Paying for contamination

by Carol Aloysius

Hounded by an increasingly restive public affected by the leakage of oil into the Kelani River from the Coca Cola manufacturing company at Kaduwela on August 17, water officials have finally decided to make the offending company pay for its sins.

Pic: Courtesy Wikimedia.org

A few days ago, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) said, the company had suspended its licence and has required it to pay all damage costs. It also imposed a fine for violating environmental laws which were flouted with impunity. The authorities also extracted a binding promise that it would prepare a contingency plan to prevent such a recurrence in the future.

Over 400,000 citizens were affected by the temporary breakdown of the water supply to Colombo and the suburbs due to the oil leak that contaminated the water.

What angered residents of the affected areas on that day, was the delay by the authorities concerned to issue a clear statement explaining the actual problem without sidestepping the issue. Worse still were the conflicting statements made to the media by the authorities, increasing public confusion and triggering mistrust.

While Secretary to the Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage, Karunasena Hettiarachchi reportedly asserted that the water was hundred percent safe and was being tested daily (with 60 samples exclusively from the Colombo area) and found to be safe, the Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Prof. Lal Mervyn Dharmasiri, contradicted him by saying that lab tests at the CEA’s Gampaha district branch had found the water at the Ambatale reservoir was contaminated with oil. He said the Environmental Protection Licence (EPL) would not be issued until the NWSDB submitted a ‘no objection’ letter.

Adding fuel to fire, the Federation of Environmental Organization too alleged that the spill was likely to have caused an adverse impact on the eco-diversity and demanded a proper assessment on negative impacts.

- panoramio.com

At the same time, the Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) reportedly sent a letter to the Coca Cola Company claiming Rs. 177,000 as travel costs and use of oil absorbents to clean the water. A further Rs 1.4 million was also being claimed by Shanika Marine Company, which was hired by the MEPA to clean the river with oil absorbents.

A spokesman for the MEAP reportedly said, “Almost all sand filters and nozzles were blocked and needed to be replaced.”

The same company is also said to have requested the CEA to install physical barriers at other parts of the river as a safety mechanism in the future.

Recurring leak

With all these hasty safety measures being introduced, one might think that the water was now immune to further contamination. But it was not so.

Barely two weeks after the leakage on August 17, after an all clear signal had been given by the CEA that the oil deposits had been cleared, more oil droplets were surfacing on the river, which according to the masons and engineers sent to patch up the damage, were deposited by oil droplets washed into the river bed from the river banks.

As the Federation of Journalists rightly argued, this means the job was not done well. Due to this re-surfacing of oil, water supply was disrupted for four hours once again in two weeks, to flush out the droplets completely.

Chairman, CEA, K.A. Anzar reiterates: “It is hundred percent safe. The situation is now completely under control and we are constantly checking the quality of the water in our laboratories, with special attention to oil leaks due to the present crisis.

“The CEA has standards and procedures for treating water. From now on, we will ensure they are strictly adhered to by all manufacturing companies, especially those operating near water bodies.”

What happened at the Coca Cola plant, he says, although the company has its own treatment plant on the premises, due to an explosion in the plant, oil had leaked. “What they did was to send the water into the storm water drainage, which flowed into the river.” What happened at Kaduwela can happen anywhere, he warns.

“So we need to have new and strict regulations regarding water in the future, because water is essential for healthy living. We have asked the CEA which issues permits to manufacturing companies as well as production managers, not to permit them to release treated water after use, into rivers and other surface waterways, unless the pollutants are properly extracted.” He noted that over 70 percent of the city’s antiquated pipe lines had been replaced with PVC and the remaining would be replaced ‘soon’, another corrective step.

He adds: “If any member of the public sees this happening, we encourage them to call our hotline 1939 to initiate action.” Ground water pollution is another area that needs urgent remedial measures – the main source of water for most people in the North Central Province and other areas as well.

According to R.S. Wijesekera of the NWSDB, there were several issues of pollution relating to tube wells, tanks and so on where ground water was usually stored. The problems also varied from district to district and area to area.

Fresh dimension

“Take Jaffna for example. Here our main problem relates to nitrates, agro chemicals as well as high fluoride levels. This is caused by the application of agro chemicals and fertilizer. Kalpitiya in the Puttlam district has similar problems.

In other areas where farming is the main livelihood, especially Ampara, excessive phosphate has polluted the waterways,” he added.He added that groundwater could not be separated from surface water.

“The difference is that groundwater is used by people on an individual basis unlike pipe borne water supply schemes.

“It is also important to know that chlorine can only kill the bacteria in water, not if it is contaminated with arsenic or heavy metals.”

Giving a fresh dimension to the water pollution issue is an eminent woman water expert, Kusum Athukorala, former Chair of the Sri Lanka Water Partnership, Co-founder of the Women for Water Partnership and current holder of the coveted IWA Woman in Water bestowed by the International Water Association (IWA). She points out there were some good outcomes from the recent crisis.

For one thing, it has acted like a wakeup call to the nation as a whole and the authorities in particular. “I am glad this issue is being taken seriously at last and not swept under the carpet as before.

But, besides pollution and contamination concerns, there is a serious issue of how water is disposed of after use.

Many companies hold permits and are legally authorized to release used water. Coca Cola even has partners like the UNDP which constantly reiterates the importance of safe drinking water. “Where is the corrective action?” she asked.

Athukorala’s message is simple and clear. It is not possible to take water quality for granted.

As much as the poor man who contaminates water by dumping his refuse into a river is hounded, authorities must go after the bigger industries that are guilty of causing much more adverse impacts to the environment and through that, to people’s health, she added.

And the million dollar question is how many such projects exist in the island and how many have actually passed the rigid tests of an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)? Or have they conveniently slipped through the official barriers and continue to pollute the water. The Coca Cola incident may only be one case in point.

Apologize and compensate

A public petition to James Quincey, President and COO, Coca-Cola:

On 17th August 2015, local authorities discovered a leakage of diesel into the Kelani River, the source of drinking water for millions of Sri Lankans. Water supply in several parts of Sri Lanka including its commercial capital Colombo had to be suspended.

Investigations have revealed that the diesel leakage originated from a Coca Cola factory.

According to Prof. L.M. Dharmasiri, Chairman of the Central Environment Authority, Sri Lanka, the leakage happened “due to an explosion at the plant during construction carried out by a private contractor”. The CEA has since suspended the factory’s operational licence and has expressed its intention of taking legal action to recover damages from the company.

Coca Cola, Sri Lanka, had admitted to the leakage and said they ‘regret the accident.’ According to Internet reports, the company is trying to pressurize the Lankan government to settle the issue out of courts, in a way which is advantageous to Coca Cola. Some reports claim that a US embassy official had called the Lankan authorities to get Coca Cola factory’s operational licence reissued and a proposed fine reduced.

James Quincey, the new head of Coca Cola has said “If there are doubts out there in the general public (about Coca Cola) whether based on perception or based on reality, then the leader has to stand up.” The criminally irresponsible conduct of Coca Cola Sri Lanka has given him an opportunity to make good his words.

Coca Cola must publicly accept responsibility for the contamination of Kelani River water. It must ensure such incidents do not happen in the future by upgrading its environmental safety measures. It must pay compensation for the damage it has caused.

- Avaaz.org