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Thailand: Hin Krut Study Rejected

Bangkok Post : 14 January 2000
By Ploenpote Atthakor

Assessment Study Rejected, Management Steps Found Unconvincing

The Hin Krut coal-fired power plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan faced another hurdle yesterday as the Office of the Environmental Policy and Planning refused to approve its additional environmental impact assessment (EIA) study.

Saksit Tridech, the OEPP secretary-general, said the environmental management measures in the EIA failed to convince environmental experts during the technical hearing, held late last month.

Mr Saksit said damage to coral reefs and the impact on marine ecology were still a major concern for environmental experts. Other areas of concern included the impact on the livelihood of local residents, the spread of coal dust during transportation, silt management, and water cooling system implications. He added that a compensation offer for the loss of fishing operations of 122 million baht, over 25 years of operation, was too low.

The 1,400-megawatt project, initiated by the Union Power Development Co (UPDC), is one of the two coal-fired power plants to be operated in this southern province under the independent power producers project. Concern over environmental impacts had put the US$1.2-billion project close to a standstill.

Mr Saksit said UPDC had been instructed to revise its EIA study and forward it to OEPP for consideration quickly since a public hearing for the project is to be held on Feb 24-25.