Coal-fired power plant project in Kao Hin Son, Phanom Sarakham District, Chachoengsao Province
Kao Hin Son community has been protesting against a proposal to construct a 600megawatt coal-fired power plant project in their community ever since it was announced back in 2008. Kao Hin Son Village is located in Phanom Sarakham District of Chachoengsao Province. Locals‟ strong opposition is a reflection of their determination to protect their rights to live in a healthy environment. Community resistance appears in various form, from marching, blocking the roads, submitting opposition documents to multiple government agencies, filing a lawsuit at the administrative court and petition to the King. Coal Impact Monitoring Network eventually decided to file a petition to the Secretariat of National Health Commission Office of Thailand (NHCO) to request that a health impact assessment (HIA) as specified under Article 11 of National Health Act B.E.2550 (2007) be conducted.
Health Impact Assessment Coordinating Unit under the NHCO visited Kao Hin Son to meet with the community and to review the petition. In the preliminary finding, the HIA Coordinating Unit stated the proposed coal project was considered a project that could pose detrimental impacts on the community and needed to be in accordance with Section 67 Paragraph 2 of the 2007 Thai Constitution.
The coal-fired power plant could pollute basic elements needed to maintain quality community health such as clean air and water. It can also create sound pollution. The coal-fired power plant will affect local economy and the community. It may cause negatively impacts on disadvantaged groups, especially the poor who heavily rely on natural ecosystems of Klong Tha Lad watershed for food (Klong is a Thai word for canal or waterways). For these reasons, HIA is an important means for information sharing and compiling evidence to enhance comprehensiveness in the decision-making process. There are 3 levels of HIA: 1. HIA at the Power Development Plan (PDP) level a. As the coal-fired power plant is included in the PDP, it is necessary to tackle the problem at its source. Many academics are reviewing the PDP and have proposed many alternatives to ensure that the PDP is a healthy policy. However, these alternatives are still being negotiated at the public policy process. 2. HIA at the project level a. As the project is considered a project with possible severe impacts on the community and must conduct a HIA in accordance to Section 67
Paragraph 2 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment‟s order. National Power Supply Public Limited Company commissioned a consultant firm named Air Safe Company Limited and experts from Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University. 3. HIA at the community level (CHIA) a. The community conducts the HIA itself with experts serving as their consultants. The information and evidences gathered by CHIA allow the community to recognize the potential impacts and have meaningful engagement in the EHIA procedures conducted by the consultant firm. Although the project already completed its public scoping, the community could still present its evidences during the impact assessment and public review process. Community participation will help fulfill the EHIA report and truly reflect the community and the environment. As a result, EHIA reviewers and Energy Regulatory Commission will have a more comprehensive report before making their decisions on the project. HIA Coordinating Unit had a resolution to endorse CHIA. Its endorsement was in align with the community‟s request to the National Health Commission to accept CHIA as a means to seek information and evidences that may indicate potential health impacts on the community and to enhance effective public participation in EHIA.
Community Health Impact Assessment The planning for CHIA started with a small group of CHIA facilitators and the villagers, who are mostly farmers. The discussion focused on the project approval procedures, the legal process and relevant government agencies. The group decided to start with these information in order to explain the project‟s current status and brainstorm on the possibility for the community to participate in the decision-making process. Next, the group looked at the project specification in the company‟s EIA report. This EIA was already approved by Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP). In the next session, the community expressed their concerns about the project. Many worried that the coal-fired power plant project would have detrimental impacts on the water, for example, acid rain and insufficient amount of water. Sulfur dioxide emitted by the project would pollute the air and harm the fruits and vegetables. People would become ill. There would also be increasing number of outside workers coming into the area and living in the vicinity. This could cause the community to feel insecure for their lives and assets.
The next step was to collectively create a community map to help visualize the community boundary and topics of the research. Each village sent its representatives to draft the map together. Participated included, but not limited to, Ban Yang Dang, Ban Lam Kao Chan, Ban Bang Pha Niang, Ban Bang Ma Fueng, Ban Tha Muang, Ban Sa Mai Dang and Ban Nong Khla. Each village drew its community map first. Once completed, each village‟s map was placed next to each other to create a bigger map. Roads, streams and canals were used to connect the villages together.
The map was hand-drawn by the community itself. It might not look like an official map, but it gave a clear picture of the relationship between the community livelihoods and the streams from Si Yat Canal and Rabom Canal. The narrow blue line crossing over paddy fields and houses suddenly became more meaningful than before. The narrow blue line also crossed an area of wild bamboos, where the villagers collected bamboo shoots, and a monastery, a school. Village water systems were located near the canal. The community pointed out that the community map revealed something different from the map inserted in the EIA report. The community map showed paddy fields, houses, a monastery, a school. Unlike the EIA map, the community map showed life. It showed that there are people living in this area, paddy fields being cultivated, straw mushrooms grown, organic vegetables flourished.
