Environmental impacts created by Nitta gellatin plant at Kathikudam

Kathikudam is a small village located in the southern part of Thrissur District of Kerala. The village was primarily agricultural in nature with vast paddy fields interspersed with coconut and areca nut groves.

In the mid 1970’s Japanese multi-national decided to set foot into the village a joint venture between Nitta Gelattin Inc and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) with a view to manufacturing Gelattine, Ossien and Di Calcium Phosphate.

  The joint venture company was incorporated in 1975 and commercial production commenced in 1979

INTRODUCTION

In the beginning, the company was known by the name Kerala Chemicals and Proteins Ltd (KCPL). Subsequently, the majority stake in the company was acquired by the Japanese partner and since June 2, 2008 the company acquired its new name Nitta Gelatin India Ltd (NGIL).

In the beginning people of Kathikudam welcomed the new venture but over the next decade the tide in favour of the company  turned into an   avalanche of protests in view of the large scale pollution and health problems caused by the company.

These problems originate fundamentally because of the various chemical processes involved in the manufacturing processes adopted by the company and the consequent pollution of soil, water and air.

Satellite image of Nitta gellatin factory

Production Process involved in the plant

 The fundamental production process that takes place in the Kathikudam factory is the manufacturing of Ossien from the bones of slaughtered animals.

The primary materials in the production process are crushed animal bones, hydrochloric acid, lime and water. 

The factory used to process only 120 tonnes of bones ,per day. In one lot about 35-40 tonnes of bones, are processed. The plant also uses about 1.2 lakh liters of hydrochloric acid and 20 million liters of water every day.

The animal bones stored in the godowns are broken into smaller bits and transported through conveyor belts. Using high intensity blowers, sinews is removed from the bones. The remaining bone particles are sent through a rotary washer and subsequently pumped into acid bath tanks. The tanks are filled with cold water and diluted hydrochloric acid. This process is completed over a period of five to seven days. At the end of this process, calcium from the bones get separated and protein is collected.

 A bi-product, Di Calcium Phosphate is also manufactured by adding lime to Mono Calcium Phosphate.

Major production plant in the factory

Primarily there are three production plant in the factory, which causes the pollution. They are

1.Ossien Plant: The Polluting agents originating from this plant is water containing hydrochloric acid, grease, traces of oil, and large quantities of bone marrow and chunks of meat removed from animal bones.

2.Limed Ossien Plant:  Water flowing out of this plant contains large quantity of lime and other liquefied pollutants.

3.DiCalcium Phosphate Plant:  Water containing large quantities of Chloride.

Effluent treatment in the plant

The discharge from the above three plants are taken to the Raw Efficient Tank. Subsequently, the acidity of this discharge is reduced by adding lime. In fact, all that happens in the name of effluent treatment is only the neutralization of acid.

At present no facilities exist for removing the chemical impurities. By using rotary vaccum filter, sledge is removed and dried. This sledge is passed on by the company to gullible public as manure for crops! The water that remains is discharged into the floor of the Chalakudy River throughunderground pipes

Effluent water being treated in the company

Environmental impacts created by Nitta Gellatin plant

Soil Degradation and Pollution The solid waste produced by the factory was

deposited within the factory compound by digging large 15 feet deep trenches. Over the years, this led to the contamination of local well water, paddy fields and other water bodies. The wells and paddy fields turned defunct.

When the solid wastes produced by the company increased over the years,  company started depositing it in the local paddy fields and other agricultural land in the guise of ‘manure’. This resulted in large scale crop losses in the area and made the local farmers restive and agitated

No proper analysis of sludge or effluent is being done periodically by an approved agency. Certificates of various unknown private agencies/institutions are profusely used to market the ‘compost’.

In December 2007, the company deposited the solid wastes in the Vezhakkattukara area of Muriyad Panchayath and when the same caught fire, the local residents suffered cough and breathing difficulties

The waste material (sludge) is given to private parties like Meenachil agencies, where it is mixed with ayurvedic factory waste, coir pith, poultry litter etc. and sold is out at a price of Rs.15 per kg to farmers who dump the hazardous waste assuming that it is an organic manure of high nutritive value

Analytical result of compost from NGIL plant kathikudam ( analytical report of NEERI)

Effluent compost, marketed under trade name of ‘MEENACHIL

Analytical result of sludge sample from NGIL plant , Kathikudam, Kerala*

Sl No Parameters Quantity1 pH 11.8 (Extremely

alkaline) 2 Conductivity 1.0dSm-¹ 3 Organic carbon 19.86% 4 Phosphorous 0.014mg/kg 5 Potassium 910mg/kg 6 Sodium 1830 mg/kg7 Calcium 1.89% 8 Magnesium 0.009% 9 Copper(Cu) 5mg/kg 10 Zinc(Zn) 20mg/kg11 Iron(Fe) 1520mg/kg 12 Cadmium (Cd) 1.5 mg/kg13 Lead(Pb) 82.6 mg/kg14 Nickel(Ni) 400 mg/kg

