Disposal sites for industrial waste

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Disposal sites for industrial waste

And not a moment too soon for the environment’s sake

Buried Under Waste Besides the obvious air pollution, the water and land around have also been adversely affected

9 February, 2010 - The department of trade and industry has identified two disposal sites for hazardous and non-hazardous waste in Pasakha, Phuentsholing, which could come to the rescue of the mounting industrial waste produced by factories in Pasakha.

“The geo-feasibility of the sites were carried out and now we’re moving on to the environmental impact assessment (EIA). after which designs and drawings will be done,” said the senior environment officer of the department of trade and industry, Sangay Dorji.

These formalities will be completed by this June, said environmental officials, after which construction would begin by July. The non-hazardous waste disposal site, a sanitary landfill, will be reclaimed as a recreational area once it’s filled, while the hazardous site is expected to last for about 25 years. “By next year, the waste disposal sites will be ready,” said Sangay Dorji.

Apart from the smoke billowing from roofs of industries, heaps of slags and other waste are stockpiled in and around the industries in Pasakha, owing to a lack of proper waste disposal area. According to environment officials, the biggest polluters, so far, were chemical factories like ferro silicon or carbide, given their sheer size and with waste like micro silica, a pollutant that causes respiratory diseases. Steel industries are second, which, besides generating sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and SPM, also pollute water with slag.

Other major sources of pollution are coal, wood and oil-fired boilers used in food processing, the wood industry and cement plants, especially those which used old technology, like the vertical shaft technology, according to environment officials.

“Environmental norms were flouted, causing air and river pollution, and improper disposal of industrial waste was leading to adverse environmental impacts,” states the environment audit of the industries in Pasakha and Gomtu, carried out by the royal audit authority (RAA) in October last year.

The RAA report also pointed out that quarterly emission reports submitted by industries show that emission standards set by the government are not met by most industries.

Over the years, the lack of disposal sites saw dumping of industrial waste along the roadside and riverbeds, which drew a lot of criticisms of people and objections by NEC, said environmental officials.

According to the NEC director general, Sonam Yanglay, the problem of industrial waste was bound to appear. “It was known to us even before the industries came up,” he said, adding, “We issued clearances only after industrialists submitted a written commitment to handle their own waste.”

The issue today, according to NEC, was that these industrialists had earlier submitted in writing that the waste would be sold to buyers in India, but that didn’t happen.

“Even stockpiling waste within their own premises is hazardous but it’s better than dumping it everywhere,” he said.

Meanwhile, industrialists say that disposal sites for industrial waste have become the need of the hour. “If it’s going to take that long, it’s going to be very difficult, especially for the steel industry, as the stockpiling of slag has occupied space for storing raw material and finished products as well,” said the secretary general of the association of Bhutanese industries, Letho. There are more than 20 industries at the Pasakha industrial estate.

By Kinga Dema