Coca-Cola and TERI Assessment
The campaign against Coca-Cola has maintained (and continues to maintain) that the CocaCola company’s operations in India have negatively affected large numbers of people in
India, particularly those that live around Coca-Cola’s bottling plants.
The assessment by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of Coca-Cola’s operations in
India released on January 14, 2008, validate the concerns being raised by the communities in
India.
As a result of the assessment, it is clear that the Coca-Cola has continued to operate in an
unethical manner in India. It is highly likely that the Coca-Cola company will have to shut
yet another bottling plant in India- in Kala Dera, as the assessment recommends.
The assessment also points to the real and concrete problems created when a company such
as Coca-Cola operated in water-stressed areas in India. As a result of the assessment, which
makes clear the fallacy of operating bottling plants in water stressed areas, we now expect the
calls for shutting down bottling plants in India to grow significantly, particularly in water
stressed areas.
SOME KEY FINDINGS OF THE TERI
ASSESSMENT
Community Concerns Validated
The assessment has VALIDATED the concerns that communities have been raising against
Coca-Cola. As the assessment itself notes:
“In general, the community perceptions were found in conformity to the results obtained
from the detailed technical assessment of groundwater resources.” Page 38
Coca-Cola Has Sited its Bottling Plants Without Due
Consideration to Community Impacts
The assessment is very clear that the Coca-Cola company has sited its bottling plants in India
from strictly a “business continuity” perspective that has not taken the wider context into
perspective. The report notes:
“The company’s assessment of water availability in the vicinity of a bottling operation should
be from a perspective that is wider than business continuity.” Page 489
Coca-Cola Has Not Respected Rights of Farmers and
Groundwater Conditions
Taking note of the fact that 3 of the 6 sites assessed were either in overexploited or critical
groundwater areas, the repot notes:
“Siting policies need to recognize and respect the existing (formal and informal) riparian
rights. For instance, the informal rights of the farmers to extract groundwater for irrigation
need to be respected. This has also been acknowledged in the national and most state water
policies that give precedence to domestic and agriculture demands vis-à-vis industrial
demand for water. This aspect is relevant particularly in case of areas that are critical or
overexploited (as per the norms defined by the Central Ground Water Board, Government
of India) and/or have been experiencing irregular and low rainfall.” page 489
Assessment Agrees with Key Campaign Demand
The TERI assessment has recommended a key campaign demand – the closure of the Kala
Dera bottling plant in Rajasthan. The assessment notes:
“From the detailed assessment undertaken in the Kaladera watershed, it is obvious that the
area is overexploited and it is highly unlikely that the water situation would improve to a
level as to make its availability a non-issue. The reasons for this may be many and
contributing factors may include, apart from the HCCBPL’s operations, the existence of
other industries, changes in cropping patterns, and rainfall. It was beyond the scope of this
study to look at contributions, or indeed the chronology of establishment, of these
other industries. Nor was it in the sprit of the assessment to attribute the issue to other
stakeholders. What emerges, however, is that the plant’s operations in this area would
continue to be one of the contributors to a worsening water situation and a source of stress
to the communities around. Water contingency measures as adopted by the plant seem to
rely heavily on rainwater recharge structures, which in turn depend on rainfall in the region.
Since the rainfall is scanty, the recharge achieved through such structures is unlikely to be
meaningful.
In such a scenario, TCCC has to evaluate its options for HCCBPL, Kaladera, such as:
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Pg 42
Transport water from the nearest aquifer that may not be stressed (could be at quite
a distance from the existing plant)
Store water from low-stress seasons (may not exist!)
Relocate the plant to a water-surplus area
Shut down this facility
Coca-Cola Also Warned on Mehdiganj, Another Key Campaign
Demand
The TERI assessment also validates the concerns of the communities around Mehdiganj
who have been campaigning against the local Coca-Cola bottling plant for creating water
shortages. Using the logic offered for Kala Dera, the Coca-Cola company should also be
making plans to shut down the bottling plant in Mehdiganj - another key campaign demand
as well as the bottling plant in Nabipur. The report notes:
“In addition to the general recommendations, there is a need to take note of the fact that
while in Mehndiganj, the water tables have been depleting and the aquifer may move from a
safe to semi-critical situation, in Nabipur, the state of the aquifer has already moved from
critical to overexploited condition (refer Chapter 4B and 4C). In both
the areas, water-intensive crops such as rice are predominantly cultivated for a major part of
the year and riparian rights need to be respected.” Page 43
Coca-Cola has Not Met its Own Waste Management Standards
at Plants Surveyed
While Coca-Cola has met most, BUT NOT ALL, government regulatory standards with
regard to water quality, the company has failed to meet its own TCCC standards at all the
plants surveyed. What is the point of having TCCC standards, we ask, if the company does
not meet them? The report notes:
“As compared to TCCC’s own treated wastewater quality standards, TKN (total Kjeldahl
nitrogen) was found to exceed the limits in all the six plants. In addition to this, one time or
marginal exceedances were found for TDS, total suspended solids, and anionic surfactants in
HCCBPL Mehndiganj; biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, and iron in
HCCBPL Nabipur; and biochemical oxygen demand, iron, and cadmium in HCCBPL
Pirangut.” Page 34
