KARACHI, Dec 24: An oil refinery and a gas company, blamed for last week’s massive crude oil spill in Korangi Town, preferred not to share any pertinent information about the environmental damage caused by the spill and the subsequent rehabilitation activities in the area with a committee constituted by the Sindh government, which met for the second time on Wednesday.

Sources privy to the proceedigns of the meeting said that the senior personnel of Pak Arab Refinery Limited (Parco) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) were quizzed by members of the committee for identification of the cause of the accident and for determination of the level of contamination and its impact on human health and property, restoration and rehabilitation plan and its implementation on the ground.

However, a number of issues could not be dealt with due to the fact that the personnel in question remained tight-lipped on many of the issues, including the quantity of crude oil that had been leaked after a rupture in the oil pipeline and the scientific disposal of oil-soaked sand used for rescue purposes, the level of contamination of the original soil in the area of the incident, health-status survey in the area and the level of the communities’ approval of the rehabilitation and restoration activities ensured practically so far since December 17, the date of the incident.

The meeting was chaired by the secretary of the environment and alternative energy department of the Sindh government, Mir Hussain Ali, while the participants included environment and conservation consultants like Yahya Usmani of KPT, Badar Ghauri of Suparco, Shahid Lutfi, Naeem A. Mughal of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), EDO Municipal Services of the CDGK Masood Alam, Yousuf Jamal of Parco and Dr Ejaz of SSGC.

The nazim of Korangi Town, however, failed to join the committee for the second time, a source said.The incident of oil leakage occurred on 16,000 Road, Sector 48, Korangi, on Dec 17 in the evening when the underground main oil pipeline of Parco passing below the central median island was punctured by SSGC staffers while working on their system further below.

The extraordinary rupture in the oil pipeline, which was controlled after a struggle of three-and-a-half hours, caused a significant amount of crude oil to gush into the air at a height of 20-30 metres before spreading on to the roads and finding its way into hundreds of homes, shops and public amenities, including sewers.

Repercussions include damage to the exterior of buildings, damage to the inside of houses and shops, respiratory problems for the residents of the area, contamination of earth, trees, plants and water reservoirs.

Amidst efforts to ensure immediate safety and relief to the people, the officials of the city district government and town administration, Parco and SSGCL also opted to soak up the oil by dumping earth/sand on the inundated areas so that further contamination could be contained and also to eliminate the chances of fire outbreaks, the meeting was told.

No answers

When asked about the quantity of sand or earth dumped to soak up the oil on the night of Dec 17 or about the quantity of oil that was spilt, there was no answer for the members of the committee. Similarly, the mechanism adopted for the disposal of the sand could not be known by the members.

What the members were told during deliberations was that the sand and any layers of the contaminated land from the area had been taken away and dumped through trucks and dumpers in a place at Khadeji on the Super Highway.

Such issues and the matters pertaining to the rehabilitation of the environment could not be discussed considerably in the meeting due to the stance of the gas and refinery parties that they were not supposed to give even any initial data to the meeting as consultants hired by them were tasked with this, said another source.

Members, according to the source, were also annoyed over the fact that the companies in question did not want to share the terms of reference set for the consultants.

Change of heart

However, according to a government official, the meeting at one stage also discussed the option of prosecuting the quarters responsible for pollution in Korangi under the country’s laws on the environment, following which the SSGC’s representative submitted that the damage done in Korangi was all unintentional, an accident and due to negligence, but quick initiatives towards rehabilitation of the environment had also been taken, while other required activities would also be ensured in due time.

A member requesting anonymity said that Parco could equally be held responsible for the unfortunate development as it had been failing to monitor its sensitive network and failed to guide the gas company staffers who had started work in the area.The member said that the meeting, aimed at developing interaction among different stakeholders as well, failed to reach any exact solution or remedial measures for the future in the absence of meaningful information.

“Any report related to ambient air quality, level of exposure of humans to the polluted environment and restoration activities expected to be forwarded to Sepa should not be upheld unless those are discussed in the committee and authenticated by the community concerned”, said another member.

It was learnt that a visit to the affected area and the site where the contaminated sand and earth had been disposed of would be undertaken shortly on behalf of the government’s committee.

Mapping networks

There prevailed a strong urge among the committee members that the oil, gas, electricity, water and sewerage companies and agencies would be asked to map out their respective supply or operational networks to ensure the availability of the data and details at a central place, as an effort to ensure foolproof operation and abatement of accidents in future.

Taking note of the fact that any proper SOP for the security of pipelines is not available either with SSGCL or with Parco to supervise such major supply lines passing through the heart of the city, which have the potential to become major threats to human life, members also suggested that Sepa should prescribe specifications and terms and conditions for laying of such major pipelines within the city, after due exercises in line with the environmental rules.

Imported crude oil coming from Keamari Port is transported to Parco’s oil refinery located at Mehmood Kot in Muzzafarabad district in Punjab through a 16-inch diameter pipeline laid about 30 years back, with the first pumping station – which is also the master control centre – located near PAF Korangi Creek.

SSGC pipelines of 24-inch diameter also pass in the same right of way coming from Bin Qasim and going to the Korangi Thermal Power Plant of KESC, said an official report.