Hindustan Lever Will Export Mercury Waste to USA

By Nityanand Jayaraman

KODAIKANAL, India, March 31, 2003 (ENS) - Pollution control authorities in the southern Indian state of Tamilnadu have ordered Hindustan Lever Limited, a subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever, to export to the United States 286 tons of waste contaminated with mercury from its controversial thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, now closed. The company has been directed to decontaminate the site and its surroundings to global standards.

Last week, 50 tons of toxic wastes containing mercury were removed to the Port of Tuticorin. The remaining material is being packed by the company under supervision of regulators and the workers. Greenpeace India is sending a team of people with experience in the safe handling of hazardous materials, to observe the process and report on whether international standards of containment are being faithfully followed.

“This is only a partial victory. But it’s heartening to note that the poisons are to be returned to the country which supplied them,” says Navroz Mody, a resident of Kodaikanal and member of the Tamilnadu Alliance Against Mercury.

Waste thermometers from the Hindustan Lever factory dumped in the forest. (Photo by Shailendra Yashwant courtesy InfoChange)

Behind the thermometer factory, are towering tropical montane forests peculiar to the hills in south India which host one of the richest terrestrial biodiversity hotspots in the world.

In March 2001, workers, community members and nongovernmental organizations forced the factory to suspend operations after discovering that the company had dumped wastes contaminated with mercury at several public locations including a local scrapyard and on the sensitive watershed forests adjoining the factory.

The factory imports all its mercury, primarily from the United States, and exports all of the thermometers it produces to U.S. based Faichney Medical Company.

According to the Tamilnadu Alliance Against Mercury, several thousand tons of toxic wastes and contaminated soil remain to be properly identified and contained. A special Hazardous Waste Management Committee set up by the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board to monitor the issue has instructed the company to remove the broken thermometers that contain mercury and crushed glass before initiating complete site remediation.

The committee is comprised of officials of the Board, representatives of Greenpeace and a local NGO, the Palani Hills Conservation Council, in addition to representatives of industry associations.

The committee has expressed concern over the variations in the mercury material balance submitted by the company, and observed that mercury releases to the environment “appeared to be substantially higher than permissible levels.” Clarifications sought by the committee are yet to be provided by the company.

The company said in a statement that the study by the Hazardous Waste Management Committee found that the factory has not caused any adverse environmental impact outside the factory premises.

According to the company, the total amount of soil contaminated with mercury would not exceed 4,000 tons. Ex-workers from the thermometer factory, however, say company figures are underestimates.

“The company is not coming clean. Like Union Carbide did in Bhopal, Hindustan Lever is resorting to misinformation and underplaying the damage it has caused to the environment and workers’ health,” says ex-worker Mahendra Babu. “If they have nothing to hide, why hasn’t the company provided the information sought by the Pollution Control Board for more than a year?”

According to Babu, the company has a lot of answering to do. Ex-workers claim that the workplace exposure to mercury has caused serious health effects among the workers. “At least 11 workers have succumbed to the toxic effects of mercury, but the company has failed to provide us the health records despite repeated requests,” says Babu.

Greenpeace India and Palni Hills Conservation Council hold a demonstration against the Hindustan Lever thermometer factory. (Photo courtesy Greenpeace India)

A preliminary health survey among Hindustan Lever ex-workers by Dr. Mohan Isaac of Bangalore based Community Health Cell found symptoms consistent with mercury exposure among some of those surveyed, and recommended that available information warrants a thorough investigation of potential health effects.

The Hazardous Waste Management Committee has said that it will have the health records independently verified by experts.

In January 2001, Hindustan Lever decided in principle to exit from the thermometer business, the company said in a statement, because it is not core to the company. The company's core business is the manufacture and marketing of soap, detergents, skin care products, deodorants and fragrances, foods and beverages. It is one of the country's five biggest exporters.

In May 2001, Hindustan Lever says it communicated to the Working Committee of the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board, which looked into the issue, that it had already decided to discontinue the manufacture of mercury thermometers in Kodaikanal.

Mercury is a neurotoxin; it affects the nervous system. Very high exposures to mercury vapor in the air can cause acute poisoning. This may develop into pneumonia, which can be fatal. People with chronic mercury poisoning have wide swings of mood, becoming irritable, frightened, depressed or excited for no apparent reason. The earliest and most frequent symptom is a fine tremor of the hand, tongue and eyelids which can progress to trouble with balancing and walking.

Greenpeace India says the directive issued to Hindustan Lever by the Hazardous Waste Management Committe will serve as notice to other multinational corporations that they can no longer use India as an easy place for the dumping of toxic waste.