Deadly Gas Leak at LG Polymers Reveals Occupational Health and Safety Failures
On May 7, 2020, toxic Styrene gas leaked from the LG Polymers Chemical plant, a unit of South Korean LG Chem, near Visakhapatnam in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The gas leak has killed 12 persons and sickened more than 1,000 people and has been covered widely in the media in India and globally as a tragedy reminiscent of the Bhopal gas tragedy 36 years ago. Electronics Watch and Cividep, our monitoring partner in India, support the calls of the local community and others for full remediation for the victims, and for a thorough investigation by the relevant authorities to discover and publish the causes of this tragedy.
Credit: IndustriALL
According to initial media reports, LG Polymers had been operating illegally without environmental clearance and had failed to conduct safety and due diligence checks before commencing operations after the COVID-19 national lockdown.