TOXIC POLLUTION

Written by Aditi Wanchoo, Fundraiser, Greenpeace India

BACKGROUND: GREENPEACE

On 15 September 1971, a spirited band of activists staged their first anti-nuclear weapons protest at
Amchitka, off Alaska, by sailing a boat into the test zone. Their commitment and courage forced the
U.S. government to abandon nuclear testing at Amchitka Island and led to the formation of
Greenpeace.
In the years that followed Greenpeace has become a global symbol for people seeking to challenge
those who pollute and damage the planet.
Greenpeace is not the first organization to draw attention to environmental problems, nor will it be the
last. But it has highlighted those issues and mobilized public response around the world, in a way no
other organization has achieved before.
In the process Greenpeace has helped create something that is far bigger than all the individuals
involved, that will outlive them all and even Greenpeace itself, a growing global community;
environmentally aware and willing to make a stand and be heard; in its quest for a green and peaceful
planet.
Greenpeace has a presence in 40 countries across Europe, America, Asia and the Pacific and
focuses on the most crucial world wide threats to our planets biodiversity and environment such as:
Oceans and Ancient Forest protection, Fossil fuel phase out and the promotion of renewable
energy to stop climate change, Nuclear disarmament and an end to nuclear contamination,
Elimination of toxic chemicals and Preventing the release of genetically engineered organisms
into nature.

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In India, Greenpeace has been active since 1994 and has been campaigning for: Reducing Toxic
Pollution, Promoting Renewable Energy, Fighting Against The Release of Genetically Modified
Organisms Into The Environment, Promoting Sustainable Agriculture and Demanding
Corporate Accountability On Environmental Issues.

Greenpeace relies almost entirely upon voluntary donations from individual donors. It is your donations
that keep us in action. We do not accept funding from governments or corporations, as this would
compromise our independence, aims and integrity.
We believe that our real power lies outside Greenpeace, in the hearts and minds of people who are as
impatient as we are and who find us an inspiration for change.
Each of us must do our part.

A TOXICS FREE FUTURE??!

In India, we bear the burden of a legacy of unthinking industrialization. Large, old factories with
obsolete and polluting technology rejected by the 'developed' world have found a place here, as
governments accept them eagerly, looking for ever-larger profits and 'growth'.

Greenpeace has identified several hotspots of toxic industrial pollution in India. These are areas where
industries have severely damaged their surrounding environments, where burgeoning industries have
dispersed their poisons into the air, groundwater, rivers and agricultural land; ruining the health and
livelihoods of thousands of people and destroying the local flora and fauna and where companies
have endangered the lives of their workers and the local communities, exposing them to hazardous
substances without any training or safety equipment.

Greenpeace India has over years of investigations, working with communities in some of these areas,
and sampling the environment for toxins, realized that most of these places are Bhopal-like tragedies
evolving in slow motion. Toxins including heavy metals and POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants), are
building up in the environment and in the bodies of all creatures. There are severe and long-term
impacts on human health. Local communities experience the damage, but they often do not have the
knowledge or the means to define or measure it, leave alone to remedy it

We know that all these industrial toxic hotspots are dominated by rich MNC's and big Indian business
houses who consider themselves accountable to none, who have manipulated laws and
bureaucracies to contaminate this country and its people in the name of development. We campaign
to hold corporates accountable for their actions.

Greenpeace India is campaigning to force industries to adopt clean production and to eliminate
hazardous chemicals from processes and products.

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 TOXIC HOT SPOT: ELOOR, COCHIN

BACKGROUND: ELOOR
When I was a child, the Periyar was beautiful. I still love her, but today she is like a coffin that
has to be painted to look beautiful, while inside there is a dead body, the soul gone forever."
V.J. Jose, River Keeper of Periyar

The island of Eloor situated north of the town of Cochin is the largest chemical belt in Kerala. There
are more than 247 chemical industries manufacturing a range of chemical-petrochemical products,
pesticides, rubber processing chemicals, fertilizers, zinc/chrome compounds and leather products here.
Around 60 illegal pipes spew effluents into the river from the industries, releasing more than 20 lakh
litres of highly contaminated waste per day! Hindustan Insecticides Limited [HIL] is the sole
manufacturer of technical grade DDT (A Persistent Organic Pollutant banned in other parts of the
world!) in India, and the continuing production of DDT at the HIL factory in Eloor has resulted in severe
pollution of the already endangered Periyar.

