Odisha Environment

Environment Minister Natarajan says 31 projects from Orissa awaiting environmental clearance

Report by OrissaDiary.com correspondent; New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan says 31 projects from Orissa awaiting environmental clearance.

A total of 31 projects from Orissa in the sectors of industry, mining and port projects are awaiting environmental clearance as on 31.07.2011 with the Ministry of Environment & Forests.

The perceived delay in according environmental clearance inter-alia includes non-compliance of the procedures of the EIA Notification 2006 and Circulars of the Ministry, inadequate information on critical environmental parameters, and deficiencies in the Environmental Management Plans by the project proponents.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan in a written reply to a question by Shrimati Renubala Pradhan in Rajya Sabha today.

List of Projects in Orissa Pending for Environmental Clearance

Name of Projects
1. Sponge Iron Plant at District Cattack, Orissa by M/s Virajaa Steel & Power (P) Limited
2. Integrated Steel Plant at District Dhaenkanal, Orissa by M/s Bhushan Steel Limited
3. Integrated steel complex at Village lPotapali/Sikirdi, District Sambalpur, Orissa by M/s. Rathi Steel and Power Limited.
4. Expansion of production of Fibre Cement Corrugated Sheets Accessories from 8,56,000 MTPA to 12,50,000 MTPA at Korian District Dhenkanal Orissa by M/s UAL Orissa Limited (MRPL)
5. Expansion of Integrated Steel Plant at Topadih in District Keonjhar Orissa by M/s. Deepak Steel & Power Limited
6. Expansion of Clinker Grinding unit at Jharsuguda Cement Works district Jharsuguda Orissa by M/s. Ultra Tech Cement Limited
7. Expansion of existing Pellet Plant with 0.1 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant at Matkambeda Industrial Estate District Keonjhar Orissa by M/s. Arya Iron & Steel Co. Private Limited
8. Integrated Seel Complex at Katasahi District Keonjhar Orissa by M/s. Kamaljeet Singh Alhuwalia


B. NON-COAL MINING



9. Dubna-Sakradih Iron & Manganese Ore Mining Project of M/s Orissa Mining Corporation Ltd., Village(s) Handibhanga, Jampani, Badakalimati, Dubuna, Purunadih, Naibaga and Basantpur, District Keonjhar

10. Talangi Chromite Mine “B” of M/s. IDCOL Ferro Chrome & Alloys Ltd. located at Distt. Jajpur

11. Chhuinpalli Quartzite Mining Project of M/s Tata, Village Chhuinpalli, district Jharsuguda

12 Kasia Iron Ore Mines of M/s Tej Bahadur Lal located at Vill-Kasia, Distt-Keonjhar

13 Sanindpur iron & Manganese Mine of M/s National Enterprises located at Distt. Sundergarh

14 Bhadrasahi Iron and Manganese Ore Mining Project of M/s Orissa Minerals Deevlopment Co. Ltd. , Village Bhadrasahi, District Keonjhar

15 Thakurani Iron Ore Mining Project of M/s Kaypee Enterprises located in Village Thakurani, Tehsil Barbil, District Keonjhar

16 Bhadrasahi (Kolha-Roida) Iron & Manganese Ore Mine of M/s (Bharat Process & Mechanical Engineers Ltd.) C/O The Orissa Minerals Development Co. Ltd., Village Bhadrasahi, Distt. Keonjhar

17 Nuagaon Iron Ore Beneficiation Plant of M/s Kamaljeet Singh Ahluwalia, Village Guali & Barpada, Distt. Keonjhar

18 EC for Bolani Ore Mines of M/s SAIL, Distt. Keonjhar

19 Tikarpara Pyrophyllite & Quartzite Mines of M/s Banwarilall Newatia, Village Tikarpara & Ambadhara, Distt. Keonjhar

20 Expansion of Khondbond Iron & Manganese Ore Mine of M/s Tata Steel Ltd., Village Khandbond, Tehsil Barbil, Distt. Keonjhar

21 15 MTPA Iron Ore Washing & Beneficiation Plant of M/s Sarda Mines Pvt.Ltd., Village Soyabali, Tehsil-Barbil, Distt.Keonjhar

22 Expansion of Iron Ore Mine of M/s Kalinga Mining Corp., Village Joruri & Khandbandh, Distt. Keonjhar

23 Gonua Iron & Manganese Mines of M/s M.G. Mohanty, Village Gonua, Distt. Sundergarh

24 Jalahuri Iron and Manganese Ore Mining Project of M/s Mala Roy & Others, Village Jalahuri, District Keonjhar

25 Environmental Clearance of Inganijharan Iron & Manganese Ore Mines of M/s Bhanja Minerals Pvt. Ltd located at Vill-Dadwan&Khuntapani, Distt-Keonjhar