The hand-drawn community map was then digitized and reviewed for accuracy again by the community. What was interesting was the community added more canals and villages in the area. New villages that later appeared on the map included, but not limited to, Ban Kraboktia and Ban Huay Namsai. They explained that after they saw the map, they felt they wanted to be involved in the research as well and wanted to see their villages on the map. Even though not all villages came to the first workshop, all those who later came to review the map could immediately point out the location of their villages including those whose villages had not appeared on the map. Some children could even identified the house owners.
The community map helped prioritized the topics for the health impact assessment. It showed that the community was most concerned on 2 factors, which were the key factors to maintain a healthy Klong Tha Lad watershed: impacts on the canal water ecosystems and impacts on agriculture. Impacts on agriculture could be subdivided into 3 categories: organic farming, straw mushrooms and mangoes.
Creating a community timeline was the method the community used for data collection, data analysis and impact analysis because it allowed them to reflect on previous and ongoing developments and changes in Klong Tha Lad watershed. The timeline also revealed the changes in multiple dimensions, both quantitative and qualitative information. The study looked at local physical geography and water resources and their qualitative and quantitative values. The community also sought for information on the proposed coal-fired power plant, energy policies and development plans, pollution and toxicology, as well as health impacts of coal-fired power plants in other countries. Data on organic agriculture, mangoes and mushrooms were also collected by conducting focus groups with farmers. They also created a map showing the areas where organic vegetables, mangoes and mushrooms were grown. Numbers on agricultural production output and income from domestic and abroad markets were also included. The community also looked into how local agriculture created employment and contributed to local economy. The research process also enabled the community to contemplate on their development ideas, principles, values on and standard requirements for organic agriculture. They drew an epidemiological map to assess the impacts of clearing mango orchards near Industrial Zone 304.
Surveying was an important tool to gain empirical information and evidence in CHIA. In addition, the CHIA findings also included government‟s information, community‟s data, related research, meeting minutes and results from the questionnaires and focus groups. After all the findings were put together, the community held a community review to ensure the accuracy of the CHIA.
The preliminary findings were later compiled to create a draft report named “Food Security and Coal Energy: Conflicts on Agriculture and Livelihoods of Klong Tha Lad watershed community.” The draft report was presented at the Public Review, held at the conference hall of Phanom Sarakham Vocational College in Chachoengsao on 21 August 2014. The forum welcomed relevant government agencies, academics and the community to share their knowledge and review the draft report. The public review concluded that Klong Tha Lad‟s water resource was already not sufficient for local use. Thus, if the coal-fired power plant project proposed to divert 11 million cubic meter of water every year for its operation, water conflicts and degrading water quality would definitely follow. On issues related to agriculture, the public review concluded that additional assessments must be conducted, especially on local plant species‟ vulnerability to coal-related pollution.
The community conducted additional assessments as proposed during the public review. It also consulted experts on each research topic, specifically on water and straw mushrooms. A new draft report named “Food and Coal: Phanom Sarakham and Sanam Chai Khet‟s Agriculture At the Intersection” compiled additional findings with the previous findings. It was then presented at Expert Review for academics and relevant government agencies‟ opinions and suggestions. Attended experts included representatives from Department of Industrial Works, Energy Regulatory , researchers from the Public Health Policies Foundation, town planners from Town Planning and Zoning for Society Network, legal experts from ENLAW THAI Foundation, Greenpeace and media.
After hearing comments from the experts, the community adjusted the report accordingly and presented it before the Health Impact Assessment Coordinating Unit. The commission had a resolution to endorse the community to present its CHIA on a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant project in Chachoengsao before the National Health Commission. National Health Commission was delegated to coordinate with local agencies, including civil servants, TAO, experts and local communities, to design a mechanism to alleviate existing problems such as no flowering and heavy metal in water sources. The information was also crucial to initiate a discussion on local development framework that truly in accordance to local natural resources.
While waiting for the National Health Commission‟s (NHC) meeting, ONEP set an agenda to meet with Expert Review Committee to review the EHIA report. Previously, NHC had visited the community to conduct an additional survey. The community also took the chance to present its CHIA to NHC directly. During the meeting, ONEP included the CHIA for the review and invited a representative from NHC to present additional evidence. In the end, the Expert Review Committee disapproved the EHIA report.
On 20 July 2012, National Health Commission had a resolution to endorse the CHIA report on a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Tambon Kao Hin Son, Phanom Sarakham District, Chachoengsao Province. The endorsement was sent to Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Industrial Works, ONEP, Independent Commission on Environment and Health and other relevant agencies including at the provincial level, to ensure that they would be informed and applied on their works. National Health Commission was delegated to coordinate with local agencies, including civil servants, TAO, experts and local communities, to design a mechanism to alleviate existing problems. The Klong Tha Lad watershed community‟s vision plays a crucial role to ensure that development framework is in accordance to local natural resources.