Hazardous Wastes from the Factory Comprise of Various Organic Residues Which Are Incinerated

PROJECT TEAM
Sr. No. / Area / component of REIA studies / Name of Leader / coordinator / Organisation
1. / Overall coordination / Rajiv Aundhe / Terra Firma Environmental Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
2. / Field studies – Monitoring of Air / Water / Noise / Soil Analysis / Ravindra Gorantiwar / Terra Firma Environmental Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
3. / Ecological studies in CumbarzuaCanal / Dr. G. N. Nayak,
Dean & HOD / Department of Marine Sciences,
GoaUniversity
4. / Flora & Fauna Studies in site & vicinity / Dr. Janardhanan, Professor & Head / Department of Botany, GoaUniversity
5. / Dispersion Modelling Studies for Effluents / Dr. N.M. Anand, (formerly Head of Ocean Engg. National Institute of Oceanography) / Environ Software
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.0 / Introduction :
Syngenta India Ltd., Santa Monica Works, Corlim, Ilhas, Goa is engaged in manufacture of crop protection chemicals. The facility is located at Village Corlim, about 15km from Panaji, in Tiswadi Taluka of North Goa District.
In the year 2005, considering the excellent past record of the Santa Monica Works on Health, Safety, Environment & production matters, the site was identified as a sourcing base to manufacture some of the new generation crop protection chemicals. Since these products were covered under EIA Notification of 1994, Baseline Studies were taken-up for all environment components in Summer of 2005. However, application for Environmental Clearance could not be submitted as the parent Company (based in Switzerland) had not decided its production strategies for various sites. The SMW site has now been asked to expand Thiomethoxam plant as also to manufacture new products (Mandipropamid / OPA & AE Phenol). This activity is also covered under the new EIA Notification dt. 14th Sept 2006 requires Environmental Clearance from The Ministry of Environment & Forest, Govt. of India.
The REIA report has been prepared by taking recourse to baseline data collected in summer 2005 and additional confirmatory sampling in Summer 2007.
2.0 / Project setting :
The manufacturing facility is located in industrial zone at village Corlim about 15km to the East of Panaji along Panaji-Belgaum NH4A. It is at an elevation of 28m above MSL & occupies 81 Ha (200 Acres) of level land. The manufacturing facility is spread over approximately 24 Ha (60 acres) of land. A staff housing colony is located within the complex at a distance of about 500m from the manufacturing plants.
3.0 / Details of Existing Plants / Environment Protection Facilities :
3.1 / Products Manufactured :
The products presently manufactured at Syngenta (I) Ltd’s Santa Monica Works, Goa comprise the following :
Table 1.0
Products Manufactured at SMW Works
Sr. No. / Product Name / Quantity(TPA)
1.0 / Profenofos / 1600
2.0 / Thiamethoxam / 2800
3.0 / Pretilachlor / 1400
4.0 / Monochrotophos / 1500
5.0 / Cuman / Ziram / 1400
6.0 / Liquid & Powder Formulation / 8700
The company has been moving towards a product range with lower eco-toxicity / persistence. The company strives to reduce pollution levels through continuous improvements in technology & is backed by a strong R & D effort.
3.2 / Water Use & Effluent Generation :
The permissible quantities of water use as per consent granted by GSPCB is 2800 cmd (actual 2475 cmd) & trade effluent discharge permitted is 2500 cmd (actual 2155 cmd) Majority of water requirement is for cooling & utilities (30%), pollution control (43%) & process (18%). The facility has an elaborate system of in-plant control comprising solvent extraction &/or Hydrolysis. In addition, to ensure protection of ground / surface waters, the effluents are collected in double lined pits & pumped to ETP by overhead lines after testing to ensure that the toxicity is lower than permissible limits & that the effluent is biodegradable. An elaborate Effluent Treatment Plantbased on physico chemical – biological treatment has been provided Treated effluent is disposed off in CumbarzuaCanal adjacent to the factory by a diffuser designed by National Institute of Oceanography, Goa after passing through an on-line bio-pond facility.
The effluent quality at inlet & outlet of the ETP was monitored twice in Summer 2005 & 2007 & was found to meet Standards for discharge to Marine Water bodies prescribed under TheEnvironment Protection Act.
3.3 / Air Pollution & Control :
Air Pollution sources comprise of 2 stacks connected to Boilers & 1 stack connected to Thermic Fluid Heaters. Seven DG sets are provided for use during Emergencies. Present use of boilers is very limited at about 25% of rated capacity since waste steam is available from Incinerators. Process vents connected to chemical reactors are provided with two stage alkali scrubbers.Levels of air pollutants monitored during 2005 / 2007 indicate concentration far below GSPCB / Environment Protection Act Standards.
3.4 / Solid / Hazardous Waste Generation, Treatment & Disposal :

