Assam pollution board servces notice to ONGC

GUWAHATI, July 26: The state pollution control board has served notices to the Oil and Natural Gas Commission asking for temporary closure of drilling operations at three cluster drilling sites of ONGC at Rudrasagar in Sibsagar district for not conforming to the pollution control norms. The board has also stopped issuing no-objection certificates to all ONGC drilling sites at Geleki and Rudrasagar oil fields, board sources here said. The PCB steps were initiated after the visit of the board member secretary to the ONGC cluster drilling sites in the first week of July. He found that the drilling sites were poorly maintained by ONGC. The situation at the drilling sites was such that it was difficult to identify the actual drilling wastes. The reason behind the mess was lack of introduction of proper segregation system in the waste pits. Though it is mandatory for drillers to clean up wastes of the early operations before undertaking the following operation in case of cluster drilling, the ONGC had ignored the stipulation at the above drilling sites. Moreover, the condition for extra pits which is almost obligatory for drilling operations during the monsoon was also not fulfilled by ONGC. The drilling site at Geleki was found to be polluting the nearby Sivbari Tea Estate. The leakage in the storage tank of the drilling site was finding its way to the tea estate through a small drain, which passed through an abandoned pit of ONGC. The site had virtually no waste pit. The central effluent treatment plant of ONGC at Geleki was also found to be creating environmental problems because of the disproportionate size of the sludge storage. The sludge water of the sludge storage was found being pumped to the nearby old waste pit contrary to the norms.