Decline On Ethical Grounds

The Case Of
Chisso Corporation & Vedanta
 CHISSO Corporation
 Minamata is a small factory town dominated by the Chisso
Corporation.

 The town faces the Shiranui Sea, and Minamata Bay is part of
this sea.

 In Japanese, "Chisso" means nitrogen.

 The Chisso Corporation was once a fertilizer and carbicle

company, and gradually advanced to a petrochemical and
plastic-maker company.
 The Issue
 From 1932 to 1968, Chisso Corporation, dumped an estimated
27 tons of mercury compounds into Minamata Bay.

 Kumamoto is a small town about 570 miles southwest of

Tokyo.

 The town consists of mostly farmers and fisherman.

 When Chisso Corporation dumped this massive amount of

mercury into the bay, thousands of people whose normal diet
included fish from the bay, unexpectedly developed
symptoms of methyl mercury poisoning.
 The illness became known as the "Minamata Disease". The mercury poisoning
resulted from years of environmental destruction and neglect from Chisso
Corporation.

 By 1925, the Chisso Corporation was dumping waste into Minamata Bay and
destroying the fishing areas.

 The theory behind the industry was to pay off the Minamata fisherman in
exchange for damaging their fishing environment

 The company believed that it was much cheaper to pay off the few people who
were opposed to the dumping, rather than implement an environmentally safe
technique of waste removal.

 Therefore, since the villagers accepted this practice through compensation of

money, and the government was behind the industry, the entire process
appeared ethical.
 In 1932, Chisso corporation started developing
plastics, drugs and perfumes through the use of
acetaldehyde.

 The monopoly in the chemical domain enabled the

company to expand.

 In 1950-1956, there were reports of an unclarified

disease of CNS which had broken out.

 Series of investigation linked the reports to the

mercury poisining of the fish found in minamata bay.
 In 1958, Chisso corporation transferred their dumping
from Minamata bay to Minamata river, hoping to diminish
accusations.

 Soon the people in that area developed that disease.

 The company then made deals with the victims of

minamata disease .

 People who were legally ignorant signed the contract

which stated, “ Chisso corporation would pay them for
their misfortunes but would not accept any responsibility.”
 Although the factory remained shut for a span of
time, in 1968 Chisso Corporation implemented
environmentally safe technology in their production
process.

 The people in Minamata bay have suffered gross

deformities, brain damage and death.

 It is a case of “ violation of human rights & violation

of environmental laws”
 About Vedanta

• India’s largest non-ferrous metal and mining

• Based in London

• Listed in the London Stock Exchange

 Mining
• Signed MOU with the State Government of Orissa

• Mining is to conducted on the top of the Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi

and Rayagada districts in Orissa

• Proposes to extract 3 million tpa of bauxite having projected lifespan

of 23 years

• To meet the power demands of the refinery project, a 75 MW captive

coal-based power plant was also proposed.

• In 2004, three writ petitions were filed at the Cuttack High Court in
Orissa
 Proposed Mining Lease
• Niyamgiri hills, is surrounded by dense forests and is
the habitat for diverse species of plant and animal life.

• Some 20 species of orchids are found in and around

the region

• Rich with variety of plants which are used for ailments

• critical role of linking forests of Kandhamal district to

forests of Rayagada, Kalahandi and Koraput districts
• The tiny community of the Dongaria Kondh,
who live in the upland areas of the Niyamgiri
hills, depend on the hills intensely.
 Impact of Mining
• Mining would threaten the lives of the
Dongaria Kondh.
• Caused Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Environmental Disaster
– Deforestation
– Protection to wild life
– Rare Wild life
 Environment Report
• Destroy sacred sites of Kondh

• Endanger the self-sufficient forest based

livelihood

• Construction of roads result in easy accessible

to poachers of wildlife and timber smugglers
threatening the rich biodiversity of the hills
 Environmental Laws
• Violation of Forest Conservation Act

• Violation of Environment Protection Act

• Violation of conditions of Clearance under EPA

granted to Refinery
 Conclusion
• Considering the cases of Chisso corporation and
Vedanta it is concluded that:

• Good Business ethics is the backbone of every

forward thinking business.

• It is very essential for the company to exhibit

social & ethical considerations within the society
in which it is operating.
BEING GOOD IS GOOD BUSINESS !!!!
THANK YOU!!
Presented By:

Anand Gowda-16

Vikram Jadhav-18

Thara. Nair-38

Amol.Panad-43