Hazardous wastes from the factory comprise of various organic residues which are incinerated at site
Two Incinerators (Chemical waste Incinerator & Thermal Oxidizer) are provided for incineration of organic wastes.
The Incinerators are designed to meet latest normsas per CREP / CPCB Guidelines. The Incinerators have facility to Incinerate non-degradable effluents & organics residues.
Wastes such as sludge from ETP / incineration ash are being stored at site in specially designed concrete lined pits. Previously, solid wastes / sludges were tested to confirm their non-hazardous nature & then disposed in abandoned quarry. Analysis of soil / surface waters near the quarry storage site doesnot indicate any presence of pesticides / heavy metals.
Contaminated drums / liners / bags / filters are incinerated in a Solid Waste Incinerator at the site.
Analysis of air pollutants from the Incinerator stacks indicate level of pollutants well within the CPCB / GSPCB norms.

4.0 / Baseline Environment Assessment :
4.1 / Land Environment :
The Santa Monica Works is located in industrial zone as per the Development plan for the State of Goa. The site is located strategically with ready access from Major Roads (located on NH4A-Panaji-Belgaum Road), Railway (Karmali station on Konkan Railway is 2 km to the South West of site), Ports (Marmagoa Port/Dabolim Air port about 20km South West of site)
The Kundeim Industrial Estate is situated on Kundeim Hills 3 km away on the east and Corlim Industrial Estate is to the west of the site1 km away.
4.2 / Air Environment :
4.2.1 / Sources:
Reconnaissance survey for air environment showed that there are no industrial units with major air pollution potential in immediate vicinity of site. The nearest industrial estate is at Corlim located to the west about 1 km from Syngenta. It has about half a dozen units manufacturing stationery items (FabreCastle), plastic moulding units & one pharmaceutical formulation unit (Vicco Laboratories). The Kundeim industrial estate is located to the west on Kundeim plateau at an elevation of @ 110 m above sea level. This estate houses a wide variety of units manufacturing pharmaceutical formulations, engineering goods. Nine plants having induction melting furnaces & one rolling mill are the main units with high air pollution potential. The NH4A carrying passenger & goods traffic from Panaji to Belgaum bi-sects the study area into half. It has a peak traffic density of about 1000 PCU’s per hour.
4.2.2 / Findings of AAQM Survey :
Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (AAQM) was carried out at 12 locations in / around the site. Results of AAQM survey indicate that the air quality in respect of primary air pollutants viz. SPM / RPM / SO2 / NOx & CO meets the standards prescribed for Residential areas at all the monitoring locations. The stations at Juvem & Navelim can be considered as background air quality stations as these stations are far removed from the industrial / commercial activity.
Levels of Sulfur di Oxide & Nitrogen Oxides are observed to be much lower than the norms set under NAAQS.
Carbon monoxide levels are very low (mostly below detection limits) with some stray high readings observed at stations near NH4A.
Table 2.0
Air Pollution Level in the Impact Zone
Sr. No / Parameters / Range of Values (µg/m3) / Limiting Std. (µg/m3)
Residential / Industrial
2005 / 2007 / 2005 / 2007 / Res. / Indl.
1 / Suspended Particulate Matter / 21 – 159 / 34 – 166 / 53 – 157 / 53 – 177 / 200 / 500
2 / Respirable Particulate Matter / 14 – 88 / 14 – 79 / 27 – 84 / 19 – 87 / 100 / 150
3 / Sulfur-di-oxide / BDL – 10.2 / BDL – 12.8 / BDL – 10.3 / BDL – 9.2 / 80 / 120
4 / Nitrogen oxides / BDL – 16 / BDL – 12.5 / BDL – 14 / BDL – 15 / 80 / 120

* Summary of Data for 12 locations in / around the site.