Today the Periyar is a water body of toxic tea- brown waste. It is no longer a home to the hundreds of
species of fish that villagers once found in it. Once a storehouse of many medicinal herbs, now nearly
dozen of these have become extinct. Many of the butterflies, birds and animals, which inhabited this
locality, have disappeared. High levels of acids and other chemicals, far beyond the permissible levels,
are found in the milk, blood, flesh and dung of the cattle of Eloor. The local community once depended
on fishing and farming for their survival and livelihood. However today, the effluents make the river
unfit for the fishes to thrive, and the farmlands have become barren from the slow toxic assault on the
soil over the years. Agriculture is no longer possible.

Smoke stacks and chimneys fill the air with poisonous gases. Acidic mists can often be seen hanging
over the area. It's easy to see that for the 40,000 inhabitants of this island life has turned into a
nightmare. It's impossible to pinpoint a pollution free area in Eloor. Not only is there no clean air to
breathe, but there is also no access to safe drinking water.

Eloor has become one of the most toxic parts of the country and figures on the list of most polluted
areas put out by the Central Pollution Control Board in India. Poisoned land, waters and air, threaten
the health and very existence of people and the ecology of the area. Polluted rivers transport the
toxins over much larger distances endangering more people and other living creatures.

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GREENPEACE AND ELOOR
For over four years now, Greenpeace India has been campaigning with local groups at Eloor, Kerala,
investigating and exposing instances of toxic trade, hazardous waste dumping and toxic pollution
caused by industries.
Greenpeace has been monitoring pollution levels in the river, ground waters and soil samples;
performing health surveys to unearth the extent of the problem; exerting pressure on industries
through direct action and media exposes; lobbying with Pollution Control Boards, the Ministry of
Environment and Forests and other government bodies and educating the public about legislation in
the areas of environment and communities' right to information.
Some Milestones in Our Campaigning Efforts in Eloor include:
Establishing Eloor as a Global Toxic Hotspot:
Scientific studies conducted by Greenpeace in 1999 at Eloor, revealed the presence of more
than 100 organic compounds, establishing Eloor as a toxic hotspot of global proportions. This
escalated the campaign and thereby exposed the local environmental problems at local,
national, international levels through direct action and media attention on Eloor.
Proactive and successful River keeping programme
Greenpeace appointed Mr. VJ Jose, a community representative as the River Keeper of the
Periyar in November 2002 to monitor water quality of the river. The report published by the
River keeper revealed disturbing trends and brought the spotlight back on the dying Periyar
and motivated her people (from Eloor and elsewhere) to act by joining Jose in the spirit of
volunteerism to save their river.
Recognition of Emergency with respect to People's health and the environment
In 2003-2004 Greenpeace conducted an epidemiological health study at Eloor and found that
the people of Eloor suffer all kinds of maladies of the body that arise out of contamination of
the land, air and water by the cocktail of poisons. The release of the study emphatically
registered the plight of human and environmental health at Eloor, a burning issue, which
forced Government and regulatory authorities to respond in favour of the community.
Negating End-of-Pipe Solutions as an answer.
As a solution to the ongoing pollution at the Eloor Industrial Belt, the Kerala State Pollution
Control Board (KSPCB) and the Kerala Industrial Development Corporation (KIDC) had
recommended the setting up of a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) to treat effluents
flowing into the Periyar from the Industries located on her banks CETPs are not a suitable
option for the treatment of industrial effluents from a complex variety of industries (Rather than
get rid of the pollution, CETPs merely redistribute the poisons from the liquid to a solid sludge
phase. By focusing attention on effluents, CETPs tend to hide the fact that they not only
generate vast amount of highly contaminated sludge, but also contribute significantly to air
pollution by pollutants that volatise into the environment). Greenpeace's public mobilization,
media interactions and lobbying efforts yielded dividends when the proposal was forced to be
dropped.

