A week after the great tragedy of poisonous Styrene gas leak from its plant at Visakhapatnam in which 12 people died and hundreds of people fell sick, South Korean company LG Polymers Ltd is desperately trying for a damage control exercise to overcome the blame.
A team of technical experts from the company’s Seoul headquarters, which came to LG Polymers India plant at Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, plunged ino action on Thursday in the name of rehabilitation of people in the gas-affected villages.
According to a company spokesperson, special task force is currently supporting the bereaved victims and families and visiting them at the hospitals and their homes.
Food and medical services have been organized for the returning residents. Various support activities such as supplying medical and household goods and sanitation of homes will be continued.
The team members from production, environment, and safety wings of the company started investigating the cause of the incident.
“We have begun the transportation of the Styrene Monomer (SM) inventory within the plant as well as in the styrene tanks at the port by vessels to South Korea to prevent and eliminate all risks factors,” the spokesman said.
Furthermore, the team is working closely with related authorities to analyze the cause of the incident, prevent a recurrence, and support damage recovery in a prompt and expedient manner, he said.
While identifying the extent of the damage, LG Polymers India has identified comprehensive support measures to solve the situation quickly and responsibly.
The process for executing a comprehensive care package for recovery include:
1. To ensure all possible support for bereaved families and victims.
2. A Suraksha hospital has been commissioned and will take care of all residents’ health check-ups and future treatment.
3. A helpline number for the villagers has been set up – 08912520884 and 08912520338 and we are already responding to queries. We have also simultaneously set up a direct mail – lgpicsr@lgchem.com for any queries the villagers may have.
4. We will soon set up specialized institutions to conduct surveys on health and environmental impacts and disclose the results transparently.
5. Our teams will carry out mid-to-long-term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects that can contribute to the local community based on suggestions of the residents.
“We assure everyone we will do our best to resolve the situation and prevent any incident in the future,” the spokesman said.