Effluent compost heaped in the company compound

Water Pollution Company consumes large volumes of water from

Chalakkudy River without permission from any authentic source. The company was not able to give a clear answer. About20 million liters, assuming a motor of 60HP working for 24 hours can draw that much of water from the river

There is discharge almost the same volume of effluent into the river. The effluent water discharged by the company in huge quantities has caused immense damage to the underground water as well as surface water in the area

Many of the local streams like Perunthode and Chathanchal are today completely polluted and water flowing through these channels has turned totally unusable for drinking, washing or agriculture. During summer, death of fish is a common occurrenc

large concrete pipe laid under ground, through private lands and paddy fields, from the company compound to the middle of the Chalakkudy River with a length of nearly 1000 meters.

The test revealed that the water contains acidic elements. Dissolved oxygen in the water was also found to be very low.

Effluents being piped out to Chalakkudy River

Sludge floating on water in Chalakkudy River

Effluent from chalakkudy river bed at the discharge point

Air pollution

The nearby areas of the factory are filled with the Di Calcium Phosphate dust and fumes of hydrochloric acid. Depending upon the direction of the wind, various parts of the Kadukutty Panchayath gets affected

The effluent, emitting fumes, has a strong foul smell. Apparently the workers are not provided with any safety measures to protect them from occupational hazards.

 foul smell originating from the factory creates considerable physical and mental unease among children and grown-ups alike.

Accidents and Mishaps

Since commissioning, the factory has witnessed many accidents and mishaps. The company stores Hydrochloric Acid in 6 storage tanks. Each tank stores approximately 160 tonnes of acid.

In 1991, one of the tanks explored leading to massive acid spill which affected the local paddy fields, vegetation and living organisms

On another occasion, the tank storing furnace oil (LSHS) caught fire and the Fire Force had to arrive and extinguish the fire

Health Problems

Compared to any other areas in the vicinity the Kathikudam area of the Kadukutty Panchayath has come to experience significantly higher levels of diseases such as cancer, asthma, diseases of the lung, breathlessness, heart diseases etc. Among the families studied, in 60.5% of the families at least one member of the family is disease stricken. 70.6% of them have diseases related to lungs, 36% skin diseases and 13.2% cancer affected.

There are also complaints about stunted physical and mental development of the new born in the area.

Protests and Agitation

The first move of protest was initiated by Kannambalath Ayyappan Nair. Poet Sachidanandan Puzhankara and friends also reacted against the functioning of the company

On March 23, 2008 an Action Council was formed with Jayan Pattath as Chairman and Appu Kuttippat as General Convenor

During the early stages, due to the pressures and inducements of the company the protests fizzled out

Case is pending in the Kerala High Court against the company are filed by the action council

‘Maoists’ attack Nitta Gelatin’s Kochi office

NEW HOPE By considering Study reports by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Kerala High court orderd to improve the environmental management system in the company Now the company claims that they had implemented all the recommendations made by the NEERI and KSPCB they are,1. examination of the levels of mercury in

hydrochloric acid used in the plant, 2. use of flow meters to check amount of water used

for manufacture, use of separate meter for inlet and outlet of effluent treatment plant

3. and implementation of advanced waste water treatment methods to reuse water among others

Now the company has established a greenbelt in tie-up with the Kerala Forest Research Institute

The company put up an online display screen at the main entrance of the Ossien factory to continuously display the Ph value of the treated-water being discharged

company is currently under consideration of the irrigation department

SUGGESTIONS

Safety norms for NGIL must be updated as per international best practices. There should be time frame for it. An expert committee constituted of scientists and activists must be assigned to monitor.

Effective public participation in decision making and monitoring must be envisaged

A High Power Committee must be appointed to assess the impacts of environmental damages at Kathikudam from inception of the NGIL and to suggest for compensation.

An expert medical team must be appointed to make a thorough health survey within2.5 km radius to study the impacts of the sludge and effluents over a period of 30 years.

Since the company uses a bacterium for effluent treatment, an investigation by a competent body may be conducted to examine the non-pathogenic/toxic nature of the same.

The hazardous/non-hazardous and manurial nature of the sludge has to be evaluated by a competent body on a priority basis, until then its marketing must be suspended

There must be provisions for disciplinary action against officials of State Pollution Control Board for their failure from time to time in checking and monitoring

REFERENCES Timesofindia.indiatimes.com › City News › Kochi News https://www.countercurrents.org/jananeethireportkathikudam savekathikkudam.blogspot.com/2011/01/kathikudams-tryst-with-development www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/

www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp