NEB names harmful projects
Bangkok Post : NEB names harmful projects
NEB names harmful projects
- Published: 24/08/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
The National Environment Board has listed 11 types of industrial projects it regards as harmful and will be required to undergo environmental and health impact assessments.
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A four-party panel formed to solve pollution problems in the Map Ta Phut area on the Eastern Seaboard, chaired by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun, proposed the listing of 18 project types as harmful.
The NEB resolved yesterday to list 11 projects, including petrochemical industry expansion, mining, power plants, dams and airport runway expansion.
The seven project types dropped from the list include projects located in world heritage sites, irrigation works, pumping underground salt and inter-river basin water diversion.
A source on the board said members felt some of the projects dropped from the list needed more solid information to support their inclusion while others were beneficial to the general public.
"The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will announce the ministerial directive on the list of harmful activities which will require project operators to follow Section 67 of the constitution," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who chairs the NEB, told a news conference at the end of the board meeting.
Section 67 requires operators of the projects listed as harmful activities to conduct public hearings, environmental and health impact assessments, and submit the project for review by the independent body on health and environment.
Mr Abhisit said he expected to see the ministry's directive on the harmful activities, which would be submitted to the cabinet for acknowledgement, soon.
The revised list has drawn mixed reactions from environmentalists and industrialists.
Thongchai Panswad, chief of the Anand panel's subcommittee on the drafting of the list of harmful activities, said industrial operators would have a better picture of what types of project needed to comply with Section 67.
"However, the board should explain clearly to the public the exclusion of seven items from the list," he said.
Sutthi Atchasai, a coordinator of the People's Eastern Network, said he was happy with the list, saying it covered several industrial projects inside the Map Ta Phut industrial estate that had health and environmental impacts.
Industry Minister Chaiwuti Bannawat said two companies whose projects were suspended by an Administrative Court ruling last year would be affected by the list.
They are TOC Glycol, a subsidiary of PTT Chemical, and Aisco Resources PTE.
The senior executive vice-president of PTT's gas business unit, Permsak Shevawattananon, said: "We have wasted nearly a year, but now the [harmful industrial list] declaration will finally clear the path to go ahead with our business direction."
PTT has been one of the companies most affected by the court's order to suspend work until they meet the requirements under Section67.