C. COAL MINING


26 Basundhara OCP (2.4 MTPA to 8 MTPA and increase in lease area from 401 ha to 437.10 ha) of M/s MCL, Dist. Sundergarh

27- Expn. of Coal Beneficiation Plant (2 MTPA to 4 MTPA) of M/s Global Coal & Mining Pvt. Ltd., dist. Angul

28- Talabira-1 Coal Mine Project (expansion from 1.5 MTPA to 3 MTPA over 170.305 ha) of M/s HINDALCO located in district Sambalpur

29 Establishment of 5 MTPA Coal Washery of M/s Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd., located at village Malibrahamani, Tehsil Chendipeda, Dist. Angul

D. PORT PROJECTS

30 Development of all weather deepwater port (phase-I and Phase II only) at Subarnarekha River, Balasore Dt., Orissa by M/s Creative Port Development Pvt. Ltd.

31 Development of Southern Dock Complex for construction of Multi-Purpose Clear Cargo Terminal and Oil terminal at Paradip Port of M/s Paradip Port Trust

Recovery of ravaged Dominican rivers starts in a few weeks

SANTO DOMINGO. – The recovery of the Nizao River basin will start in the next few weeks, paid for by the companies which extract aggregates in that zone, said Environment minister Omar Ramirez on Tuesday. "They must recover it because it it’s an obligation of the sector which has lived off the extraction of materials.” He said in one week Environment will manage brigades paid by the companies, to work and recover those areas and once the river’s level is reestablished the companies have 90 days to begin dismantling their machinery. He said the lack of a superficial current causes confusion in the Nizao, where only the water table remains. The official said the aggregate associations of the Nizao, Yuna and North Yaque rivers have been legally notified of the measure.

Mittal to start work on Orissa plant in 2008
Satyasundar Barik

To go through the process of land acquisition

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Report on rehabilitation to be

submitted to State Government

Orissa and Jharkhand projects

will be commissioned by 2011

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BHUBANESWAR: Arcelor Mittal on Thursday said the construction for its proposed 12 million tonne steel plant in Orissa could begin in the first half of 2008.

“The detailed project report (DPR) would be completed by the middle of the next year. Physical acquisition of land can take place before that. We hope some kind of construction should start in the first half,” Arcelor Mittal India Chief Executive Officer Sank Mishra told reporters here on the sidelines of a conference.

The CEO said the company would submit its report on rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R), prepared by consultant EcoSmart, to the Orissa Government by the end of October.

Mr. Mishra, however, dismissed reports that the company had sought additional land in the Keonjhar district. The Orissa Government had promised to provide 7,000 acres in the district.

“We want the State Government should help us getting forest and environment clearance for steel and power projects as well as mines. Allocation of iron ore reserve is also required,” Mr. Mishra said. He said the progress of both steel projects in Jharkhand and Orissa was satisfactory.

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Stabbing the mountains

In May 2003, the Centre launched the 50,000 MW hydroelectric initiative as a step forward to tap the near 78 per cent unutilised hydropower potentials in the country. In all 162 new hydroelectric projects across 16 Indian states were proposed and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation was identified as the nodal agency for execution.
The North-east topped the list with 76 hydroelectric projects proposed across Sikkim, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, which on completion would alone generate 31,885 MW power.
The ten projects proposed in Sikkim, as estimated, would yield 1,469 MW energy. All these projects were envisaged in the river Teesta and its tributaries. The Teesta, with a 7,755 square km catchment area, traverses a 414 km distance cutting across Sikkim, parts of Darjeeling hills and the plains of Jalpaiguri before submerging into the mighty Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.
Four years down the line, now in 2007, of the ten proposed hydroelectric projects, the Teesta stage-V is near completion, Teesta stage-IV is under survey and investigation, while another five projects in north Sikkim have been stalled due to agitation by the ethnic Lepcha community.
Two other hydroelectric projects in the Teesta basin, located in Darjeeling district bordering Sikkim - the Teesta Low Dam Project-III & IV - are under construction. Both the TLDP III & IV are coming up alongside National Highway 31A that connects Sikkim with the rest of the country, via Siliguri.
As is the case with big hydropower projects elsewhere in the country, conservationists had vehemently opposed the river taming projects in the Teesta. They demanded scrapping of the TLDP III & IV at the very conceptual stage, arguing that the hydropower projects would result in large-scale damage to the natural environment and would put an adverse impact on the lives of surrounding habitants.
However, giving a damn to the environmental concerns and twisting the rules and norms, the NHPC ultimately managed to get the go-ahead signal from the Union ministry of environment and forests.
As was apprehended by conservationists, construction of the two hydropower projects, coupled with other factors, have now started taking their toll on the overall natural environment, both in Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills.

