The groups were responding to HLL's attempt to "cover up" their
environmental crime by saying that there was a "remote chance" that
mercury-containing broken thermometers may have left the factory
and attributing it to a possible "human error."
On March 7, the people of Kodaikanal (a beautiful hill town in
South India), took action against Hindustan Lever's mercury
thermometer factory after they found several illegal and polluting
mercury waste dumpsites in Kodaikanal. Hindustan Lever is a 51%
owned subsidiary of Anglodutch multinational Unilever. The Indian
thermometer unit uses a second-hand plant that was relocated from
the United States to manufacture thermometers for export to the
United States.
"On March 7 Hindustan Lever vehemently denied all allegations.
On March 8, they admitted that there is a remote possibility that
contaminated wastes may have left the factory. Now they are looking
at dismissing the whole thing as the result of a small human error.
This sounds uncannily like Carbide's sabotage theory in Bhopal,"
said Navroz Mody, Greenpeace campaign director. "We are just not
interested in a Bhopal-style cover-up. If Hindustan Lever does not
know how much mercury contaminated wastes has left its factory, it
is irresponsible and insensitive to say that what left the factory
was only "some glass with mercury waste."
In Kodaikanal, ex-workers, community groups and concerned
individuals are getting together to launch an anti-mercury front.
Members of the to-be-launched front are unhappy at what they call
HLL's "continued posturing rather than offering an immediate and
full acknowledgement of the existence of the problem and an
unconditional apology for the mercury pollution."
Hindustan Lever's statement that production would be resumed
only after HLL "had fully satisfied itself that the factory's
continued operation would not cause any hazard to the local
environment," has also drawn the community's ire.
"We're not just talking about ongoing or future pollution. We're
talking about the deadly mercury wastes that we saw dumped in the
forests; the tonnes and tonnes of broken thermometers that are now
lying in the scrapyard," said R. Kannan of Palni Hills Conservation
Council. "Hindustan Lever is treating us like we are some idiots.
They should get this straight. If they want to continue using
mercury, let them take their factory back to America."
The environmental and community groups have demanded that:
1. HLL should apologise to the people of Kodaikanal for the
pollution caused by the factory in Kodaikanal;
2. HLL should ensure that the financial well-being of current
workers is not jeopardised by their decision to suspend
operations;
3. HLL should cooperate fully with the authorities and pay for
the isolation and clean-up of the mercury scrapyard in Moonjikal
using the state-of-the-art in environmental remediation;
4. HLL should permanently end the use of mercury;
5. HLL should pay for a comprehensive environmental impact
assessment and come clean with all details about the history of
illegal and unsound dumping by the factory;
6. HLL should pay for a full medical investigation of all its
ex- and current workers and potentially affected community
members;
7. HLL should pay for full restoration of health of the people
contaminated because of mercury pollution from the thermometer
factory;
8. HLL should account for all the wastes that have historically
left the factory.