Return to Sender: Unilever ships mercury waste back to USA from India

Press release - 17 April, 2003
After two years of campaigning by Greenpeace and local community groups, a major victory was declared with the return today of toxic mercury waste (1) to the United States. Most of the 289 tonnes of mercury contaminated waste (2) currently contained from Unilever's thermometer plant in Kodaikanal, India, left the Tuticorin port aboard the ship Indamex Dalian bound for an unidentified reclamation facility in the USA for appropriate disposal. .

After two years of campaigning by Greenpeace and local community groups, a major victory was declared with the return today of toxic mercury waste (1) to the United States. Most of the 289 tonnes of mercury contaminated waste (2) currently contained from Unilever's thermometer plant in Kodaikanal, India, left the Tuticorin port aboard the ship Indamex Dalian bound for an unidentified reclamation facility in the USA for appropriate disposal.

Greenpeace and community groups vigorously pursued a "Return to Sender" campaign after they exposed the dumping of mercury waste at a local scrapyard and on the sensitive forest watershed adjoining a thermometer plant (3). The plant is run by Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), an Indian subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company, Unilever.

Last month, a special Hazardous Waste Management Committee set up by the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board to monitor the issue had instructed the company to remove the broken thermometers that contain elemental mercury, crushed glass and sludge from the effluent treatment plant to the country of origin before initiating complete site rehabilitation.

"The return of this toxic waste to the country of origin is unprecedented and will send a strong signal to multi-national corporations that third world communities are no longer prepared to be the dumping ground for obsolete toxic technologies and waste," said Greenpeace campaigner, Wytze van der Naald. "We hope it will open the floodgates for other return-to-sender actions across the third world."

"Greenpeace in India is committed to keeping a close watch on all future remedial actions by the company. We are concerned about the variations in the mercury material balance submitted to the pollution control board authorities by the company, besides several thousand tons of toxic wastes and contaminated soil still remain to be properly identified and contained as yet." said Ananatpadmanabhan of Greenpeace India. "Compensation of affected workers including health care should be immediately brought on to the agenda," he added.

The controversial Hindustan Lever factory was exported to India in 1983 after it was shut down in Watertown, New York. The factory imported all its mercury, primarily from the United States, and exported all products to the U.S. based Faichney Medical Company. Since March 2001, HLL has been forced to suspend its operations.

VVPR info: For a chronology of events: http://www.greenpeace.org/hll_chronology

Notes: 1. Mercury is a neurotoxin; it affects the nervous system. Long- term exposure (usually work-related) of inhaled vapors is generally more dangerous than a one-time short exposure. Symptoms may occur within weeks but usually develop insidiously over a period of years. Neurologic symptoms include tremors, headaches, short- term memory loss, uncoordination, weakness, loss of appetite, altered sense of taste and smell, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, insomnia, and excessive sweating. Psychiatric effects are also seen after long-term exposure.2. Details of the TOTAL waste consignment to be shipped back:-glass cullets - 228.623 tonnes -glass cullets returned from scrapyard - 17.53 tonnes -bottles of Mercury - 91 (3073.3 kgs) -semi-finshed products- 11.7 tonnes -finished products - 1461 kgs -effluent treatment plant sludge - 28 tonnes Total number of drums: 14163. A preliminary health survey among Hindustan Lever ex- workers by Dr. Mohan Isaac of Bangalore based Community Health Cell found symptoms consistent with mercury exposure among some of those surveyed, and recommended that available information warrants a thorough investigation of potential health effects. The Hazardous Waste Management Committee has said that it will have the health records independently verified by experts.

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