Terminal manufacturer under fire for environmental degradation

Environmentalists oppose building of coal, cement and clinker terminal.

KARACHI:

Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBT) came under fire on Saturday during a public hearing on the environmental effects of the coal, cement and clinker terminal that PIBT is building on a 30-year build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis at Port Qasim.

Environmentalists and members of non-governmental organisations questioned PIBT and Environmental Management Consultants Pakistan (EMC), which prepared the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) study for the project, over the disposal of dredging spoil, damage to the mangrove ecosystem and air pollution caused by the establishment of the terminal.

The project falls under Schedule II of Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency Regulations 2000 and Category A of Equator Principles, which means it can have significant environmental consequences if appropriate mitigation measures are not taken.

Criticising the proposed use of sprinklers to control coal dust at the terminal, an environmentalist, present at the hearing, said it could be hazardous. “Coal has sulphur and adding water to it will result in the formation of hydrogen sulphate.”

Another environmentalist said the assessment study did not mention if a temperature-controlling mechanism would be in place in the coal storage area to ensure that coal did not catch fire.

Responding to the questions, an EMC consultant said Pakistan imported steam coal, which did not contain a significant amount of sulphur. “Besides, its particles are coarse and heavy, and are likely to have an impact on the environment at the micro level only.”

The terminal consists of a 439-metre-long jetty, which will be connected to the storage area via a trestle bridge.

PIBT CEO Sharique A Siddiqui said at least 450 mangrove trees would be cut to construct the 2.5-kilometre-long trestle bridge. “But we will make sure that we plant three to four mangroves for every single tree that we cut.”

Taking Siddiqui’s comment with a pinch of salt, Shehri-CBE Chairperson Roland de Souza said former president Pervez Musharraf made the same commitment whenever environmental activists pointed to the devastation of the ecosystem. “Yet, Pakistan lost 15 per cent of its forest cover during Musharraf’s rule.”

Siddiqui said PIBT would be the first terminal in the country to set up its own sewage treatment plant, which would later be connected to the Port Qasim drainage system.

According to National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS), no sewage discharge is allowed within 10 miles of the shoreline. However, de Souza said, no one followed the NEQS directive. “As a private-sector company, the most we can do is set up our own treatment plant, which we have done. It is the responsibility of the government to take the sewage 10 miles into the sea and discharge it there,” Siddiqui said.

PIBT plans to establish Pakistan’s first terminal for mechanised handling of dirty bulk cargo. It will build the capacity to handle up to four million tons per annum of coal, cement and clinker in Phase I of its development.

The terminal handling capacity will be eight million tons per annum at the end of Phase II, which can be enhanced to 12 million tons per annum in the future.

The project will become operational in 2015. The estimated cost of two phases will be $175 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2011.