South Korean firm LG Polymer (RR Venkatapuram) had a gas leak on 7 May, in which 12 people died and 588 were taken ill. The Gopalapatnam police registered a case against LG Polymers at R R Venkatapuram on 7 May, under various IPC Sections including 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health).
The leaking gas from the Korean company LG Polymer’s plant in Visakhapatnam was styrene, a toxic and dangerous chemical that goes into making polystyrene, the marshmallow-like material the ubiquitous white cups at tea and coffee vends are made of.
Police arrested CEO of LG firm, two directors and eight other officers in connection with styrene gas leak incident
Visakhapatnam city Commissioner of Police R K Meena gave this information to PTI over the telephone. The arrest was made a day after the High-Power Committee, designated by the state government to test the fume leak, presented its report to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, accusing various deficiencies on part of LG and slackness of the executives over helpless security conventions and a complete breakdown of the emergency response. LG Polymers had also been working without the imperative environment clearances. In an affidavit dated May 10, 2019, in reaction to a question from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, the company committed that it had been working the plant from 1997 to 2019 without acquiring the necessary environmental clearances.