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Climate Fact: Discharges and Dead Zones (Wichita, Kansas)

Since 1910, overall precipitation in the lower 48 states has increased by ten percent, and the region with the largest increase in rainfall is the Mississippi River Basin, which includes the Arkansas River. Because of fertilizer use on farms, lawns, and gardens in the Basin, wet years mean that more nitrogen (an ingredient in fertilizer) is carried with rainwater into the Mississippi River, which ultimately leads to the Gulf of Mexico. Excess nitrogen in the Gulf can cause algae populations to boom, and when algae decompose, the process can consume much of the water’s oxygen supply, forming “hypoxic” or “dead” zones in the water. The largest and most severe coastal dead zone in the Western Atlantic Ocean is a 20,000 square kilometer area in the Northern Gulf, offshore from the Mississippi River Delta. The Gulf’s dead zone is less severe during drought years in the Midwest, whereas it is usually at its largest extent during flood years such as 1993. The growth of the dead zone from the mid 1980’s to the late 1990’s resulted in a decline of brown shrimp populations, impacting fisheries.

(Sources: Karlsen, AW et al. “Historic Trends in Chesapeake Bay Dissolved Oxygen Based on Benthic Foraminifera from Sediment Cores.” Estuaries: Volume 23, No. 4, pp. 488-508, August 2000 and National Weather Service: Climate Prediction Center. U.S. Temperature and Precipitation Trends: Annual. Accessed Online 3 July 2007 http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/anltrend.gif)

Wrong and illegal

EDITORIAL
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

THE ANNOUNCEMENT last week that the Bureau of Reclamation and Aurora had signed a 40-year contract for that city’s use of Fryingpan-Arkansas Project facilities wasn’t unexpected. But the deal is wrong - and outright illegal.

The contract, if it were to hold up, would grant Aurora the use of Lake Pueblo for storage and exchanges of the water it has purchased out of the Arkansas River. The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District immediately announced its plans to file suit in federal court to stop the deal.

That lawsuit most likely will call for a full environmental impact statement on the contract and question the bureau’s legal authority to issue such a contract. And that goes to the very heart of the matter.

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St. Croix pollution built up over decades

Phosphorous contamination of the southern part of the river began years ago, and some officials say it shouldn't delay new bridge.

By Kevin Giles, Star Tribune

Last update: September 17, 2007 – 9:31 PM

Phosphorous contamination that landed the federally protected St. Croix River on Minnesota's impaired-waters list for the first time has been building for decades, several experts familiar with the river said Monday.

One of them, Craig Affeldt of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said that large algae blooms in Lake St. Croix -- the portion of the St. Croix River between Stillwater and Prescott, Wis. -- have resulted from excessive phosphorus, which can alter a river's ecosystem.

"Whether that's runoff from streets, parking lots, livestock or fertilizers, this is what people introduce to the landscape because that's how we live," said Affeldt, a specialist on St. Croix basin matters.

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Kelly proposes local water boards to protect water supply, environment
Published 9-18-2007

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

Water has been a pivotal issue in Volusia County politics for years. How to supply — and share — drinking water for a growing population has long been a question.

Also, the hurricanes of 2004 dramatically illustrated the need for stormwater controls, as neighborhoods across West Volusia flooded.

The public agrees there is a need to regulate and protect the water supply, but the question of exactly how to do that remains.

The ill-fated Water Authority of Volusia (WAV) was one such attempt to provide countywide regulation, and to prepare for a future that is almost certain to include finding and funding ways to get drinking water from the St. Johns River or the Atlantic Ocean.

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Environmentalists Win Halt to Missouri Flood Control Project

WASHINGTON, DC, September 17, 2007 (ENS) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must stop construction on the St. John's Bayou/New Madrid Floodway Project in Missouri, a federal court in Washington ruled Friday. The controversial flood control project is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River in the "bootheel" of southeastern Missouri.

Judge James Robertson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sided with two of the nation's largest nonprofit groups, Environmental Defense and the National Wildlife Federation, who filed the lawsuit in 2004 challenging the Corps' Environmental Impact Statements for the project.

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China Takes Steps to Restore Polluted River Basins

Ling Li – August 23, 2007 – 5:00am
Early last month, China’s top environmental authority, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), announced a decision to suspend the approval of all new industrial projects in 13 cities and industrial parks along four major rivers that are suffering from severe water pollution—the Hai, Huai, Yangtze, and Yellow. Pan Yue, vice president of SEPA, says the move was the agency’s final ‘trump card’ to stem the rampant violation of environmental laws and regulations by some local industries, given its limited authority. He says there is an urgent need to set up a cross-sectoral and cross-departmental mechanism to prevent and control pollution in China’s major river basins.

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