MERCURY IN THE MIST

A story of a corporate crime

& environmental degradation

The Story and Timeline

We normally hear that multinationals are just behind the money, but the case in
consideration here proves the fact that these MNC’s can resort to any and all means to
earn profits and avoid responsibility. The aim of this paper is to spread awareness about
the unforgivable incident, and present the research on how such incidents are dealt in our
country, and what steps can be taken further to avoid such things in future.

Starting with the details of the case, this factory initially operated in New York under
PONDs, and due to its harmful effects on the surroundings and stricter laws in USA, it
was shifted from US to KODAIKANAL in India. Unilever acquired Pond’s India in 1987
and thus the factory came under its jurisdiction in 1988. One thing to be noted here is that
the officials at that moment knew that ‘safe life’ of the factory is over but still due to their
hunger of profits the factory continued to operate and dump mercury for 17 years until
this thing first was noticed in 2001. The first reporting of the heinous incident happened
in 2001 by Mr. Navroz Modi, who was a part of Palani Hills Conservation Council. He
and his team saw some sacks in the local junkyard, and got shocked when they got to
know about the content and the number of sacks. The approached Tamil Nadu Pollution
Control Board and it became active immediately. A meeting with Pollution board,
Palani NGO and the HUL Officials was called where HUL bluntly denied the impact of
the released mercury on the environment the people. Ultimately the water & electricity
supply was cut and the unit was shut down. In the meantime, they along with the
Greenpeace organization captured the junkyard where sacks were found and exposed the
incident in the media, where it was covered extensively. This incident finally bought
HUL to the limelight and forced them to act on the issue.

They got to know that the owner of the junkyard was forced to buy the waste from HUL
and he sold the broken glass of thermometer (which still contained the residual mercury)
to local buyers, and this glass was sold and bangles were made out of it which were pretty
famous due to the smoky effect due to mercury in this glass. According to report 390
tons of mercury was found waste buried in the factory premises. Mercury can easily pass
through soil air and water bodies around the area and thus was a major cause of concern
for people around. Thermometers produced were sold to an American company and thus
NGO & PCB people asked the HUL officials to send the waste to America along with the
supplies as their they had facilities to dump the waste. This was widely hailed by the
media as ‘reverse dumping’.
 Reports found that the free mercury level in the atmosphere of Kodaikanal was 1000
times more than what is found in normal conditions. Greenpeace organization was also
asked to do the sampling of the soil and water body just outside the factory. The main
concern was the lake which fed the water needs of many places around.

Not only In Kodaikanal, but mercury was traced bac t to kodaikanal from various parts of
India, for example, the atomic research Centre in Hyderabad while doing their regular
testing in one of the markets in Hyderabad found LICHEN which has this property of
absorbing heavy metals and thus absorbed mercury. This lichen is used in preparing the
famous Hyderabadi biryani and. There were many increased cases of issues related to
pregnancy, liver problems, breathing disorders and this affects are still not completely
eroded from the nearby areas. Finally, in 2006 Madras high court appointed a five-
member committee along with NEERI, National environmental engineering research
institute was investigating the issue. According to the allegations, there was a lot of
manipulation that happened with the end report of these committees, and the
investigation was finally ended by NEERI giving lame excuses for the same.

Finally, after a lot of issues and negotiations, and the Release of the RAP Song which
became a worldwide sensation, HUL was finally forced to pay compensation to the
workers in 2015. A total of 591 workers were paid the money, but still there remains
many loopholes and the case about the environmental harm is still circling in the
bureaucratic circles. This incident shows that this wasn’t about the negligence from their
side but about the confidence that in a country like India, anybody can get away with
such a blunder.

Social Capital of Kodaikanal

One of the very first things we noticed on our visit to Kodaikanal was that the place has a
very high social capital. This holds true for many hilly regions where people generally
live in clusters in closely knit communities and hence have a lot more interaction.
Another reason for this was that the majority of the people are dependent on natural
resources like forests and lake for their livelihood the other major employer previously
being HUL itself. The threat to their environment hence threatened their means of income
and which was instrumental in bringing all these people together in their fight against
HUL. The movement also the rise and participation of various local NGO’s and Unions
coming together demanding justice. Finally there was an artistic uprising in the form of
songs and videos on various social media which helped in bringing international attention
to the case and stressed on the importance of individual contributions to the campaign.
STAKEHOLDERS

