CHAPTER 7 ADDITIONAL STUDIES

Transcription

1 7.0 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 7 ADDITIONAL STUDIES Besides environmental issues, there are other issues that are associated with construction & operation of the project. In previous chapters, the environmental issues associated with the project construction & operations have been discussed. Other important issues that are proposed to be studied are covered below. 7.1 Study of Characteristics of Coal Characteristics of Coal based on laboratory analysis is given in the following table: Table 7.1 SNo Parameter Raw Coal Washed Coal Coal rejects 1. Quantity (MTPA) Grade of coal G Percentage of ash (adb) Percentage of fixed carbon (adb) Gross Calorific value (K. cal/kg) (avg.) 6. Moisture % (adb) Regarding FBC Power Plant the rejects from Kusmunda washery of SECL will be sold either through e- auction or MOU route Regarding temporary storage of reject For temporary storage of Rejects, a piece of land measuring 9.87 Ha adjacent to the southern side of the proposed washery has been identified. However, rejects shall not be stored at temporary storage site beyond 3 months. The operator will transport rejects by covered belt conveyor to the temporary storage site, distance of which is about 1 km from the washery site. Height of discharge point of the conveyor shall preferably be kept above 15 m level for effective storage of rejects. The reject will be regularly disposed off to the prospective buyers on appropriate mode with due consideration to all statutory environmental stipulations. 7.3 Public Consultation Public Consultation for Kusmunda OCP was held on 11/02/2015. Details attached as Annexure 13 & Risk Assessment Introduction VII-1

2 Keeping in view the three basic principles i.e. prevention, preparedness (both pro-active and reactive) and mitigation of the effect through rescue, recovery, relief and rehabilitation; a comprehensive blue print of the Risk Management Plan (RMP) has been prepared incorporating the following: 1. Identification and assessment of risks 2. Recommendation of measures to prevent damage to life and property against such risks. During construction and operation phase of the project, a hazardous situation may arise which ultimately may lead to a risky situation, even a disaster. This disaster may cause loss of life and property. In order to foresee such a situation and anticipate loss of life and property so that they can be minimized or avoided, a risk assessment has been carried out. A brief of the assessment is given below Hazard Types Hazards may be classified broadly into two categories. - Natural Hazards - Manmade Hazards Natural Hazards Major causes for natural hazards may be - Earthquake - Flood A. Earthquake: The project is located in zone III as per relevant BIS code. This zone is located in low risk area for occurrence of earthquake. The washery building and other structures will however be designed with due consideration to the earthquake loading appropriate to this zone as prescribed in BIS code. In addition to incorporating the safety factors at design stage, appropriate earthquake resistant construction techniques will be used. B. Flood: Likely causes for flooding may be - Flooding by excessive rainfall in the area. - Flooding of site due to flood in Hasdeo river. However the washer will be located on an area more than 3m above the highest known flood level of the area. From the above discussion we may conclude that project site is least hazardous for natural causes. Manmade Causes Manmade causes for hazardous situation may be Fire Explosion Industrial Accidents VII-2

3 (A) Fire: There may be several causes for fire, i.e. electrical short circuit, negligence on part of operators, etc. Appropriate steps will be taken to prevent occurrence of fire in the plant and to control it effectively if at all it occurs. Some of the safeguards and precautions that will be taken are Electrical installations will be designed in accordance with prescribed safety rules to ensure that electrical fire possibility is minimized. At the operational stage, all safety rules will be followed. Strict quality control for procurement & installation of electrical installations. Display of warning signs in operational area against fire. Proper storage of inflammable material like diesel, etc. Provision of adequate fire fighting arrangements with a ground water tank dedicated to fire fighting exclusively. Organizing fire fighting drills on regular basis. Installation of Portable fire fighters at strategic locations all over the plant. Installation of smoke detectors with Fire Alarm. (B) Explosion: There is no proposal to store any explosive within the premises. Also no explosive is required for plant operation. (C) Industrial Accidents: Coal washery is regulated under safety rules of Factories Act. The provisions of the Act relating to the safety would be enforced strictly. (D) Road Accident: Sufficient arrangements for illumination of road including haul roads will be undertaken. Properly planned and designed road crossing will be implemented to prevent vehicular accidents. These are likely to prevent road accidents. (E) Medical Preparedness: For guarding against accidental hazards the following measures tabulated in Table-7.2 will be taken: Table-7.2 Sl. Preventive Measures against accidental hazards No. 1 Emergency Ambulance Service will be kept ready on a 24 hour basis. 2 Doctor and paramedical staff will be made ready during emergency. 3 First Aid Medical facilities will be provided at work place. The existing and nearby mine has already been provided with a dispensary with qualified doctors in addition to a first aid centre. These will meet the medical emergencies arising out of the accidents. (F) Other Miscellaneous Measures: * Proper illumination in the workplaces besides roads will be undertaken. VII-3

