Bhubaneswar, Sept. 29: The Orissa State Pollution Control Board today issued a showcause notice to a Hirakud-based aluminium smelter of Hindalco for disposing of potentially hazardous spent pot lining (SPL) and anode butts containing absorbed fluoride in violation of norms.

Both SPL and anode butts are produced in the process of manufacturing aluminium in the smelter and they can be recycled. This makes them precious despite the fact that the presence of fluoride, a chemical with health implications, makes them hazardous.

Board member-secretary Siddhant Das said showcause notice was issued under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and under Rule 25 of the Hazardous Waste (management handling and trans-boundary movement) Rule, 2008, after it was found that huge quantities of SPL and anode butts had been sold to unauthorised units within and outside Orissa.

Das said about 5,800mt of SPL and 11,468mt of anode butts were believed to have been sold from the plant to unauthorised units.

Das added that under the waste rule, only units authorised by the pollution control board can buy SPL and anode butts from aluminium smelters.

In this case, the board had not authorised the two buyers, but they produced fake authorisation papers with forged signatures of Das to procure the material from the Hirakud smelter.

The board came to know about it sometime in August and asked its Sambalpur regional office to investigate the matter. Das said during the probe, it was found that the Hirakud unit of Hindalco had also not completed the Secured Land Fill (SLF) which is necessary for the disposal of hazardous waste.

“The completion of the land fill is a must,” said Das, adding that two senior officials of the company met him today to discuss the issue.