Mae Mo villagers win case against Egat
Court orders payment of compensation
- Published: 4/03/2009 at 02:57 PM
- Online news: Local News
The Chiang Mai Administrative Court on Wednesday ordered the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to pay compensation of 246,000 baht, plus interest, to each plaintiff in a case brought by families living nearby who have suffered bad health caused by years of pollution from its Mae Mo power plant.
Several hundred villagers in the northern province of Lampang filed 35 lawsuits against Egat five years ago, seeking redress for health problems caused by the operations of the lignite-fired power plant.
The court also ordered Egat to move affected families to new land at least five kilometres away from the power plant, to rehabilitate the environment at the coal mine, and to replace the golf course with trees.
Sulphur dioxide emissions from the power plant have had a severe impact on the health of people in the 16 villages. Many of them suffer respiratory problems.
At least 20 residents of the villages have died of illness in the past 10 years, their deaths blamed on pollution from the Egat power plant.
Mae Mo, Thailand's largest mine, began operating on a small scale in the 1960s and was significantly expanded in the 1980s.
According to Greenpeace, every year approximately 1.6 million tons of sulphur gas is released into the air from this power plant, resulting in severe health problems for local people and irreversible damage to the natural environment.
The power plant is also estimated to contribute move than four million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere each year.
According to Greenpeace it is the biggest regional contributor to climate change.
The Egat facility is reported to be Southeast Asia's largest coal-fired power plant. The fuel is supplied by an open-pit lignite mine covering about 135 square kilometres and producing about40,000 tonnes per day. It is the largest mine in Thailand.
More than 30,000 people have been displaced from their homes as a result of the power plant's operations, according to Greenpeace. Thousands have experienced severe respiratory problems and several law suits have been filed against Egat.
In 1998 Mae Mo residents filed the first lawsuit against a government entity over hardship caused by a major infrastructure project.
Three additional lawsuits have been filed by the same affected communities claiming damage for health deterioration, physical and mental grievances, compensation for medical expenses, and for damage to farmers' crops and useable land.
In May 2004, the provincial court awarded 5.7 million baht to the villagers for crop damage caused by the power plant.
In May 2004, the provincial court awarded 5.7 million baht to the villagers for crop damage caused by the power plant.
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- Writer: BangkokPost.com