The key stakeholders involved in the case were

 HUL
 Workers Union
 Environment Regulators - Institutions

 TNPCB - Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board

 HWMC – Formed by TNPCB the Hazardous Waste Monitoring Committee had
representatives from the industry and non-governmental organizations
 National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI)

The case also brings forth the role of institutions in controlling environment degradation.
As per Mr. Navroz Modi, HUL had a major role in appointing most of the members of
NEERI and hence had the power to manipulate them. This became more evident when
NEERI at the last moment withdrew from the investigation citing lame excuses. A lot
more effort is hence needed to make the role of institution and the whole process more
transparent and reliable

 NGO’s

 Greenpeace – First to report of the issue

 Jhatkaa – Viral rap song that revived the case proceedings

 Local Groups

 United Citizens Council of Kodaikanal (UCCK - an umbrella organization of 25 local

groups)
 TAAM – Tamil Nadu Alliance against Mercury

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY & TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE

Economic Sustainability

 Protective Equipment and on the job training

 Regular health checkups for employees

Societal Sustainability

 Investment on sustainability initiatives

Environmental Sustainability

 Proper waste disposal system

 Regular audits to check contaminations
 Comply with laws & regulations

EXTERNALITIES

• Groundwater contamination due to seepages for Factory floor

• Health Hazards of mercury poisoning specially to factory workers
• Degradation of soil quality beyond permissible limits

FAILURE OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

Mercury poisoning at Kodaikanal is a classic example of a case where even clearly

defined property rights existing in surrounding regions were not enough to save it from
environmental degradation

The factory straddles a crest with a town and forest to the west and the Pambar Shola
which leads to the Vagai watershed in the east. Record high levels of mercury were found
from stream beds in the Pambar Shola Reserved Forest which is now a part of
Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary and have clearly defined property rights.

On the other hand we have the case of contamination of common property such as the
Kodaikanal Lake. The Pambar Stream which provides water to several ponds in
Periakulam before it joins the Varaha River and empties into the Vaigai runs under the
HUL’s contaminated factory site. A study conducted by IIT-Hyderabad found high levels
of mercury in fishes from Kodaikanal Lake and ponds fed by the Pambar Stream in
Periakulam plains.

HUL’s Perspective

 In 2001, HUL closed the factory and launched an investigation.

 Studies did not found any evidence of harm to health and environment
 In 2016, HUL reached a settlement with former workers of Kodaikanal factory on
humanitarian grounds.
 Studies have concluded that workers did not suffer ill-health due to the nature of their
work
  Independent consultants URS Dames and Moore concluded that there was no adverse
impact on the environment
 In 2003, all mercury-bearing material was sent to US for recycling.
 In June, 2018, HUL received permission from TNPCB to commence full scale soil
remediation to the standard of 20mg/kg which was contested by NGOs
 In November, 2018, NGT cleared the way for soil remediation at HUL’s former factory
in Kodaikanal

Field Visit: -

• After completing our secondary research, we went to Kodaikanal to understand in-depth

about the issue and speak to the local stakeholders regarding the factory. There we met
Mr. A.C.N Kumar who was the District Correspondent of POLIMER news. He reported
the news extensively during the period. He also introduced us to the prominent people
involved in the case.
• Secondly, we met Mr. S.A. Mahendra Babu who is the President of Workers Union and
had rrecently signed Non-Disclosure agreement with HUL and said that he couldn’t talk
on the same day as Navroz. Members of his union also restricted to speak. He seemed to
be very happy with the compensation scheme.
• Finally, we met, Navroz Mody, he was the Chief architect of the resistance who collated
with all parties. He told us that his is the only case still awaiting judgement. In his
viewpoint tthermometer factory shouldn’t have been allowed in the first place. According
to him “No amount of mercury can be considered safe for release to environment.

Comparison: - International Law Vs Indian Law

International community had been able to content the use of mercury over a period of
time due to the laws pertaining to the ban on the use of mercury being implemented. EU
mercury consumptions has decreased dramatically. There has been continuous fall in EU
mercury emission to air and water that contributed to rejuvenate biosphere. Curbing the
use of mercury led to the development of new business opportunities worldwide.

