4 decades after Bhopal gas tragedy, 19 tonnes of soil containing Union Carbide waste incinerated

Indore: Around 19 tonnes of soil containing residual toxic waste from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal has been incinerated and reduced to ashes at a disposal plant in Madhya Pradesh's Pithampur town, an official said on Thursday.

Earlier, 337 tonnes of the waste from the factory premises had been incinerated in multiple phases at the same facility, located 30 km from here, he said.

At least 5,479 people were killed and thousands were maimed after the highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, in one of the biggest industrial disasters in the world.

Talking to PTI, Shrinivas Dwivedi, the Regional Officer of the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB), said the "additional waste" soil has now been incinerated at the Pithampur facility.

"Nineteen tonnes of waste was part of the remaining contaminated material left at the factory's premises following the 1984 gas leak disaster," he said.

About 2.22 tonnes of waste from the packaging material used in the transportation of the Union Carbide waste has also been separated. This mainly includes iron drums, which are being dismantled and subjected to high-temperature incineration, he said.

The disposal of the packaging waste was expected to be completed shortly, he said.

The original dump of waste was mixed with lime and other materials before incineration, which generated over 800 tonnes of ash. This ash has been stored in leak-proof bags, inside a secure storage shed at the facility. A dedicated landfill cell is being constructed, as per scientific protocols, to permanently dispose of this ash, Dwivedi said.

The toxic waste was transported to Pithampur, around 250 km from Bhopal, on January 2, amid protests by local residents. Demonstrators expressed fears of environmental and public health hazards, which were dismissed by the state government.

Initially, 30 tonnes of waste was burnt at the plant during three trials. After this, citing the analysis report, the state government told the high court that during the trials conducted at the rates of 135 kg per hour, 180 kg per hour and 270 kg per hour, the emissions were found to be within prescribed limits.

The MPPCB maintained that emissions from the incineration process, including particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, hydrogen fluoride, nitrogen oxides, mercury, cadmium, and other heavy metals remained within permissible limits during the operations.

According to the pollution board, the Union Carbide waste comprised contaminated soil, reactor residues, remnants of the pesticide Sevin, naphthol, and other semi-processed substances.

The board stated that scientific evidence indicated negligible traces of Sevin and naphthol remained in the waste, and confirmed the absence of methyl isocyanate and radioactive elements.