022 Original Application No. 114/2020 A 12