THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

IRPC clarifies

IRPC clarifies

Re: Time that Rayong refinery cleaned up its act, Have Your Say, The Nation, May 26

With reference to the above letter, we are sorry to hear unhappy voices. Please let us clarify the situation.
IRPC is in the business of refining and petrochemicals. The IRPC Eco Industrial Complex is situated in Rayong province. Over the past several years, we have tried our best to minimise uncontrolled flaring and smoke in the atmosphere. Actually, it costs us a lot of money to burn and waste hydrocarbon by flaring. However, it is a must because it is the safest way to burn it during emergencies, especially during unplanned shutdown of the processing units. 
Over the last few years, we have commissioned several new processing units and during the trial periods there could be more unplanned shutdowns than normal. It should be better by now. Unfortunately, last week we had an unplanned shutdown of several units due to power failures which could happen, especially in the rainy season.
Rayong people are our families and most of our employees live in the neighbourhood. Their safety and wellness is our priority. That’s why we have installed various ambient air-monitoring stations around our plants to ensure the ambient air quality at the ground level meets legal standards and is safe for our families. Our flare is designed to have a height of 140 metres to ensure that the emissions from burnt hydrocarbon and smoke spread to wider areas and the ambient air quality at ground level is still safe.
We can assure you that we shall try our best to minimise unplanned shutdowns and consequently flaring and smoking. This is to keep our promise to do business with the greatest care for society, the environment, and people. We are sorry for the inconvenience but we hope you understand the situation. Should you need any other information, please do not hesitate to contact me on 085-4806098 or email me.
Chanida Sanhakorn
Corporate Communications Division Manager

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