Ennore ammonia gas leak: After residents left gasping for breath, TN pollution control board suspends unit operations

The elderly and women with comorbidities fainted on the streets. While a few had blood oozing out of their nose, the majority of them experienced breathlessness, and throat and eye irritation.

The residents said ambulances did not arrive for close to an hour and they had to ask others to take them in autorickshaws or other available vehicles to hospitals.

From yellow teeth to cancer

R Parthasarathy, 40, a resident of Ennore, said some of the men from the area who were returning from work at around 11.30 pm on Tuesday saw white smoke emerging from the sea opposite the Coromandel manufacturing unit.

“The seawater turned grey. Fish, crabs, and other aquatic creatures exploded and people started to run after seeing that. The residents who came out of their houses inhaled the toxic gas and many fainted on the road. They were taken to the nearby government and private hospitals,” said Parthasarathy.

Parthasarathy said the residents did not know what to do as he drew parallels with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

“If you see, the teeth of several residents here would be yellow. It’s not like we don’t have money to buy toothpaste, but it is because of this toxic environment. Our groundwater is damaged so we buy drinking water from outside. Children born here in this toxic environment suffer from Asthma or have any issues related to the lungs. Every month one or two people succumb to cancer,” Parthasarathy alleged.

Other residents said whenever they visit a hospital with breathing difficulty or eye irritation, the doctors ask them where they live. When they tell the doctor they are from Ennore, the doctors say the condition is common in people in that area and do not take them seriously, they alleged.

‘This isn’t new’

On Wednesday morning, hundreds of residents of Ennore staged protests in front of the fertiliser manufacturing unit near Periyakuppam. The protestors comprising men, women and young adults demanded the government shut down the unit permanently.

“This is not new. We have come here to protest to find a permanent solution. We are not going to disperse until the government issues an order to close this unit. We are not sure whether we will get up the next morning due to this toxic air. At least three people I know are currently in the ICU,” said Arulmozhi of Sathyavani Muthu Nagar, who was among the group of protesters.

“This is not new. We have come here to protest to find a permanent solution ,” said Arulmozhi of Sathyavani Muthu Nagar, who was among the group of protesters. (Twitter/ @koushiktweets)

“The company did not alert the residents after the leakage and left us to fight for our lives by ourselves. Only our village heads informed us to leave our homes immediately and then we rushed out leaving everything as it is,” Arulmozhi added.

Muniamma, who has lived in Ennore for over four decades, said her son was born with disabilities due to the various health issues she had while she was pregnant. She said the toxic air must be dealt with during their time so that the future generation does not grow up in similar conditions.

‘Let me die at home’

Subashini, 36, a resident of Katttukuppam said she received a call at around midnight about the gas leak and was asked to get away from her home.

“I was told everyone is fainting and running away to save their lives. I did not know what to do. I alerted some of the other residents. I started to develop throat irritation and severe headache. My cat was outside and it came running towards me in fear, the situation was terrible. I was not ready to leave the cat alone at home,” she said.

“When I came out, there was no vehicle. My husband had gone out to work. It was 1 am and how could I walk alone outside with two of my girls? I thought if I had to die due to this toxic gas, let me die inside my house,” she said.

She said she has been wheezing and her one-year-old girl also has the same issue due to the toxic environment created by the factories in Ennore.

Subhasini’s ailing mother is in an ICU at a private hospital and she noted that instead of staying with her mom she has come to protest to ensure this site is closed permanently and does not cause problems for future generations.

Breathlessness, blood oozing out of noses

Nearly 60 residents of Periyakuppam and other affected areas are being treated at a government hospital and two other private hospitals due to NH3 poisoning.

At Aakash Private Hospital near Thiruvottiyur, around 41 people who inhaled the toxic gas are undergoing treatment. Nine people are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The hospital data showed that several of these residents are on oxygen support and all of them had complaints of breathlessness, giddiness, throat irritation, and eye irritation.

The situation at Akash Hospital is worrying. Over 40 patients are admitted, including nine in the ICU with complaints of breathlessness, giddiness, eye irritation, throat irritation…Majority of them require oxygen support. #Ennore #GasLeak @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/GQDjpwD2yY

— Janardhan Koushik (@koushiktweets) December 27, 2023

A nurse at the ICU, who did not want to be named, said there was no improvement in the condition of those admitted to the hospital for several hours. The nurse added that the doctors just provided basic treatment and the specialist did not come to them for further treatment.

G Dhinakaran, 39, of Periyakuppam, whose wife was admitted to the hospital, said they reached the hospital around midnight on their own.

“The ambulances did not stop for us. The people admitted to the ICU had more difficulties. They had blood coming out of their ears and noses. Everyone is affected. People as old as 71 and as young as 21 are admitted here,” he said.

“Officials have informed us that they will fulfil our demands. We can no longer allow this to continue. We are daily wage labourers, if we keep visiting hospitals with complaints like eye irritation and keep paying the bills, what will we save and how can we run our family?” he asked.

Notice to Coromandel

Following the protest by the residents, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) said notice has been issued to the manufacturing unit under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

In a statement, the Board said the unit has been asked to suspend the operations of the ammonia offshore pipeline activity for precooling and ammonia transfer immediately. It said the company can resume the activities only after obtaining the approval of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board.

The unit has also been asked to identify the location and extent of damages to the offshore pipeline and rectify them at the earliest and until then, ensure no ammonia leak occurs during this process.

“The unit shall restart the APPS (Ammonium Phosphate Potash Sulphate) plant and other allied units only after ensuring that all the ammonia pipelines inside the plant are intact and safe and shall obtain NOC from DISH (Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health Department) before restarting the plant,” the statement read.

According to the Board, the ammonia, generally imported from Iran and Saudi Arabia, is received by the unit via Ennore minor port through ships and later transferred through a 2.5 km flexible HDPE pipeline laid underneath the sea bed, it said in the statement.

Subhasini’s ailing mother is in an ICU at a private hospital and she noted that instead of staying with her mom she has come to protest to ensure this site is closed permanently and does not cause problems for future generations. (Twitter/ @koushiktweets)

A pre-cooling process of the pipeline is carried out for pumping ammonia in liquid condition 36 hours before the transfer of ammonia from the ships. The ammonia gas leakage at the unit happened during the pre-cooling operation of the pipeline.

On Wednesday, TNPCB authorities inspected the unit at 3.30 am, nearly three hours after the leak was reported, and found the ammonia level in the air to be at 3 ppm or 2090 microgram/m3 as against the standard 400 microgram/m3 on a 24-hour average.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo motu cognisance of the ammonia gas leak and asked the TNPCB to file a report on the incident.

Meanwhile, Coromandel International Limited said in a letter to the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board that it has suspended operations at the Ennore port and will resume them after “rectification of abnormalities to the satisfaction and certification of concerned authorities”.