Coca-Cola Does Not Have Adequate Pollution Prevention
Measures
The assessment also pointed out the deficiencies in managing waste in Coca-Cola’s plants in
India. The report notes:
“TCCC and CCI need to develop additional requirements (standards) covering treated
wastewater quality. For instance, the presence of faecal coliform and several other physicochemical pollutants in the treated wastewater in almost all the plants calls for an urgent and
stringent definition (and implementation) of standards and practices as well as source
identification.” Page 490
The assessment also notes that “Hydraulic loading rates as prescribed by the state
pollution control boards for land application of treated effluent could not be verified at any
of the sites as mentioned in the site-specific reports. Hence, the ETPs need to be
redesigned/ modified and flow-measuring devices need to be installed both at the inlet and
outlet of the ETP for all the plants.” Page 490
The TERI assessment also found shortcomings in the effluent discharge in 4 of the 6 plants
assessed. The report noted:
“The treated effluent discharge at four of the six plants (namely, HCCBPL Kaladera,
Mehndiganj, Sathupalle, Nabipur), mostly met the effluent discharge requirements except for
one-time exceedance of bioassay test at two sites (HCCBPL Kaladera and Nabipur) as per
the appropriate regulatory standards by CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board), Ministry of
Environment and Forests, Government of India, for disposal of treated wastewater on land
for irrigation. The quality of the treated wastewater from the ETP (effluent treatment plant)
at HCCBPL Nemam indicates exceedance of fluoride as per specified Tamil Nadu State
Pollution Control Board limits. Similarly, the quality of the treated wastewater from the ETP
at HCCBPL Pirangut facility indicates exceedance of chloride as per specified Maharashtra
State Pollution Control Board limits.” Page 34
Increased Pollution in Immediate Vicinity of Coca-Cola Plants
The TERI assessment also confirmed an alarming trend that the communities living around
Coca-Cola’s bottling plants have identified- pollution. However, the TERI assessment is not
able to identify the source of the pollution, and has called for further studies. The report
notes:
“Regional water quality assessment of four out of six sites (Kaladera, Mehndiganj, Nemam,
and Sathupalle) revealed that villages located in the immediate vicinity of the plant showed
the excess presence of certain parameters. However, since this assessment here could not
relate the regional groundwater quality to the operations of the Coca-Cola plant, there is a
need to carry out a further detailed study to establish/rule out the reasons for such
presence.” Page 36
Problems with Process Water
The TERI assessment also found problems with the process water (treated water used inside
for plant processes) in the Coca-Cola plants, noting:
“Plant process water quality was compared to the norms prescribed by national standards IS
10500: 1991, and IS 14543: 2001 (for packaged drinking water) as well as TCCC
specifications for treated water. Process water quality was not in exceedance of any of the
monitored parameters at three of the six sites (HCCBPL Kaladera, Neman, and
Pirangut). HCCBPL, Nabipur was found to be meeting norms for all parameters except
nitrite compared to the norms specified under IS 14543:2004. The samples taken at
HCCBPL Mehndiganj were also well below the specified standards; however, nitrite showed
a one time marginal exceedance compared to the norms specified under IS
14543:2004. At the Sathupalle site pH, after a 0.22 micron filter, was found slightly in excess
(towards acidic) of IS 10500, IS 14543 limits.”
Coca-Cola Continues to Act in Bad Faith
The TERI assessment makes it clear that the fact that the Coca-Cola company did not share
the Environmental Due Diligence with TERI has hampered the scope and effectiveness of
the assessment. The report notes:
“EDD (Environmental Due Diligence) conducted by TCCC, prior to selecting a site or
acquiring an existing site for setting up a bottling operation, examines the sources of water
availability, restriction with respect to wastewater discharge, and issues of contamination and
pollution at the site. While TERI was informed that this requirement for conducting EDD
existed, the actual EDD assessments of the six selected plants were not shared due to legal
and confidential reasons. Hence, it is not possible to surmise the extent to which long-term
water availability for bottling operations were considered while conducting EDDs, or indeed
the wider regional impacts considered.” Page 26
The TERI assessment also points to a disturbing question. Did Coca-Cola company
officials know (as they should have) that the area around the Kala Dera bottling plant was
already classified as an overexploited block? The Environmental Due Diligence should have
alerted them to the fact that the area was classified as overexploited. Regardless, the CocaCola company located its plant in Kala Dera, which has resulted in increased water shortages
for the community. The report notes:
“A case in point here is the HCCBPL, Kaladera, which was established in 1999 in the
Govindgarh block. This block was declared an overexploited block as per the assessment of
January 1998 but was not notified as such. In response to queries from TERI, Coca-Cola
representatives explained that the company’s requirements do not explicitly necessitate the
assessment of the effects of HCCBPL, Kaladera, bottling operations on groundwater in the
region of operation but focused on ensuring a sustained supply of water for business
operations.” Page 26
On the Issue of Pesticides in Soft Drinks
As for the presence of pesticides in Coca-Cola products, this was not within the purview of
the assessment. TERI did NOT test Coca-Cola products in India to see if they contained
pesticides. The Centre for Science and Environment did test Coca-Cola products, twice.
Both times, the Centre for Science and Environment confirmed the excessive levels of
pesticides in Coca-Cola products. Please refer to the press statement on this matter by the
Centre for Science and Environment.
For more information, visit http://www.IndiaResource.org