Greenpeace Demands

On December 8, a delegation of Greenpeace activists and ex-workers of the factory led by Ms Ruth Stringer, scientist from Greenpeace Research Laboratories who studied the Mercury Pollution in Kodaikanal, and Corporate Accountability campaigner Ameer Shahul visited the corporate headquarters of the company in Mumbai to hand over a copy of the report. The report titled "Atmospheric dispersal of Mercury from the HLL thermometer factory, Tamil Nadu, India using lichen as a bio-monitor" showed upto 1.99 mg/kg of mercury in the forest area nearby the factory.

The company officials first denied the delegation entry into its office; then refused to make them meet the Chairman or directors of the company; and the Chief Medical Officer of the company who met them on behalf of the direcots turned down the demands one after another. Following were the demands of the delegation and the response from the company in the meeting;

Demand 1:
Comprehensive epidemiological health survey of ex-employees, their families, and local residents of Kodaikanal by a team of independent medical experts.

HLL Response: There is no need for such a survey as the company has been maintaining the health records of the workers and has been concerned about the health of its workers.

Greenpeace counter:
It has been proved that the company has not kept the health records of the company for the entire period of its operations and there is also reasons to believe that even the records maintained by the company are not trustable as the Urine Mercury level of workers in such reports were abysmally low even during the time of their working. Therefore it is imperative to have a fresh study by an independent medical team to establish the truth beyond doubt.

Demand 2: Thorough decontamination of the factory site and its surroundings, to levels of mercury not higher than 0.3mg / kg of soil.

HLL Response: The factory is located in an industrial area and there is no need to clean it up beyond the standards required for the Dutch industrial area.

Greenpeace Counter: The factory is located at the middle of a pristine forest area with a lot of endangered flora and fauna and therefore the standards applicable should be much higher than that of industrial or residential area. The idea must be clean it up to the best possible levels and not by restricting to certain prescribed standards.

Demand 3: Return the mercury-laden soil to the United States, where it came from originally, instead of being stored in the plains of India as the company proposes.

HLL Response: It is not practical considering the large quantities of Mercury laden soil to be recovered from the factory site.

Greenpeace Counter: HLL has resources enough to do at least such as measure that would alleviate the scare of a pristine ecology and its inhabitants living with the constant contamination of deadly Mercury and also considering that this Mercury originally came from the Unites States. Also to be reminded is the fact that there is no way Mercury can be permanently cleaned completely.

Demand 4: Compensation to all ex-employees suffering from Mercury exposure related diseases, and to the next of kin of those who have died from the same.

HLL Response: The line that many ex-workers of the factory died because of complications that could be related Mercury exposure and more are suffering from Mercury poisoning is baseless. Therefore, there is no question of any compensation to any ex-workers.

Greenpeace Counter: As many as 13 ex-workers of the factory have died because of complications reported to be connected to Mercury exposure and many others are suffering from issues related to Mercury poisoning. If the company has any doubt on the clarity on the merits of these facts, it should come forward and conduct an epidemiological survey by an independent group.

Even after providing with scientific evidence confirming that there has been large-scale pollution as a result of the dispersal of Mercury from its Thermometer plant in Kodaikanal, Hindustan Lever continues to hold the view that there is no mercury pollution in the pristine forests of pambar shola because of the operations of its mercury thermometer plant and there is no liability on the part of the company.