Comply with environmental regulations or face sanctions – EPA tells GNC

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given a 14-day ultimatum to the Ghana Nuts Company (GNC) in Techiman to comply with the laid down environmental regulations or face sanctions.

It warned that the company could face prosecution or even closure, if it continued to pollute the Tano River with untreated wastewater, after the ultimatum.

Mr Samuel Oteng, Ashanti Regional Director of EPA told the Ghana News Agency after joint monitoring and compliance exercise at the company’s site at Techiman in the Bono East region that, GNC risks severe sanctions if it continued to defy EPA standards on wastewater management and treatment, as enshrined in the EPA Act 490 of 1994.

He said it was noticed during the tour that there were visible greasy substances in the effluent, which got thicker and moved from the point of discharge into the Tano river thus giving it a black coloration.

According to him, the effluent analytical data on pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Conductivity, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) as well as the Chemical Oxygen Demand, did not meet the standards of EPA.

Mr Oteng pointed out that the situation if not corrected immediately could affect the health status of the people in Techiman and its surrounding communities.