4.2.3 / Noise Level :
Noise levels were monitored at 12 locations covered under AAQM survey. These indicate high levels of noise (sometimes exceeding norms) in the villages along Panaji-Belgaum NH4A.
4.3 / Water Environment :
4.3.1 / Introduction :
The Syngenta manufacturing complex lies about 15-20 km in land from Arabian Sea. The Mandovi - Zuari rivers flow from the hilly areas on the east into the Arabian Sea on the West, about 4 km North and 13 km South of Syngenta site respectively.
The two rivers are connected by a canal called Cumbharzua canal about 14 km and 11 km away from the mouths of the Mandovi and Zuari estuaries respectively. The canal is about 17 km in length and about 0.5 km in width. It is comparatively narrow and shallow at the Mandovi end while it is considerably wider and deeper at the Zuari end.
4.3.2 / Studies carried out / findings :

As part of baseline environmental monitoring studies, ground water quality was monitored in villages around the site in the buffer zone. It was found that ground water is hard in some villages & fails to meet bacteriological norms at some places. Ground water does not show the presence of any heavy metals / organic contaminants.
Water quality was also monitored in the reservoir within the factory premises and in Karmali lake. Analysis result did not show presence of any heavy metals / organic contaminants.
Ecological assessment of Cumbarzua canal was carried out by the of MarineSciencesGoaUniversityto assess impact of past discharge of pollutants on aquatic ecosystem in Cumbarzua canal. Following studies were carried out :
Physico-chemical characteristics of sediments
Water quality in terms of physicochemical, nutrient and organic/inorganic parameters, heavy metals etc
Biological quality of the aquatic ecosystem (for zooplankton / phytoplankton – which are good indicators of environment stress) characteristics of benthic flora & fauna, diversity of species
The studies were first carried out in Summer 2005 & confirmatory sampling were carried out in 2007, which established that water quality in Cumbarzua canal is not affected by discharge of treated effluents by Syngenta (I) Ltd. & that Cumbarzua canal continues to be in ecologically healthy state.
Studies were carried out in CumbarzuaCanal to establish dispersion pattern in the canal. These included :
Hydrological studies – Tide levels, current & flow were monitored every hour over one tidal cycle at 8 selected locations. In addition Dye Dispersion studies were undertaken to establish dispersion coefficients in the canal.
Field Monitoring Studies – Samples were collected every hour over one complete tidal cycle for pH / DO/Temperature. Samples were also collected at every 3 hourly interval on Spring / Neap Tide days for analyzing other parameters like NO3 / BOD/PO4/Br etc

