HINDUSTAN LIVER

LTD.
GROUP 7 & 8

Damage to Workers and

Environment

It was reported that 600- 800 workers were exposed to mercury

Management Negligence played a key role
20 workers have died to poisoning in the factory
People in the vicinity of the Factory suffered from Skin diseases,
Headaches, Stomach pain etc
Poisonous vapour carrying mercury travelled across the town

HLL Response to complaints

After many denials & cover-ups the company agreed that it shipped out 5.3 tonnes
of mercury waste to scrap yard
HLLs response to the complaints was transparent and the persons responsible for
breach were indentified & penalized
A new manager, R. John was appointed to defend the Factory administration
Manufacturing operations were suspended on March 2001 & glass scrap yard was
shifted to a more secure place
An environmental audit was commissioned by HLL
It appointed Well-known URS Dames & Moore of Aus to conduct a detailed
environmental audit
The result showed that 300 kg of mercury was disposed to the Pambar Sholas
Forest and another 700 kg of waste through air
Another notable International expert Dr P.N Vishwanath found no evidence to risks
caused due to mercury

Where Does the truth lies?

High levels of mercury seen to as far as 20 kms
Reports of atmospheric mercury outside HLL factory site
Amounts of mercury found along the hills surrounding
Kodaikanal lake
Mercury may be transferred into the wider eco-system
HLL denied the allegations
Admitted to 5.3 tonnes of mercury containing glass wastes
lying at the Munjikal scrap yard came from HLL factory
HLL promised to track, retrieve and clear such other waste
NGOs demanded justice from HLL for the damage

Unlimited demand to the

Government.
Initiate legal action against HLL
Take serious action against the factory inspectors
Initiate long term studies to monitor the impact of mercury
on the eco-system
Order HLL to make enquiry into the impact of mercury on the
health of people and remedies
Compensate the families of dead workers
Permanently destroy the mercury found in HLLs waste

CONCLUSION
HLL Plant had adversely effected the entire Kodaikanal
environment.
There are evidence that can prove that mercury emitted from the
plant had far larger impact than revealed by the expert
commissioned by HLL.
HLL yet to have submit the complete clean-up protocols to TNPCB.
Mercury is still prevalent in the atmosphere through the
discarded factory scraps.
The Environment is badly effected.
Hindustan Levers behavior violates the environmental principles
of the UN Global Compact.

Question 1 Trace the history of the establishment of

kodaikanal thermometer factory and how it came into the

adverse view of the NGOs, the public and the TNPCB
History of factory as follows: Originally a new York based company which was shutdown there
due to environmental problems
It was then relocated from watertown, new York to kodaikanal,
tamil nadu in 1983.
The factory was acquired by uniliver, after it bought cheseburg
ponds of HLL, which is unilivers owened indian subsidiary.

Reasons to come into the adverse view of the

NGOs, the
public and the TNPCB are: Mercury is a toxic metal which can cause tremendous health
problems to people living nearby and even far away.
More than 400 residents of Kodaikanal caught HLL redhanded
dumping toxic mercury-laced waste .

Question 2 - How did Hindustan Lever Ltd. Respond to the initial

complaints of various stakeholders that the company had adopted a callous
attitude towards the disposal of Hazardous mercury-laden waste? What
type of strategy did the company adopt when it realized that the entire fault
lay in the carelessness of the factorys administration?
Answer - Response of HLL regarding Initial Complaints : HLL sought to dismiss the Complaints.
Company responded that they were characterized by denials,
cover-ups and lack of transparency.
Records of any mercury waste leaving the factory were kept
meticulously.

Strategies adopted by the company after realizing

the fault: HLL duly informed TNPCB of the details of the mercury
disposals.
The persons involved in the event were identified and
penalized, the penalty depend on the severity of the
offence committed.
A new factory manager, R. John George who knew the
local language, Tamil was appointed.

Question 3 - What was the role of NGOs in bringing to light HLLs

dumping of mercury waste in various parts of Kodaikanal locality? To what
extent were they able to get justice to the affected workers and the general
public?
Answer - NGOs played an important role in avoiding the serious
incident that could have taken place if proper action would not
have been taken before by the NGOs: NGOs played active role in turning all the stones to mobilize the
public opinion and to pressurize TNPCB and Tamil Nadus
government to force HLL to stop the hazardous activities.
NGOs galvanized worker, concerned citizens, and environmental
activists to force the factory to suspend their operations.

NGOs are also responsible to form the Tamil Nadu Alliance

Mercury(TAAM).
Help in the investigation regarding the atmospheric examinations.
NGOs also helped former workers approaching the Supreme Court
of India in 2005
The NGOs with their continuous demand and incessant ensured the
livelihoods of workers that are put to risk by HLL.
As a result the damages caused to the workers, the community and
ecology of the Kodaikanal town was compensated adequately.
The NGOs kept the issue alive throughout.

Question 4 - Explain in your own words the HLL Kodaikanal

mercury spill controversy. What is the present status of the
controversy?
Answer -The HLL situated in Kodaikanal was caught red handed by
the residents of that place when it was found a dumpsite with toxic
mercury-laced waste from the companys thermometer factory of
HLL.
It was found near a school the 7.4 ton stock pile of crushed
mercury containing glass in torn sacks, spilling onto the ground
Even after 5 years of being caught the HLL has not submitted the
complete clean up protocols to the TNPCB
It is also noted that the mercury is still prevalent in the
atmosphere because the discarded factory scraps and
contaminated vegetation re-emit absorbed mercury.

Question 5 - What kind of roles have NGOs such as Greenpeace India,

played in bringing to the open the issue of HLLs spill of toxic mercury
waste in and around Kodaikanal hills? Did it have the desired impact in
your view?
Answer: the roles played by the NGOs are:
Mobilized public opinions to pressurize the government for compelling
hll to make amendments for its acts of commission and omission in the
unlawful disposal of the toxic waste
It galvanized workers, concerned citizens and environmental activist to
force the factory to suspend its operations in march 2001
It also formed the TN alliance against mercury which tried to find out
contaminated soils.
According to us, the NGO had played a very vital role in this issue
because of it the HLL saw the reason and took some corrective
measures.
It helped the former workers to approach the Supreme Court of India in
2005, demanding compensation for the loss of job and health from HLL

Question 6 - How would you reconcile diametrically opposite views held by

hll assigned scientists and those appointed by the government and NGOs
about the quantity and the toxic nature of the spilled mercury waste and its
impact on the failure ecology of Kodaikanal hills? Was there any meeting
point at all between these two viewpoints?
The scientist appointed by HLL admitted that the discharge of mercury to the Pambar
Shola forest was approximately 300 kg
HLL appointed consultants who said that about 700 kg of mercury
waste were released through air-bone emissions
An expert of eco-toxicology of mercury appointed by HLL could not find any evidence
to risks caused by mercury either to human or to
environment
The scientists appointed by the government and NGOs however found the
concentrations of mercury up to 1.32 g/ m^3 which was about thousand times higher
than in the areas that were not contaminated.
So by the above mentioned findings it become very clear that the viewpoints of both
the scientist one appointed by hll and other by the government was totally opposite to
each other and did not had any meeting points.

THANK YOU