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Greenpeace lobbying and diplomacy efforts; people's proactive participation makes Eloor an
election issue
In a run-up to the 14th Lok Sabha Elections, Greenpeace launched a national outreach
programme in key cities in India, urging voters, to use their suffrage as a powerful tool to insist
that environmental concerns be placed on the electoral agenda of candidates. Over hundreds
of people exercised their solidarity for environment in general and Eloor in particular by
casting their vote. Following this candidates from different parties were forced to take a stand
with respect to environmental issues in the Ernakulam District and the MP from LDF released
a revised election manifesto, which factored the party's plan of action for the problem at Eloor.
Periyar Action Plan Committees immediate mandate to remediate and restore the Periyar to her
past glory, forcing the industries to clean up their act
The elected MP for the Ernakulam District, Dr. Sebastian Paul, constituted a Periyar River
Authority Committee, which involves all concerned constituents as members. The plan
necessitates the need for increased awareness and participation of the public. The committee
is currently in process of coming up with a detailed plan, which provides room for Industries to
continue to operate, incorporating clean production technologies and sustainable development
paradigms to curtail the ongoing environmental abuse at Eloor.
Greenpeace welcomes the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee's directives on Eloor
The Supreme Court Monitoring Committee recently visited Kerala to monitor implementation
of the Supreme Courts order dated 14.10.2003 and found several industrial units operating
without authorization and that the state had no Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility
(TSDF) for hazardous wastes. Greenpeace welcomes the stringent directives of the 'Supreme
Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous wastes' (SCMC) that will help arrest and mitigate
the impacts of industrial pollution will help restore the health of the people of Kerala and force
industries to shift to clean production practices.

GREENPEACE DEMANDS
Zero discharge on the Periyar River.
A moratorium on all new industries in the estate.
Closure of Industries with obsolete and polluting technologies and
industries which produce / emit persistent organic pollutants.
Absolute and complete enforcement of the environmental norms
and laws.
The Industry and Government must make public all information
regarding pollution, health risks, emergency preparedness and related dangers, to the local
communities. Companies must ensure that all workers have access to their medical records.
Immediate punitive action needs to be initiated by the Government on the companies that are
poisoning the communities and workers in and around the Industrial Estate.

Greenpeace will continue to campaign at Eloor, till harmful POPs producing factories, which
have been banned across the globe, are done away with, and till existing solutions are adopted
by industries in their production processes.

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 TOXIC HOT SPOT: BHOPAL, MADHYA PRADESH

BACKGROUND: BHOPAL
Nearly 20 years ago, on the night of December 2nd - 3rd 1984, 27 tons of lethal gases leaked from
Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. It was the worst chemical disaster in
history. Methyl isocyanate, hydrogen cyanide and other toxic gases escaped from a tank during
routine maintenance operations. With safety systems either malfunctioning or turned off, an area of 40
square kilometres, with a resident population of over half a million was soon covered with a dense
cloud of MIC gas. People woke in their homes to fits of coughing, their lungs filling with fluid. In the
span of the first three days after the accident, over 8,000 people died in Bhopal.
If this was the beginning of a disaster, the years that have followed have been much worse as the
tragedy has meant a slow but definite grind to an early death for most of the survivors. Their lungs
remain impaired. Their capacity to work has diminished. Children born today to survivors are facing
health impacts from the chemical industrys toxic legacy.
Survivors pain has been redoubled by the fact that the perpetrators of the disaster have been let off
cheaply. They have never been held fully accountable for the civil and criminal offence they
committed. Calls from the survivors of Bhopal for proper compensation, rehabilitation and clean up of
the toxic site have been ignored.
Justice remains more elusive than ever for the survivors of the Bhopal disaster
The chilling statistics of a continuing tragedy.

o More than 8,000 people killed due to exposure to the lethal gasses in the immediate aftermath
of the disaster
o More than 500,000 people exposed to the poison gasses left to suffer a lifetime of ill health
and mental trauma
o The death toll has since risen to more than 20,000 people
o Nearly 30 people continue to die from exposure-related illnesses every month
o At least 1,50,000 people, including children born to gas-exposed parents, suffer debilitating
exposure-related health effects
o Tons of poisonous pesticides and other hazardous wastes lying scattered and abandoned in
the DOW-Carbide factory premises, insidiously poisoning the ground water and contaminating
the land.

