The Visakh Refinery of HPCL has denied the reports which appeared in these columns on Wednesday attributing the pungent odour experienced in the industrial belt of the city was due to processing of high sulphur crude in the HPCL refinery.
“The refinery was operating normally with all the associated processes and the emissions from the refinery were also normal.
The Sulphur Dioxide emissions in the last few days were in the range of 9 to 10 MT/day vis-a-vis the stipulated limit of 11.5 MT/day. There were no additional or abnormal emissions from the refinery,” Deputy General Manager (HR) S. Nandi said in a statement issued here on Wednesday.
He noted that the statement that a smell causing substance was released from HPCL as a result of processing high sulphur crude was incorrect.
As a good corporate citizen, HPCL Visakh Refinery has always been striving to abide by the various stipulations from the pollution control authorities in the area of environmental performance, he added.