Mercury emission to air is reduced by 73% from 211 tonnes to 57 tonnes between 1990
and 2014.This is a huge reduction in the mercury emission to the atmosphere. The EU
now accounts for less than 5% of global mercury emissions to the air. Yearly
consumption of mercury fell 80% between 2007 and 2018. A further reduction of 40% is
expected between 2018 and 2021.
 At a time when most countries are in a stage of phasing out mercury, India has been
donned the dubious mantle of the world's toxic capital. India’s import of elemental
mercury doubled from 254 tonnes in 1996 to 531 tonnes in 2002, making it the biggest
consumer of the hazardous element across the globe.

Globally the use of mercury-based products are banned and restricted to the area of low
mercury. For the industries still using mercury, end dates are set for all industrial usage of
Mercury. For the use of mercury in dental amalgam, high performance filters are put in
place to prevent water contamination by dental amalgam. In July 2019: all EU countries
took measures to further reduce the use of dental amalgam.

India, on the other had had not been able to curb the use of mercury and the import and
export of mercury-based products are increasing as a result of no national mercury
monitoring program. India adopted Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling)
Rules in 1989 but had little effect. Recently, India signed Minamata Convention to curb
out the use of mercury in phased manner till 2020.

Parallel Case

Minamata Disease

Minamata is a small town that faces Yatsushiro Sea, in Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu
Island in southern Japan and abundant in fishing resources. Minamata Bay was heavily
polluted in the 1950s and 1960s by wastewater, mixed with mercury dumped
into Hyakken Harbour from the Chisso Corporation's factory in Minamata, particularly
by methylmercury. The high toxic compound bioaccumulated in fish and shellfish in the
bay which, when eaten by the people living around the bay gave rise to Minamata
disease. More than 10,000 people were affected.

Minamata disease is a methylmercury poisoning with neurological symptoms and is

caused by daily consumption of large quantities of fish and shellfish that were heavily
contaminated with the toxic chemical generated in chemical factories and then discharged
into the sea. The first epidemic witnessed in southern coastal areas of the Yatsushiro
Seaincluding Minamata mainly through the 1950s to the 1960s and a second in the basin
of the Agano River, in 1960s. Minamata disease, one of the most significant negative
consequences associated with the environmental pollution caused by industrial activity
around the world. These epidemics, appeared during an era in which productivity took
the highest priority and little consideration was given to the environment. Minamata
disease not only took many lives among residents but also causes conflicts in the local
community and had left a large variety of social and political issue.
Was Compensation Enough?

Now moving on to a very major question about whether the compensation seems enough
for such cases? For the HUL’ case, the compensation case was resolved in an out of court
settlement where 591 workers including only two women were given 10-15 lakhs each.
The voices of protest after this were shut down due to the non-disclosure agreement
signed by the union after getting the money. Around 10000 Kg mercury got inside the
environment and still remains unrecorded and buried out there openly causing open harm
to the environment and the people. They made the fight for environment weaker by
shutting the mouths by money whereas, it is till now beyond the scope of our imagination
and estimation to determine the cost of damage to environment.

When we talk about such incidents related to industrial sector, one major thing that pops
up is the security standards and the way they are followed in our domestic industries. In
this case, there were no useful safety standards followed for prevention of any harmful
effects on any workers or the surroundings. Workers who got sick were just transferred to
other cities, mostly without being treated. The only safety instruction that they had was to
WASH HANDS and that certainly wasn’t enough to deal with substance like mercury.
There were no regular checkups organized for workers. One thing that should be worried
about it that in spite of the government audits happening in the factory, the tests never
suggested the indiscriminate use and disposal of mercury in the surroundings. These
things suggest that first of all we need stricter and more efficient rules in this regard, and
secondly even if rules and laws are formulated, it is important for the government to
make sure they are followed and not just remain for name sake.

Can Corporations be expected to be human?

This brings us to the final doubt on whether corporations can be expected to act rational
and ‘HUMAN’? It should be noted, that like other behavioral expectations, truly
responsible corporate behavior is and should be voluntary. So instead of forcing this on
organizations, it will make more sense to raise acceptable norms to a decent level and try
to create consciousness about prevention of environment and ways to define boundary
between profit making and environmental responsibilities.

The fight still continues for the environmental cleaning process but most workers backed
out after getting the compensation. The previously decided clean up remediation standard
which was 25 mg/Kg is now being reconsidered due to various protests throughout the
area led by the majorly involved people and organizations.
Recommendations

• Full transparency in environmental sustainability policy

• Heralding National standards as per developed nations

• Counselling public for toxin awareness

• Stringent company regulations

• Fast track courts for major environmental issues

• Stronger social capital
• Meaningful CSR