COURT CLEARS THAI PROJECTS: PETROCHEMICALS: Construction activity will resume at Map Ta Phut

THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE Court of Thailand has cleared 74 of 76 projects that had been suspended at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate, one of Asia’s largest chemical industry zones. Although environmental activists are contesting the court’s decision, the construction of dozens of chemical plants worth billions of dollars is now set to resume. In September 2009, the same court froze the 76 projects because their licenses were granted before an assessment by an independent committee of environmental and safety experts. Evaluation of all industrial activities that are potentially harmful to the environment is mandated by the Thai constitution of 2007. The ruling threw the projects into limbo because the Thai cabinet had not yet issued regulations on how to appoint and run the committee of experts (C&EN, March 22, page 26). The two projects that are still suspended are an ethylene glycol/oxide plant backed by PTT Chemical and a vinyl facility owned by ...