PRE-FEASIBILITY REPORT FOR THE PROPOSED POL STORAGE TANKS AT PAYYANNUR, KANNUR, KERALA BY HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED SUBMITTED TO STATE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY, KERALA March 2017 1. Project Background Energy serve as economy driver of every nation. Though India is the world’s fourth largest energy user, its per capita consumption is among the lowest in the world. Stagnant output of crude oil has increased external dependence for its sourcing (77% on consumption basis) and as a result crude oil constitutes the major item in India’s import bill. With economic reforms and increased transportation sector utilizations, the demand for the oil is also showing an increasing trend which necessitates enhancement of the refinery capacities and capacity augmentation of the distribution infrastructure networks. Transportation sector including diesel and petrol accounts for the major share for the petroleum fuel consumption in India. Among the various transportation modes for the fuel transport, such as marine/ railway and by road, railway has the inherent advantage of transporting in bulk with lowest transportation cost. For a state like Kerala, where the population density very high with all major roads are severely congested and further road developments are critically challenged with the land availability and rehabilitation issues, shifting of the fuel transport to railway mode will bring significant environmental and social advantages towards sustainable operation practices in this sector. Considering the same, two central PSUs, holding significant share of the petroleum based fuel supply for the state has come forward with a proposal for developing a dedicated storage terminal at Payyannur, in Kannur District of Kerala with Common User Facility (CUF) to ease the supply requirements especially for the middle and northern district of Kerala. As per the understanding between the central PSUs, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) along with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) proposes to build a Common User Facility for the storage and discharge of Petroleum Oil and Lubricant (POL) at Payyanur village, Kannur district in the State of Kerala. A total of 129.7 acre of land is proposed to be acquired for the present project including 120 acres for the proposed terminal and allied facilities where as the 9.7 Acre towards developing a dedicated approach road toward the proposed terminal. In order to ensure the railway sliding connectivity, a site adjacent to Payyanur Railway Station under Palakkad railway division is identified to be the most suitable for the purpose. This will be a green field project. 2. Brief Description of the Project It is proposed to develop a storage terminal at Payyannur in the district of Kannur in the northern part of Kerala to cater the demand of Northern and Central Kerala. The site is located along the bank of Perumba River with nearly plain land of 120 Acre is available for developing the terminal with Northern boundary bordered by the Mangalore – Shoranur railway line in between Payyannur and Ezhimala railway Stations. Location map of the project site is presented in Figure 2.1. Figure 1. Location Map of Proposed POL Storage Terminal at Payyannur The proposed site is located about 2 kilometers from Payyannur Town. The plot proposed for oil depot is bordering Perumba river along the south and east side. The portion of railway line between Payyanur railway station and Ezhimala railway station runs along the entire northern boundary of the plot and the western boundary is demarcated by a small creek(thodu) extended up to railway line. The nearest railway station is Ezhimala around 1.3 (South) km from the proposed plot boundary and whereas the Payyannur Railway station is located around approximately 2.4 km (North) from the plot. 3. Advantages of Proposed Site and Design Consideration to Suite with the Site Conditions The site has added advantage of availability of almost 120 acres of leveled continuous land having railway line running for almost 1300 m as boundary. The Perumba River which is more than 100 m wide bordering the site on south and East also will play as a role of permanent barrier leaving the human developments are not within the close proximity. Along the western side of the plot are having inhabitations after a small stream. Being an agriculture land in a serene village setting, the site had added advantage of less dense inhabitation surrounding the proposed facility area. The land is almost leveled land with very less undulations provide advantages on less earthwork at site leading to high dust and noise generation. However considering the proximity to the River Perumba, it would be required that the filling of the land would be warranted with respect to HFL of the area. The land can be categorized as dry land and marshy land as per the site conditions. While it is proposed to acquire 120 acres of land for the terminal, considering the nature of the land, the plot has been subdivided in to “A’’ and “B’’ where the marshy area with mangrove is demarcated under Category B is left open. The parcel of land under Category Ä consisting of 76.43 Acres is found to be sufficient enough to accommodate the proposed terminal requirements. The area demarcation within the proposed terminal location is as presented in Figure 2.2 below. Figure 2. Land Demarcation within Proposed Terminal Location Around 50% of the total land under Category “A” is planned to be developed for the present requirement, leaving almost a similar parcel of land for the futuristic development requirements. Thus considering the futuristic demand aspects also, the land is prudent enough to accommodate the same. Proximity to a water body is a challenge while designing permanent structures; however the same could be an added advantage for a facility like POL terminal offering round the year availability of enough water in case of an emergency. In between the proposed land acquisition boundary and the river bank, a parcel of land is running on the East-West direction which will separate the terminal with the river bank such that the terminal activities are not directly affecting the river. Further the added advantage of rail connectivity from the Northern border of the plot further enhances the isolation aspects of the proposed storage tanks from the river and its bank. The terminal layout is planned in such a way that the petroleum storage and handling facilities are located in the northern part of the proposed plot leaving the supportive facilities of the terminal aligned to the southern section of the proposed plot. Further, the tank farms are having dyke around the same capable of handling 1.5 times the total quantity of the highest capacity of the tank in a series with integrated Effluent, Sewage and storm water management system to avoid oil water polluting the river and its pristine ecosystem. The land parcel since not located along the major NH/SH. However, the terminal could be approached from NH through Ezhimala Payyannur road up to a location 50m before Punnakadave Bridge. From this location the site has to be reached through a new proposed road along the northern bank of Perumba River. Thus, it could be concluded that the location is having multiple advantages of developing a storage terminal and also the environmental setting of the project location is duly taken in to consideration while preparing the layout for the proposed facility. Details of the facilities proposed are followed. 4. Proposed Infrastructure Facilities A total of 120 acres of land is proposed to be acquired at the terminal location which will be secured with the compound wall and will be under the security control during the entire operation phase of the terminal. The access is provided only through the entrance gate where it is mandatory to undergo the strict security checking with allowing only the essential manpower and vehicles to be permitted within the storage terminal. The backward access will be limited only to the railway wagon sliding facility which will be restricted with the tight security. A watch tower is integrated with the project to have round the clock watch and vigil during the entire operation of the terminal. It is proposed to develop an integrated storage facility meeting the various fuel requirements of the North and Central Kerala region. The entire fuel will be transported to the terminal through the railway route only and the railway sliding is proposed for accessing the terminal from the Payyannur railway station. Dedicated track would be laid connecting the existing railway line with the proposed terminal which is integrated in to the project design. The fuel transported in railway wagons will be pumped to the Storage Tank. From the storage tank, the fuel will be transferred to truck loading gantries, from where the truck will be filled and the product will be further distributed to the retail outlets within the central and northern districts of Kerala. The layout of the proposed facility is presented in Figure 2.3 below and a brief description on the facilities covered is followed. Figure 2.3. Proposed Terminal Layout 2.4.1. Railway Sliding for the Terminal Dedicated railway lines are proposed from the Northern side of the plot connecting from the existing railway Station at Payyannur. 2.4.2. Storage Tanks It is proposed to Store Class A and Class B products listed under MSHIC Rules in the terminal. The details of the products and storage capacities planned are as presented in