The proposed LPG Recovery Plant at Usar in Raigad district of Maharashtra will recover operate LPG from the balance gas received from ONGC's existing LPG recovery facilities at Uran.

The recovery of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) from the feedstock prior to the transportation of the lean gas to Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizers, Thai and other consumers including Kalyani Steel, Nippon Dendro and Vikram Ispat is an effort towards effective utilisation of petroleum resources. The establishment of LPG Plant at Usar is therefore justified as a step towards the conservation of fossils fuels. The characteristics of the site for the proposed project, the nature of the project and the biological values of the area as ascertained after the ecological evaluation pose no significant constraints in the setting up of the proposed LPG Plant. However, in view of the environment friendly nature of this project, compromises should not be made in the restoration and management of the site environment.

i. Sincere efforts should be made to restore the landscape features, vegetal cover and the quality of the water sources around the plant.

ii. On site and off site activities need to be carefully planned to keep the disturbance at its minimum particularly in the forested habitats and the mud flats areas supporting mangrove vegetation and tidal swamps in the creeks.

iii. The effluent treatment facilities need to be adequately developed and their use enforces to avoid contamination of ground water and wetland habitats.

For better environmental planning and management of project related activities, it would be worth employing an environmental manager. The role of the environmental manager will ensure:

• inspection and maintenance of equipments used on site in conjunction with the monitoring, control and treatment of environmental impacts.
   

• inspection and maintenance of operational plant to avoid air and water pollution.
   

• preservation of trees, hedges and other existing habitats which lie outside the project premises.
   

• monitoring of project activities to ensure that these are in accordance with the legal and statutory provisions laid under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; Forest Conservation Act as amended in 1992; Guidelines for Siting of Industry (MoE&F, 1984); Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986; Water (Prevention and control of pollution) Act, 1974; and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.