Thai villagers fight waiver of EIA for power plants

[webfact]

Villagers fight waiver of EIA for power plants
VISARUT SANKHAM
THE NATION


People from seven provinces gather outside the Central Administrative Court on Bangkok

ENVIRONMENTALISTS VOICE CONCERN OVER RELEASE OF DIOXINS, OTHER CARCINOGENS

BANGKOK: -- REPRESENTATIVES of people from seven provinces yesterday filed a complaint with the Central Administrative Court in Bangkok calling on the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to revoke its announcement waiving environment impact assessments (EIA) for waste-fired power plants.

Members of the Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand (EARTH) led some 100 villagers from the provinces of Pathum Thani, Chon Buri, Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri, Samut Prakan, Chachoengsao and Saraburi to file the complaint. These seven provinces have the potential to become sites of the power plants.

The announcement, which went into effect in early September, changes the requirement for a power plant with a capacity of more than 10 megawatts to come up with an EIA report, and instead calls on power plants of all sizes to observe the code of practice.

EARTH director Penchom Saetang said she had assigned a lawyer from the Environmental Litigation and Advocacy for the Wants (EnLAW) to file lawsuits against relevant agencies, including the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the National Environmental Board, as they played a key role behind this announcement.

The group wants the announcement and the code of practice designed by the National Environmental Board to be revoked. Penchom said the decision to waive EIA reports went against the law and missed its objective of protecting the environment. It also eradicated the community-environment-protection process and community participation in such plant projects, she said.

"I'm concerned about dioxins, a carcinogen that will be released from the waste-fired power plants during the burning of mixed waste. I'm also worried about the location of the plants, as some might just use any land plot with no regard to whether it is too close to communities," she said.

She pointed out that Thailand had more than 2,000 garbage dumps, which should be enough to handle the problem of waste provided suitable methods like waste separation were in place.

Too close for comfort

Bunson Aumlapun, a villager from tambon Chiang Rak Yai of Pathum Thani's Sam Khok district, told The Nation that a waste-fired power plant would be located just 1 kilometre from her home.

As there are three canals - Klong Sai, Klong Num Aom and Klong Ban Phrao - around the plant, she is concerned that toxins from the plant could leak into the water, resulting in serious damage.

She also mentioned a nearby water-pumping station, which could be affected by the power plant.

"I'm not against the waste-fired power-plant project, but I need it to be located somewhere else so it won't harm people or affect their livelihoods. Having it just 1 kilometre from people's homes is clearly not suitable," she said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Villagers-fight-waiver-of-EIA-for-power-plants-30274294.html


-- The Nation 2015-12-04

[borisloosebrain]

Some bad governance going on under this mob

[FangFerang]

They can relocate the plant. It does not have to be next door to a village.

[kannot]

But its ok for the villagers to burn their toxic crap every morning right.........all over Thailand

[eliotness]

So they are NIMBYs, but they have a point. Burning mixed waste can be controlled such that any toxic releases are minimised. However without an EIA it will be nigh-on impossible to judge whether the operating parameters of the plant will be sufficient.

As for burning domestic waste in the garden or roadside, yep ! happens everywhere, stinks too. Only a massive reduction in the use of plastics will reduce that problem, which despite utterances from a certain general, looks like ain't going to happen.

[nithisa78]

But its ok for the villagers to burn their toxic crap every morning right.........all over Thailand

Please sir, your solution?

[eliotness]

But its ok for the villagers to burn their toxic crap every morning right.........all over Thailand

Please sir, your solution?

For example, Tesco operates in both the UK and Thailand. In the UK if you have a store card and use your own bags or even reuse Tesco bags you get "green points" which at the end of the month are included in your loyalty points, ie cash vouchers. Furthermore , in their UK stores they have cotton, or similar fabric bags for sale which last months of regular use. All you get in Thailand is strong plastic bags for sale in a very limited number of locations, no green points and currently only some yellow duck loyalty stamps. That applies to all the major supermarkets in the UK. Furthermore there is now a charge for plastic bags applied in some stores.

Today I bought take-away chicken pieces for lunch, NOT KFC, at the school canteen and they were served in a polystyrene tray, when a cardboard one would have been just as good (if not better as it might have absorbed some of the grease).

Those 2 points illustrate the problem and show the easy solution. It's not rocket science, just education. Therein lies the whole crux of the problem.

[tuanku]

Good luck to them. However self centered their motives might be, the idea that EIAs could be waived so that influential individuals can profit from environmentally damaging projects is a crime against the Earth itself. Typically it takes the lower levels of society to stand up for the rights of all to live in a country where the environment is protected and regarded.

If the projects are ecologically sound, there is no need to waive the EIA.

[halloween]

"Having it just 1 kilometre from people's homes is clearly not suitable," she said.

And they haven't even decided which province yet. Still, an average of less than 15 people (qualifications unspecified) from the each of the 7 provinces named are concerned enough to say "Not near my place!"

[eliotness]

"Having it just 1 kilometre from people's homes is clearly not suitable," she said.

And they haven't even decided which province yet. Still, an average of less than 15 people (qualifications unspecified) from the each of the 7 provinces named are concerned enough to say "Not near my place!"

Sorry, but you seem to have misread the article, it actually said the people were representatives of the different areas. This is just the start of the process and Thai culture makes it unusual for people to protest against powerful interests. I believe once actual sites are named then the complaints with increase, so you're a bit quick off the mark to say only "an average of less than 15 people".

However, the alternative, using landfills has perhaps much more cause for concern. From what I've seen in Thailand the operation of landfills is very poor such that using the term landfill management would be a misnomer. So maybe the use of incinerators is the lesser of 2 evils. But to remove the need for EIAs for any new large capacity incinerators raises the question WHY ? and who will actually benefit from that decision ?