Ammonia gas leak : All admitted to hospital, discharged
Chennai, Dec 29 (UNI)- More than 20 people in and around the Coromandel International Limited’s
fertiliser plant at the Northern suburb of Ennore, who were admitted to hospital two days back after they complained of eye and skin irritation, were discharged on Friday after treatment.
A company statement this evening said in continuation of the December 27 incident concerning the ammonia unloading subsea pipeline at Ennore, the company has taken necessary measures to ensure the safety of the public in and around the fertilizer complex.
“We would like to inform that the neighborhood communities who were taken to nearby hospitals have been discharged and are not in any danger”, it said.
A high-powered technical team appointed by the Tamil Nadu Government, which includes experts and officials from the Pollution Control Board, IIT academia, and environmental agencies, conducted a detailed inspection of the ammonia handling system on Wednesday and submitted their report to the government.
The committee has approved the emergency response actions carried out by the company and has instructed it to resume operations after conducting necessary inspections and ensuring the safety of the ammonia pipeline and systems.
The company wants to emphasize that the abnormalities in the ammonia unloading pipeline were well below hazardous levels and were quickly brought to zero by the automated trip interlocks and control systems.
The committee also noted that Coromandel conducted a safety audit for the operating condition of the ammonia pipeline and obtained external certification from a certified inspection agency. Coromandel’s ammonia safety systems are robust enough to handle any type of exigencies with high level of automation and duly certified by international agencies.
The statement said the pipeline is the multi layered (Eleven layers) system with high level of safety redundancy and has been in operation for many years and undergoes regular inspections.
The Coromandel International has always adhered to the highest safety standards and Process Safety Management Systems, which helped to manage the recent abnormalities without any impact on the neighbourhood.
Coromandel always been supportive of neighbourhood communities and carried out various relief measures during natural calamities in the recent past.
The company wishes to acknowledge Tamil Nadu Police, Government Authorities and Hospitals for their support in managing the unforeseen event.
