VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) chairperson BSS Prasad on Thursday clarified that LG Polymers had all the necessary permissions to operate its factory on the outskirts of Vizag. “There was no illegal equipment nor were any illegal processes conducted inside the unit,” he asserted.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, he said that styrene gas might have escaped through a valve from one of the storage tanks. “Whether the valve is of good quality, outdated, of correct size etc is looked after by the Inspector of Factories and does not fall under the purview of the PCB,” he said, adding that the board has asked the inspector to submit a report at the earliest.

PCB officials too are at the spot trying to find out concentration levels of the gas in the atmosphere. Styrene is a flammable liquid used to make polystyrene plastics, rubber and latex.

Prasad explained that the gas may have leaked because of high temperature. “Styrene has to be stored under 20 degrees centigrade. The maximum temperature to store it should not exceed 25 degrees centigrade. It is highly possible that due to the suspended operations of the factory as it did not fall under the purview of essential services, there was no one to control the temperatures at the unit and the tanks would have heated up due to the increasing temperature owing to the summer,” he said.

The factory was shut down for over 40 days due to the ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. About five days ago, the factory management began the process to seek permissions from the district administration to resume work as the Centre issued guidelines stating that non-essential factories in non-containment areas can resume operations.

The PCB chief further said once the storage temperature increases, the gas stored in liquid form starts turning into vapour. “The liquid gas would have turned into vapour and leaked from the valve of the tanks, eventually spreading in nearby areas,” he said.

He said the effect of the gas will be felt for up to 20 hours. “The gas will evaporate and will either turn into oxygen or carbon dioxide. The maximum time it can stay in air is 24 hours after which it will dissolve,” he explained.