Pollution cut 'vital to phase 3 of complex'
The Industry Ministry is planning to reduce pollution in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate to pave the way for the Bt400-billion third-phase petrochemical complex, which could face viability problems if it is to be moved to the Southern Seaboard.
Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras yesterday said that whether the third-phase development in Map Ta Phut went ahead depended largely on the ministry's integrated pollution-reduction plan, which should be completed in the next one to two months. Referring to his earlier meeting with PTT president Prasert Bunsumpun, Kosit said it would be difficult to move the third phase to the Southern Seaboard as the investment plan has been completed. While the pollution-control plan is being drafted, the ministry has set up two teams to check pollution emissions by industries in other areas of Rayong province. The first team, chaired by deputy permanent secretary Damri Sukhotanang, is responsible for testing production processes in all areas at IRPC, the country's leading integrated petrochemical firm. Adisorn Naphavaranonth, deputy director-general of the Industrial Works Department, will lead the other team in drawing up another plan for industries outside industrial estates. The two teams will focus on verifying and lowering polluting emissions by 75 plants from four industries - power plants, metal industries, refining facilities and petrochemical industries - within one year. Of the 75 plants, 25 belong to IRPC and the remaining 50 are located across other areas. For other industries, the team will take three years to run the same process as in the first four industries. In addition, it will check other risk factors at each plant. Meanwhile, volatile organic compounds are targeted to decrease by 20 per cent. IRPC chief executive Piti Yimprasert said the company was checking all operating systems and planned to improve those systems with an investment of more than Bt2 billion. The company will spend Bt1.2 billion on constructing new smokestacks, Bt160 million on improving its wastewater treatment, and the rest will go towards improving the efficiency of other systems. He said all plans would take three to four years to complete. However, he is confident that all his plants emit less pollution than the limits set under international standards.
Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul The Nation
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