4.4 / Biological Environment :
Complete assessment of status of flora & fauna was carried out through Dept. of Botany, GoaUniversity. The salient findings are as below :
The study area contains several landscape elements such as rivers and canals, lakes, swamps with stunted mangroves or without significant vegetation, salt pans, mud flats, Kazhan lands, fields, mangroves, islands (with one or more landscape elements within them), coconut groves, mining areas, hillocks with various recognisable elements such as hard lateritic barren areas, scrub vegetation, mixed forests, cashew plantations, etc. within them. The landscape elements based on vegetation type is very difficult to classify due to various reasons. The important reasons are: 1) the landscape is heterogeneous showing continuous variability in its physiognomy, 2) the natural vegetation is not existing any more except in mangroves, 3) cashew is planted in most of these vegetated areas, 4) the proportion of cashew or any other cultivated plant (teak, bamboo, pineapple, coconut etc.) in these forest areas are also uneven and 5) degradation of vegetation with mixed plantations. However, the vegetation can be generally classified into five types. They are: a) Mangroves, b) Scrub, c) Mixed forests (of moist deciduous type), 4) vegetation around and within settlements and 5) Plantations.
4.4.1 / Comments :
1There is no 'virgin' vegetation in the study area except mangroves.
2Mangroves form a prominent type of vegetation though the number of species is limited.
3Other major types of vegetation are scrubs mixed forests and both of them are often planted with Cashew, though bamboo brakes, mango etc. are uncommon.
4Pine apple plantation and Kulagars are also common in the area.
5Only ten species of endemics are recorded in monsoon (mostly herbs). No species of endemic plants are recorded in summer studies.
4.5 / Socio-economic Environment :
The area within ten km of the site is part of North Goa District comprises parts of three Talukas viz. Tiswadi, Bicholim & Ponda. There are 9 villages in Tiswadi, 7 in Bicholim & 12 in Ponda Taluka. The entire study area has rural setting. The findings are given below.
The total population in ten km study zone is 109316 of which 56095 are males & 53243 female
Population has high literacy rate (75%)
Most of the people residing in the area are engaged in different occupations, trades, mining etc (77%) with a low percentage dependant on agriculture / cultivation (18%). Percentage of non-workers is also very high.
5.0 / Proposed Projects :
The company intends to manufacture new generation agrochemicals with low eco-toxicity / persistence. Present proposal envisages the manufacture of following :
Sr. No. / Product Name / Quantity (TPA)
1.0 / Thiomethoxam (expansion) / 4000
2.0 / Mandipropamide / 750
3.0 / o-substituted Phenyl Amide (OPA) / 1000
4.0 / AE Phenol (Int) / 750
6.1 / Environment Impacts of Proposed Plants / Environment Management Plan :
6.1.1 / Water Environment :
Water requirement for proposed projects will be 3000 cmd, major requirement being for utilities (cooling / boiler – 53%), pollution control (32%) & process (11%). Water will be sourced from Public Works Department.
Effluent generation from proposed projects will be about 2500 cmd. Company will provide in-plant treatment of effluents(comprising segregation of effluent streams / waste detoxification) as is being done in existing unit to ensure that the toxicity is lower than the permissible limits. The aqueous effluent streams which are non-degradable in nature will be incinerated. Effluent will be treated upgraded ETP having Primary-secondary-tertiary Treatment facilities. The ETP will have better facility to handle emergency situations.
The effluent stream after treatment will be discharged to CumbarzuaCanal by specially designed diffusers discharging the effluents at two locations at the periphery of the site. The Effluent Dispersion Modelling Studies were carried out by Dr. N.M. Anand (ex – Dy-Dir. & Head Ocean Engg. Dept – NIO) indicates that the disposal locations offers rapid dilution of effluents & thus there will be no adverse impact on the water quality of CumbarzuaCanal.
6.1.2 / Air Pollution & Control :
There will be no addition of fuel burning sources (boilers / thermic heater) as existing utilities are sufficient to cater to the demand of the proposed plants.
6.1.3 / Solid / Hazardous Wastes Generation / Treatment :
Quantity of Solid Hazardous Waste generated after the proposed expansion will continue to be lower than the consented / authorization limits. This has been made possible due to continued efforts to reduce waste & improve environmental compliance.

Even considering waste generation from proposed plants the total waste generation will be within the existing authorization quantities.
As per the present practice :

-all organic residues generated will be incinerated
-ETP sludge / incineration ash will be stored within the site in specially lined pits.
-gloves / drums / filters will be incinerated in solid waste incinerator
The company is taking active part to develop Common Hazardous Waste Collection, Treatment, Storage & Disposal Facilities (CHWTSDF) in Goa (which is being developed by M/s Ramky Enviro of Hyderabad & awaiting MoEF clearance) & will shift all solid wastes stored at site to the CHWTSDF site once operational.
Thus, there will be no additional impacts on the Land Environment due to the proposed projects.
7.0 / Conclusion :
The studies carried out indicate that :

The industry is taking number of steps proactively to meet the norms laid down by GSPCB / Environment Protection Act & to meet Guidelines such as CREP issued by CPCB.
The proposed project will have no adverse impact on environment