Daily Times

The Punjab Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given free hand to private certified environmental laboratories as agency remained reluctant to conduct their periodic audit and performance evaluation.

Due to reluctance of EPA, such laboratories are providing fake and un-realistic environmental data in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports of their proponents to obtain no objection certificate from EPA.

Currently there are at six private environmental laborataries which obtained certificate from EPA within last years. These laboratories were certified to test limited parameters; stack emissions, waste water and noise. However, after obtaining certificates, these laboratories have been providing services to their clients for testing and reporting for those parameters for which these were never certified by EPA.

According to an EPA official, though the agency has certified laboratories from private sector but it has no mechanism for their periodic audit and performance evaluation. “These laboratories have mandate to test and monitor environmental samples but due to lack of audit these laboratories are produces fake, unreliable, non representative and none calibrated data on environment,” he informed and continued that such unrealistic data was being used by various environmental consultants in their Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports to get Environmental Approvals for the businesses of their clients.

This is pertinent here that EIA is a document which predicts impacts and mitigation measures of project on environment prior its establishment. EIA document usually prepared through deep study and investigations. The most important thing in EIA study is the preparation of background data of project area for soil, air, surface water, underground water, etc. For collection of background data, a high care is taken to assure its reliability and precision. There is no space in EIA document for insertion of inaccurate, fake, non-calibrated data because such data hampers the purpose of EIA.

Environmental lawyer, Sardar Aasif Ali Sial told daily times that to keep the sensitivity of matter, usually regulatory agencies itself collect background data from their reference labs. He said that many of the regulations were not followed by EPA while granting certification to these Labs. “There is a nexus of organized mafia consisted of EPA officials, private labs and environmental consultants which present so called good about impacts of projects,” he asserted.

The Punjab EPA has approved hundreds of EIA reports for the private and public projects since its establishment. Currently EPA has posted EIA reports of a few projects on its website including KAPCO ENERGY (Private) LTD, Asia Precious Minerals Limited Cement Project , Construction of Incinerator Facility at Mouza Gattia, Solid Waste Transfer Station & Recycling of Construction & Demolition Waste at Thokar NiaBaig, Amendment In Master Plan For Lahore Division (Revised), Dualization of Sheikhupura-Gujranwala Road Under PPP Mode (43 KM), Nishat Hyundai Motor district Faisalabad, 3R Incinero, Pioneer Cement and many other projects were approved by EPA with untrue background data. This correspondent tried to contact different officials but no one was ready to comment.