Portions of three oil pipelines belonging to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) have been removed in Tondiarpet. Around 15 metres of each pipeline were removed and the ends capped.
Oil from these lines had seeped into the ground, contaminating groundwater in the area. Borewells of several houses had been getting water mixed with oil since last year. Even now, every day, around two litres of oil are sucked up from these borewells in the clean-up operation.
The pipelines were removed in the presence of officials from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), Central Pollution Control Board, BPCL and experts from IIT-Madras, when the area was dug up to find out the source of the leak.
Sources at TNPCB said preliminary studies show that the leak could have occurred from a white oil pipeline that was previously abandoned. However, IIT-Madras experts, who took samples from the area, are presently running tests and a final report will be submitted to TNPCB shortly. It will also suggest remedial measures.
Even while the samples were being collected, there was a strong odour of oils and at 10 feet below the surface, oil was found, explained a source.
BPCL sources said all three pipelines are 50 per cent underground and the rest above ground. So far, the company has removed about 10-15 metres of the underground component of each of the three pipelines to demonstrate to the residents that the lines were empty.
The company had been maintaining that two of pipelines were abandoned, while the other was being used by Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL). Following complaints about the leak, CPCL also made alternative arrangements.
BPCL, sources said, has already cut down its reliance on its north Chennai terminal.
The supply from this terminal has come down to 100 tankers. Earlier, some 300 lorries were filled daily at the terminal. Most of the supplies were being made from Ennore, where BPCL has got private tankage, and Karur.
The ministry of petroleum and natural gas had recently informed the National Green Tribunal here that the three public sector oil marketing companies — IOC, BPCL and HPCL — were in the process of relocating their operations out of north Chennai. HPCL has already shifted its terminal to Ennore. BPCL, sources in the oil industry said, was close to getting 100 acres in Ennore from the salt department.