4 * Efficient communication system to allow communication link amongst various work centres to help in avoiding accidents and handling of emergencies. * Fire alarm and fire fighting system will be provided at project site. The adoption of preventive measures as enumerated above will ensure that the operation of this project will be safe as well as environment friendly. 7.5 Organisation A dedicated organization with sufficient infrastructure would be provided to take care of disasters. A. Safety Organization: This organization will be responsible for safety of the plant operations. Head of the safety organization would be reporting to the GM/In-charge of the plant. B. Disaster Management Organization: There may be occasion when in spite of all precautions, disasters may occur within the premises. In order to manage such a situation, a separate organization will be created. (i) (ii) Central Control Room: A central control room will be created to manage the disaster. This will have following facilities. a public address system to disseminate information to plant operators within the premises. the control room will have telephone no. of - Police - Local Administration - Hospital - Fire Station Floor Level Disaster Management Unit: Floor level units will be constituted to deal with disaster. (iii) Training programme: Regular training programmes for plant operators would be organized to make them aware of safety aspects of plant operations & steps to be taken in case of disasters. (iv) First Aid Centre: For rendering medical aid in case of occurrence of disaster. (v) 7.6 SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT Ambulance: An ambulance will be provided for movement of people needing medical attendance. The land that has been identified for locating the project is owned by the project proponent & is under its possession. The area is free from any habitation, hence no resettlement & rehabilitation is involved. Also there is no requirement of additional land for development of project infrastructure. VII-4

5 Thus, the construction and operation of the project is not likely to cause any adverse impact on social profile of the area. In fact, opening of the project would have positive impact on socio-economic profile that includes. Creation of employment opportunity on casual and long-term basis. Improvement in physical infrastructure. CSR activities will improve social infrastructure in the area. Corporate Social Responsibility carried out for the project/area has been described in section 8.6 of chapter 8. Medical Facilities There are a number of maternity & child welfare centres and community health centers managed by the State Govt. taking care of the population in the study area. SECL provides the facility of dispensaries at project level and hospitals at Area level and a central hospital exists at company headquarter. Immunization facilities are also available at every colliery hospital and dispensary. The family planning Camps are held regularly at the hospitals/dispensaries. Every worker is periodically checked up once in every five years and proper record of their health profile including X-ray and laboratory tests are kept. The importance of such periodical medical examination is to detect and prevent occupational diseases like Pneumoconiosis and Tuberculosis etc. Preventive measures The SECL authorities have adopted the following measures to prevent occupational diseases and health hazards. i) Pre-employment, pre-placement and periodic medical examination of the employees. ii) iii) iv) Regular monitoring of working environment and implementation of safety and control measures, to prevent hazards. Use of protective equipment s, clothing, helmets, Gas mask, shoes, etc. Periodical medical examination of every worker is done once in five years to detect preventable and curable diseases at an early stage. v) Cases suspected having Pneumoconiosis are examined by a Special Board constituted by the Chief Medical Officer. Established cases are suitably compensated and their job is changed if required. VII-5

6 7.7 Employee Education Employees will be informed of the need to take precautions and use all protective measures to control fugitive emissions in working environment. They will also be advised of consequences of ignoring these precautions. Employee will be trained in coal handling, and in spill management. Written policies, procedures and measures will be disseminated throughout the different departments of the plant and workers will be trained with regard to their implementation. The employee will be educated about the safety features incorporated by written literature with pictorial and color-coded signs. 7.8 Natural Resources Conservation & Optimization The rejects from the proposed washery shall be sold to interested consumers through e-auction or MoU route and the reject will be regularly disposed off to the prospective buyers on appropriate mode with due consideration to all statutory environmental stipulations.. The washery is also designed on zero discharge principle for conservation of water resources. 7.9 Control of Dust Pollution Coal will be transported from coal face to the washery by covered conveyor belts directly to the surge bunker. The Raw coal is fed to the crusher along with a substantial amount of water. Also there is a provision of Mist Sprayers at all the transfer points and the crusher. Washed coal from washery shall be carried to the Silo in Covered conveyors. Also after the washing process the washed coal is wet. The reject which are also wet shall be sent to the reject storage yard via a closed conveyors. For dispatch silos will be used. Regular sprinkling will be carried out at the reject storage yard. All these will ensure that the quantity of fugitive dust emission is low. The details are given below in Fig 7.1. VII-6

7 Fig. 7.1 CONTROL OF FUGITIVE DUST EMISSION MITIGATION MEASURES FOR THE AIR QUALITY BLOCK DIAGRAM VII-7