Coca-Cola sludge troubles - sludge 'fertilizer'?
'Toxic sludge': Coca-Cola on the defensive
By Our Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JULY 31. The Hindustan Coca-Cola company today went on the defensive with regard to the sludge which allegedly has high toxicity, that its bottling plant at Plachimada in Kerala's Palakkad district had been supplying to farmers in the area who have been using it as a fertilizer.
The company's vice-president (technical), D. S. Mathur, convened a press conference here to react to media reports that alleged that it had been passing on `toxic' sludge from its bottling plant to the farmers, but when asked to specify the composition of the sludge he said: ``We have never claimed that it is a fertilizer. But we have been using it in our gardens wherever we have bottling plants. We have not compelled anyone to take the sludge''.
Mr. Mathur said the sludge was a ``good soil conditioner''. Answering a question, he said that in the United States, where the Coca-Cola company had many bottling plants, similar sludge was being used for land-filling operations.
The company's director (corporate communications), Nantoo Banarjee, who was present at the press conference, said Coca-Cola was not contemplating any legal action against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which had reported last week that the sludge contained ``dangerous levels of the known carcinogen cadmium'' and also lead.
The chemicals were traced in the sludge in an investigation by BBC Radio 4's `Face the Facts' programme.
``We do not want to take anyone head-on. At the same time, we are working with the regulating authorities here to show that the BBC report is baseless,'' Mr. Banarjee said.
Mr. Mathur said the company was getting the sludge and water samples from its borewells tested regularly to ensure that they conformed to acceptable standards.
He circulated copies of the report of a test conducted at an accredited laboratory in Kochi in January this year, which showed that cadmium and lead in the sludge were well within the threshold levels prescribed by the State Pollution Control Board. According to this test report, the sludge contained only 0.17 ppm (parts per million) of cadmium and 0.40 ppm of lead.
Referring to the complaint of water table depletion in Plachimada due to ``over-exploitation'' of groundwater resources by the company, Mr. Mathur said the company could meet 65 per cent of its annual requirement of water through the water harvesting technique it had introduced in its 35-acre compound.
He said poor rains during the last two years was the reason for the water table having come down.
He said Coca-Cola was only happy to help the community by undertaking a water harvesting programme for the entire Plachimada area.
``We are in consultation with the authorities for this,'' he added.
The State has in recent times witnessed a series of protests against the operation of the Coca-Cola plant.
On Tuesday, the panchayat, within whose area the plant operates, had cancelled the licence that had been granted to the plant.
By Our Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JULY 31. The Hindustan Coca-Cola company today went on the defensive with regard to the sludge which allegedly has high toxicity, that its bottling plant at Plachimada in Kerala's Palakkad district had been supplying to farmers in the area who have been using it as a fertilizer.
The company's vice-president (technical), D. S. Mathur, convened a press conference here to react to media reports that alleged that it had been passing on `toxic' sludge from its bottling plant to the farmers, but when asked to specify the composition of the sludge he said: ``We have never claimed that it is a fertilizer. But we have been using it in our gardens wherever we have bottling plants. We have not compelled anyone to take the sludge''.
Mr. Mathur said the sludge was a ``good soil conditioner''. Answering a question, he said that in the United States, where the Coca-Cola company had many bottling plants, similar sludge was being used for land-filling operations.
The company's director (corporate communications), Nantoo Banarjee, who was present at the press conference, said Coca-Cola was not contemplating any legal action against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which had reported last week that the sludge contained ``dangerous levels of the known carcinogen cadmium'' and also lead.
The chemicals were traced in the sludge in an investigation by BBC Radio 4's `Face the Facts' programme.
``We do not want to take anyone head-on. At the same time, we are working with the regulating authorities here to show that the BBC report is baseless,'' Mr. Banarjee said.
Mr. Mathur said the company was getting the sludge and water samples from its borewells tested regularly to ensure that they conformed to acceptable standards.
He circulated copies of the report of a test conducted at an accredited laboratory in Kochi in January this year, which showed that cadmium and lead in the sludge were well within the threshold levels prescribed by the State Pollution Control Board. According to this test report, the sludge contained only 0.17 ppm (parts per million) of cadmium and 0.40 ppm of lead.
Referring to the complaint of water table depletion in Plachimada due to ``over-exploitation'' of groundwater resources by the company, Mr. Mathur said the company could meet 65 per cent of its annual requirement of water through the water harvesting technique it had introduced in its 35-acre compound.
He said poor rains during the last two years was the reason for the water table having come down.
He said Coca-Cola was only happy to help the community by undertaking a water harvesting programme for the entire Plachimada area.
``We are in consultation with the authorities for this,'' he added.
The State has in recent times witnessed a series of protests against the operation of the Coca-Cola plant.
On Tuesday, the panchayat, within whose area the plant operates, had cancelled the licence that had been granted to the plant.
posted by Sludge at 7:13 AM
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