Cuddalore, 12 October 2006: SPIC Pharma which was recently shut down by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board resumed its operations after obtaining a stay on the closure order from the Madras High Court. According to the TNPCB officials the company was served closure notice on Septemebr 4, 2006 after repeated warnings to set its systems in order. The company was found in violation of the following conditions:
- Effluent Treatment Plant not as per standards prescribed by the Board;
- Mycelium sludge was not being managed properly;
- Had failed to provide a VOC analyser;
- Had failed to put up a digital board on its gate for displaying emission information.
The PCB had first warned the unit in April 2006. On September 4, 2006, the Board shut down the unit and disconnected the power supply.
SPIC is one of the most notorious polluters in SIPCOT Cuddalore. Residents of SIPCOT have complained about the odour of human excreta from the company. According to the PCB the odour is caused because of the mycelium sludge, which is a waste product of the unit’s manufacturing process for Penicillin G. The company discharges its smelly mycelium sludge on the banks of the River Uppanar.
SACEM does not have the ground on which the PCB order has been vacated.
Read earlier story here:
- SPIC Pharma closed by TNPCB
www.sipcotcuddalore.com/updates_040906.html