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GREENPEACE AND BHOPAL
1999
Greenpeace studied Union Carbides abandoned factory in Bhopal to assess the environmental
condition of the site and its surroundings and produced a report Bhopal Legacy. This report
conclusively established the fact that the site presented an ongoing threat to the water table and
the people of Bhopal. Following this, Greenpeace sent a memorandum to the Minister of
Environment with their demands on the Bhopal issue.
Greenpeace's ship the Rainbow Warrior visited India to mark the 15th Anniversary of the disaster
in Bhopal. The ship's visit raised the ongoing Bhopal tragedy to international prominence.
2000-2002
On August 14, 2000 Greenpeace organized a cyber action. Thousands of people including the
survivors visited Internet booths set up especially for that day in Bhopal and sent emails to Union
Carbide demanding that it accepts its liabilities and clean up the contaminated site. As a result the
Union Carbide site shuts down for many hours.
Bottles of contaminated water, packaged as mineral water, labelled refreshingly toxic and unfit
for human consumption except in Bhopal, taken from the wells around the abandoned factory site
were delivered to the Dow offices world wide.
Greenpeace prepared a full protocol for containment of the Hazardous waste on site.
Greenpeace India representatives along with the survivors raised the issue at the Dow Chemicals
AGM, held in the USA. Following this, DOW CEO met the people of Bhopal for the first time.
Local residents and Greenpeace campaigners entered the Union Carbide site in Bhopal to
contain part of the toxic waste on site and show Dow how it should be dealing with its own mess.
Despite the worthy intentions, police arrested everyone within one hour for trespassing. A strange
world indeed where the people responsible can ignore the continued poisoning of thousands but
police arrest anyone seeking to bring the world's attention to the problem?

2003-2004
Greenpeace and the survivors of the Bhopal industrial
disaster returned to sender barrels of the waste left
behind on the site by Dow Chemicals. The barrels
were transported all the way from India to Dow's
largest chemical plant in Europe, Netherlands.
Bombay 2003@ Greenpeace Greenpeace activists blocked the entrances to the
Houston Dow Centre after delivering 250 gallons of
contaminated water taken from wells in Bhopal. Protestors demanded that Dow officials meet with
Bhopal survivors to discuss their legitimate grievances and that the company drop two civil suits it
has filed in India against Bhopal survivors.
Activists and volunteers in 18 countries marked December 3rd 2003 (the 19th anniversary of the
Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal), as the Global day of Action against Corporate Crime.
Greenpeace India, one of the key organizations in the ICJB (International Council for Justice in
Bhopal) organized a die-in protest in Mumbai, where students and volunteers lay down on the

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 sidewalk of a prominent street, to remind Mumbai citizens of the horrific night of the disaster and
of Dow Chemicals pending liabilities in Bhopal.
After intensive lobbying efforts from Greenpeace and other partner organizations, a
communication was sent from the Government of India to the US court, empowering the US court
to direct Union Carbide the perpetuators of the Bhopal gas disaster, to clean up the toxic
chemicals in and around the Bhopal factory.
Greenpeace India was also successful in getting the government of Madhya Pradesh to issue a
communication that admitted to the seriousness of the contamination and that Union Carbide
should pay for it.
Greenpeace mobilized more than 6000 people to sign a cyber petition addressed to the
Government of India for Justice in Bhopal.
Greenpeace along with The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) launched Project
Chirag an income generation initiative for young survivors of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Apart
from generating a monthly income for the survivors, this venture will help replace petromax and
lead-acid based battery lanterns with clean, renewable energy based lanterns.

GREENPEACE DEMANDS
The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, of which Greenpeace is a part, demands:
The Dow Chemical Company must:
Clean up the poison: remove the contamination of the ground water and soil in and around the
factory.
Face Trial: ensure that prime accused Warren Anderson, former chairman of Union Carbide, is
brought to justice in the Bhopal criminal court. Provide long-term health care; assume liability for
the continuing and long-term health impacts of the disaster, including release of unpublished
medical reports on the toxicity of leaked gases.
Provide Economic and social support: assume liability for the loss of livelihood caused as a
result of the disaster by providing income opportunities to victims and support to those rendered
destitute.
The Indian Government must:
Scientifically assess and claim damages from Union Carbide-Dow Chemical for the
contamination of groundwater and soil in and around the factory.
Take immediate steps to extradite Warren Anderson: pursue the pending criminal case against
Union Carbide by impleading its owner, Dow Chemical.
Additionally, Greenpeace is calling for an international agreement that enforces Corporate
Accountability. We need to ensure that another Bhopal does not happen.

Greenpeace Indias overall goal for the remaining of the year 2004 will be to ensure that the
Bhopal Disaster site is cleaned up, using the best available technologies and not by
environmentally disastrous clean up proposals. We will continue to harangue Dow Chemicals
(owner of Union Carbide) and lobby with the Government of India to hold Dow liable for this
clean-up of the factory site.

