By Z Ali
Published: March 31, 2012
Sinjhoro has 18 villages, lakes, wetlands and forests. PHOTO: FILE
HYDERABAD: Sindh’s environment watchdog authority has rejected an impact assessment report prepared by the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) for its new project in Sinjhoro, Sanghar.
The project involves the production of oil and gas from 15 wells spread over 102 acres. At least 18 villages are located in the area apart from farmland, water channels, wetlands, lakes, forest and fishing points. At a public hearing on the Sinjhoro exploration block on Thursday, the environment officials pointed out that the report did not offer information about population, any precise socio-economic impact, and what would be done to rehabilitate people from the villages if they were forced to leave. It did not adequately addressed the issues of health, education, agriculture and water, among others.
“Surprisingly, it says the environment officials were consulted but they weren’t,” said the protection agency’s Waqar Hussain Phulpoto during a question-answer session after the presentation. “It has also overlooked consultation with the departments of agriculture, fisheries, wildlife, forests, archaeology among others.”
Another protection agency official, Ajmal Khan, brought up the ill-advised choice to hold the public hearing at a hotel located too far away from the project. “Only a few locals could make it to the hearing and let their voice be heard,” he said.
Prof. Khan Muhammad Brohi of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) said the project was good as far as the production of oil and gas was concerned. “Yet we should not ignore the importance of the environment for sustainable development,” he said. He was surprised that while well over a hundred people attended the public hearing they did not seem to represent the local community.
The project’s area covers the Chautiari wetland complex with all its flora and fauna. Rice, wheat and sugarcane are grown in the area which is also home to several lakes.
The environment impact report acknowledged that transport, storage and the use of chemicals can have a poisonous effect on the soil. Surface and ground water will also be affected if during the rains the chemicals flow into the waterways. Then there is the socio-economic and cultural impact oil and gas wells have. “The social traditions of this area are like those in other parts of Sindh,” the report said. “The tradition of holding wedding ceremonies is the most important. A week before the wedding ceremony, the singing of folk songs begins.”
The environment officials asked the company to prepare another report which includes all the shortcomings that have been pointed out. They also sought a complete report about the environmental impact of OGDCL’s other projects in Sindh. OGDCL’s Nadeem Ahmed Ansari assured that they would comply but that there was a shortage of registered environmental consultants in the market. “The protection agency should also approve consultants in the province and recommend that their services be hired by companies,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 31st, 2012.
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Pipeline rupture: Leaked oil being thrown down stormwater drain
By Our Correspondent
Published: March 31, 2012
A rubber clamp affixed to repair an earlier leak probably eroded leading to the spill. DESIGN: CREATIVE COMMONS
KARACHI: The furnace oil that leaked from a pipeline in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) is being dumped in the residential stormwater drain, which is a conduit for waste to the sea.
National Refinery Limited (NRL) workers are using a pump to suck out oil from a 23-foot-long ditch and are pouring it into the drain, which is dry these days and filled with garbage.
“This is absolutely wrong. This is not the way,” said DHA spokesman Rafat Naqvi when approached for comment. “We didn’t know that the company was doing this.”
NRL officials were not available for comment. The 16-kilometre long pipeline, which carries furnace oil from the refinery in Korangi to Keamari’s oil terminal, passes through DHA. It developed a leak at Khayaban-e-Sehar.
The workers said that only 20 to 25 litres of furnace oil had come out. A pond of black liquid visible in the open ditch was actually water underneath, they said. “When mixed with water, oil has tendency to come to the surface, making it look like it’s all oil,” said a worker, as he threw a stone in the liquid to explain his point. The ripples cleared the oily surface to show water below.
But no one knows how much of the mixture has been dumped in the drain since Thursday night. Officials of Sindh’s environmental protection agency who had earlier visited the site had no idea how the mess was being cleaned up, inquires at its office revealed.
However, Barrister Mohammad Abdur Rahman, an environmental advocate, said dumping the oil in stormwater drains was illegal. “It will probably choke the drain,” he said.
The sludge created from sand mixing with the liquid has not been disposed of at a separate place either as advised by the agency. Workers at the site said the oil-soaked mud will be used to refill the ditch.
Cause of the leak
This was not the first time that the six-inch diameter pipeline leaked at the exact same spot. Oil emerged from a metal clamp, which was used before to mend the earlier rupture. “The clamp has rubbers to fix it over the pipe. The rubber burnt off, probably because of the heat, creating a cavity, from where the oil leaked,” said an NRL worker who did not give his name.
The NRL has decided not to use a clamp as a stopgap measure this time to mend the damaged part and is replacing the 80-foot-long part of the pipeline altogether, he said.
Danger
The leak has taken place near Nixor College at the Khayaban-e-Sehar intersection with 14th street. Even though NRL cordoned off all four sides leading to the site, people were still driving past the open ditch, some with lit cigarettes.
Nasurullah Khan, one of two security guards, deputed to prevent vehicles from crossing the cordoned off area, said that people threatened and abused him when he tried to do his job. “Educated people, dressed in suits and driving cars, are arguing with me. I try my best to stop them but then I am only a guard.” DHA’s vigilance staff were not at the site.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 31st, 2012.
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