Context: Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) to pay Rs 5 crore as a 'no-fault liability' for an oil spill off the Nagapattinam coast, Tamil Nadu.

About the incidence

• The leakage at the CPCL’s Cauvery Basin Refinery was detected on March 2, 2023, but a large amount of crude oil had already leaked into the sea by May 5, 2023, when CPCL workers plugged the leakage after three days of repairs. 

• In the wake of the incident, fishermen from villages of Nagapattinam taluk such as Pattinamcherry, Samanathampettai, Nambiyar Nagar, Ariyanatutheru, Keechankuppam, Akkaraipettai and Kallar abstained from venturing into the sea following the leakage. 

• After a peace meeting held on March 16, 2023, CPCL officials had promised to remove the pipelines by May 31, 2023, leading to fishermen resuming venturing back into the sea.

Current NGT observation

• "The leak was from a 9km-long 20-inch diameter pipeline from the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) Cauvery Basin Refinery (CBR) crude storage tanks at Nagapattinam to Karaikal Port," it was reported.

• The bench said that though official reports by multiple agencies showed swift containment of the leak with minimal damage, state-owned CPCL had to be held accountable for “breaching” its duty of care as potential consequences for the marine ecosystem and local fishing communities could not be disregarded. 

• These kinds of incidents/accidents are prone to occur in the future too. Merely because the reports of the various institutions have given a no-impact report, the CPCL cannot be absolved of its liability. Even though the leakage in the pipeline happened not because of the negligence or mistake of the CPCL, but only due to an external force, the CPCL is liable.

• The penalty amount has to be utilised for improving the environment and health of the people of the district.

About Oil-Spill

• An oil spill refers to any uncontrolled release of crude oil, gasoline, fuels, or other oil by-products into the environment.

• Oil spills can pollute land, air, or water, though it is mostly used for oceanic oil spills.

Major Causes

• Oil spills have become a major environmental problem, chiefly as a result of intensified petroleum exploration and production on continental shelves and the transport of large amounts of oils in vessels.

• Oil spills that happen in rivers, bays and the ocean most often are caused by accidents involving tankers, barges, pipelines, refineries, drilling rigs and storage facilities, but also occur from recreational boats and natural disasters.

Environmental Impacts

• Threat to Indigenous people: Oil pollution poses health hazards for the indigenous population who depend on seafood.

• Harmful to aquatic life: Oil on ocean surfaces is harmful to many forms of aquatic life because it prevents sufficient amounts of sunlight from penetrating the surface, and it also reduces the level of dissolved oxygen.

• Hypothermia: Crude oil ruins the insulating and waterproofing properties of feathers and fur of birds, and thus oil-coated birds and marine mammals may die from hypothermia (decrease in body temperature to below-normal levels).

• Toxic: Moreover, ingested oil can be toxic to affected animals, and damage their habitat and reproductive rate.

• Threat to Mangroves: Saltwater marshes and Mangroves frequently suffer from oil spills.

Economic Impacts

• Tourism: If beaches and populated shorelines are fouled, tourism and commerce may be severely affected.

• Power Plants: The power plants and other utilities that depend on drawing or discharging sea water are severely affected by oil spills.

• Fishing: Major oil spills are frequently followed by the immediate suspension of commercial fishing.

Remedies

• Bioremediation: Bacteria can be used to clean up oil spills in the ocean through bioremediation. Specific bacteria can be used to bioremediate specific contaminants, such as hydrocarbons, which are present in oil and gasoline.

• Using bacteria such as Paraperlucidibaca, Cycloclasticus, Oleispira, Thalassolituus Zhongshania and some others can help remove several classes of contaminants.

• Containment Booms: Floating barriers, called booms, are used to restrict the spread of oil and to allow for its recovery, removal, or dispersal.

• Skimmers: They are devices used for physically separating spilled oil from the water’s surface.

• Sorbents: Various sorbents (e.g., straw, volcanic ash, and shavings of polyester-derived plastic) that absorb the oil from the water are used.

• Dispersing agents: These are chemicals that contain surfactants, or compounds that act to break liquid substances such as oil into small droplets. They accelerate its natural dispersion into the sea.

Related Laws in India

• Presently, there is no law covering oil spill as such and its consequential environmental damage in India but India has “the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan of 1996 (NOS-DCP)” to handle such situations.

• The document was issued by the Ministry of Defense in 1996; it was last updated in March 2006.

• It gives the Indian Coast Guard the mandate to coordinate with state departments, ministries, port authorities and environmental agencies to assist in oil spill cleaning operations.

• In 2015 India ratified the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001 (Bunker Convention). Convention ensures adequate, prompt and effective compensation for damage caused by oil spills.

• It was administered by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).