COLLECTED BY CHINATUNGSTEN - DEC. 18, 2012 - BHUBANESWAR: A team of environmentalists, who were on a visit to Sambalpur district, has alleged that the Odisha State Pollution Control Board(OSPCB) is deliberately overlooking factors that are causing environmental hazards in the area due to Hindalco's ash pond.
Hindalco, which has set up its alumina plant and captive power plant at Hirakud, has allegedly been polluting the crop fields and canals of the Sambalpur distributary, said environmentalist Ranjan Panda.
"The OSPCB knows that Hindalco's ash pond has been causing serious damage to the crops and canal water, but it is silent on the issue. Nothing has been done even after the company was given a closure notice in August," alleged Panda. He said if the OSPCB was serious about controlling pollution, it should have pointed out the discrepancies in the ash pond design during regular monitoring.
The OSPCB gave a closure notice to Hindalco power plant on August 18, but the company is yet to act on it. "We had given a closure notice to the Hindalco in August. There is an ash disposal pond near the left embankment of Hirakud dam, which spills during rainy season. We have taken note of it," said senior environment engineer at OSPCB, Dilip Kumar Behera.
Fly ash contains several toxic elements like arsenic, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, chromium VI, cobalt, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, thallium and vanadium, along with dioxins and PAH compounds.