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 TOXIC HOT SPOT: PATANCHERU, ANDHRA PRADESH

BACKGROUND: PATANCHERU

Today the once-clear lakes of Patancheru, situated in the Medak District of Andhra Pradesh, are in
various toxic colours, one is virulent red, another poisonous green and so on. 40 years ago, it, was
verdant agricultural land, famous for its sparkling lakes ("cheruvus" in Telugu) and streams, with
farming, livestock rearing and fishing as the main occupations. Now, some of the biggest bulk drugs
and pharmaceutical industries in Andhra Pradesh are located in this area. The Nakkavagu stream,
which flows through the industrial estate in Patancheru, has borne the brunt of the waste disposal of
over 100 industries.

Pollution to this stream has destroyed approximately 2000 acres of farmland besides contaminating
the ground water system. The toxins in the ground water include heavy metals like selenium, boron,
chromium, nickel, lead, arsenic, and cadmium. Air and groundwater pollution have had a direct impact
on crop yield and the food cycle. Soil pollution with heavy metals and other toxins has extended into
the food chain and has caused irreparable damage to human health.
Ailments like asthma, drowsiness, gastroenteritis, bronchitis and other pulmonary disorders and
burning sensations in the eyes are common and on the rise, and the patients are not responding to the
normal course of medication. Increasing incidence of cancer, leukaemia in young children, lung
cancers amongst non-smokers and liver cancers amongst non-alcoholics have been reported.
Elevated levels of arsenic are found in the blood, urine, hair and nail of the sample population. All this
is clearly a result of consumption of industrially contaminated waters and vegetables grown in the
poisoned soils.

Recently the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in consultation with State Pollution Control
Boards has identified 22 critically polluted areas in India in need of urgent attention for control of
pollution. Both, Patancheru and Eloor are on this list.

GREENPEACE AND PATANCHERU

Greenpeace has joined hands with the local communities, organisations and concerned citizens who
have been fighting for justice for the last 20 years.

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Greenpeace presented a water monitoring kit to the people of Patancheru and the Greenpeace River
keeper from Eloor, Kerala, sampled and analyzed the lakes at Kazipally and Gandigudam along with
community representatives. It is envisaged that the communities use of science will provide impetus
to every citizens right to know and their will to act.
Greenpeace also released the Citizens Right to Know kit in Hyderabad, which will help inform
people about the legal framework that applies to issues of the environment and provide communities
with the tools and means to empower themselves to safeguard their environment and their future.
Greenpeace erected a notice board outside the factory site of Aurobindo Pharma Limited,
Pashamahilaram, providing space for this Red Category industry to fill in detailed information about
the hazardous materials used in their processes.
This action was intended to remind Aurobindo Pharma and other industries dealing with toxic
chemicals, of their obligations under the Supreme Court directive to keep the community informed
about the hazardous aspects of their industrial activities.
People in Patancheru hope to put pressure on other industries to also comply with the SC ruling.

GREENPEACE DEMANDS

o The government must declare a state of chemical crisis in Patancheru and the surrounding
affected areas.
o Industries must implement zero discharge of toxic effluents into water bodies with immediate
effect. Businesses must shift to clean production methods. Government bodies and industries
must function in a transparent manner.
o Factories must display information onsite, on products, processes and wastes generated by
them as per the Supreme Court Order of October 14th, 2003, on the writ petition 657 of 1995.

Our objective in Patancheru in the coming months include: mobilising the community and
involving them in the monitoring of the lakes, releasing the epidemiological health study we
conducted in order to highlight the alarming results of the effect of the toxic dumping on the
health of the local people, targeting the inaction on the part of the Government and regulatory
authorities to act on the Supreme Court orders by focussing on specific corporations and
lobbying the special monitoring committee set up by the Supreme Court for implementation.

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 ANNUAL BUDGET

Campaign Costs Rs.

Staff Costs:
3 Toxic Campaigners Annual Salary 6,96,000
Eloor
Operating Cost 1,78462
Communications and Media Cost 58,462
TOTAL 2,36,924
Patancheru
3,27,692
Operating Cost
1,69,231
Communications and Media Cost
4,96,923
TOTAL
Bhopal
Operating Cost 1,98,462
Communications and Media Cost 66,154
TOTAL 2,64,616
ANNUAL OVERALL COST FOR TOXICS (Patancheru, Eloor and Bhopal)
16,94,463
CAMPAIGN

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