Indorama Nigeria, the owner of Indorama-Eleme Petrochemicals Limited and Indorama Fertilizer Limited, has stated it has no soot to emit, whatsoever. It also said its global standards and numerous local and international certifications and submission to about 10 monitoring bodies make it impossible for the company to emit soot or any harmful effluent.
The position was disclosed on Monday, January 31, 2022, by Jossy Nkwocha, the corporate affairs head of the group, who took print journalists around the operational procedures of the company at Eleme near Port Harcourt, with a technical presentation by Charles Osuji, an engineer, who is one of the managers in charge of the plant operations.
Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited is the current management of Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited (EPCL), having taken over management/ownership of the company from Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) in 2006. The group later set up fertilizer lines.
Indorama Nigeria owns 65 percent of Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals, NNPC 10 percent, the government of Rivers State 10 percent, host communities 7.5 percent, the Nigerian Federal Government 5 percent, and its Nigerian employees own 2.5 percent.
Answering questions at the end of the tour, Nkwocha said Indorama does not cause soot.
It is to prove the assertion beyond all measures that the company took the pain to bring in journalists of different sections, electronic, print, etc, in Rivers State representing the national media to come and see things for themselves and see if there is anywhere within the company that emission takes place, he said.
He said the plants were all in operation so that the eyes can see that the plants have no exit place for soot or any such thing, saying, “We have shown you all our petrochemical operations and fertilizer operations and we have shown that we are an open book.
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“We have taken you through the entire process to show you that nowhere is soot emitted. Our engineers have explained how our system is cyclic such that there is no exit point for soot.
“They have explained to us in the control room how we buy the natural gas from either Agip or Total. We do not allow it to waste by flaring it or not cracking it completely. It is when you do not crack the gas or crude fully that the remnant escapes as soot. Indorama does not emit soot in any form.”
He said the company was not standing trial and that the decision to bring in journalists to see for themselves was simply doing their duty, noting, “We are being proactive. People are making insinuations, though officially, nobody has accused us of emitting soot. But some people are making insinuations here and there and we have the responsibility to explain to the public and ask the public to clear such insinuations.
“Last week Wednesday, we invited radio and television journalists, and today we invited newspapers and online publications. In the next few days, we are going to invite NGOs and heads of department of environment in universities to come and see the processes we have here. This is to ensure the public is not misinformed in any way.”
Soot can only escape through the starks (something like exhaust pipes) of the furnace or power plants, but that as long as nothing seen with the eyes was coming out, it was evident that there is no soot from these plants, he stated.
He commended the state governor, Nyesom Wike, on the war against soot, and said the company does two self audits every year to prepare for external environmental audits, plus officials of the State Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Environment, International Standard Organisation (ISO) certifications of three different classifications plus British certifications.
The company takes great care and meets all national and international certifications because of the regulations that guide the operations and the products.
The company produces petrochemicals that were hitherto imported and is now producing fertilizer and stopping N7 billion annual importation, making a huge impact on Nigeria’s economy in jobs, import-substitution, boost to the industry, and more, the corporate affairs head said.
He stated: “About 7,000 persons come here daily, both full-time workers and contractors. So, we employ over 7,000 persons who turn round to touch lives in their families and those around them.
“We supply fertilizers to about 32 million farmers in Nigeria and we supply urea to fertilizer blending plants around Nigeria that employ up to 100 persons each. This has a big impact.
“We have two major products; petrochemicals and fertilizers. Petrochemicals are the engine room of Nigeria’s industrializations. Without those products, Nigeria would be spending much forex to import raw materials. Indorama is to import substations. In fertilizer, Nigeria used to import fertilizer worth N7Bn yearly, but that is now coming from Indorama plus others (But Indorama has more than 95 per cent of the fertilizer market in Nigeria).”
He explained that Indorama pays dividends to the Rivers State government, Federal Government, workers and host communities and that is why community people do not block their gates. “So, workers and host communities co-own the company. That is the PPP model and many people come here to do their masters’ and doctorate degree research on the model.
“The state and Federal Government have been doing their best and anything that worries us, we contact them. The governments are supporting us in very diverse ways,” he said.
