TERI Report on Coke in India: An Attempted Whitewash Gone Awry
To a corporate giant like The Coca-Cola Company, $2 million is insignificant pocket change - literally a drop in the ocean of money it extracts from the worldwide markets where its overpriced, often unhealthy beverages are sold.
So, did Coca-Cola get its money's worth when it paid a New Dehli-based think tank $2 million for a "third-party assessment" of the environmental havoc it has wreaked in India?
"From a PR standpoint, which has always been Coke's concern, it appears they did," said Ray Rogers, director of the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke. "At the same time, it confirms Coke's gross misconduct with water management problems and how they caused environmental damage they've been denying for years."
The report by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), 16 months in the making, noted that while the plants it evaluated — only six of more than 50 Coke operates in India - may have met some government regulatory standards, most did not achieve the wastewater standards set by the company itself because of "presence of faecal coliform and several other physico-chemical pollutants in the treated wastewater."
TERI ignored, for reasons never explained, the Coke bottling plant in Plachimada, Kerala, that has been shut down since March 2004 after massive protests by activists from surrounding farms and communities devastated by water scarcity and pollution.
However, the report said a watershed at Kaladera, Rajasthan, where one plant is located, has been so "overexploited" that Coke should consider relocating the plant or shutting it down.
Misleading headlines (like "Coke Makes Cleanup Gains" in The Wall Street Journal) helped Coke apply its PR spin to the TERI story, but no amount of glib interpretation can hide the fact that Coke continues to cause devastating local water shortages.
The report notes, for example, that Coke's choices on where to site their plants are "strictly business" decisions that cause great distress to local communities. It bluntly states that "community water issues do not appear to form an integral part of the water resource management practices of The Coca-Cola Company."
It even points out that the company hampered TERI's assessment by refusing to share the environmental impact assessments for any one of the six plants.
Perhaps most noteworthy of all, it validates the main concerns of protestors about water scarcity and pollution. "In general, the community perceptions were found in conformity to the results obtained from the detailed technical assessment of groundwater resources," the report said.
Coke may claim to have been vindicated on the issue of pesticides since TERI said it detected none in the water at the six plants, despite Indian environmentalists' finding that showed dangerous levels in Coke drinks. But Coke is still doing its best to downplay or conceal the fact that TERI tested only water, not Coke products
According to the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), headed by Sunita Narain, who won the 2005 Stockholm Water Prize, Coca-Cola could not be described as pesticide-free, because only the water had been tested and not the rest of the ingredients. A CSE statement said: "TERI has not tested the final product, which we drink. The CSE study in 2003 and 2006 tested bottles of colas and found pesticides above safe limits in the drinks."
"Coke's ability to influence the timing and media analysis of the TERI report made it well worth the company's piddling $2 million investment," said Rogers. "They wouldn't pay two bucks for a report they couldn't see first and sanitize as much as they could."
The University of Michigan and Coca-Cola agreed to commission the TERI report after students argued that Coke's water-management practices violated the university's code of conduct for vendors. UM was among the largest of more than 46 colleges and universities that removed Coke products from campuses because of flagrant corporate irresponsibility overseas, particularly in India and Colombia.
"Indian state to hear claims against Coke" by Jeremiah McWilliams, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 25, 2011
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"People who claim they were hurt by Coca-Cola bottling operations in a southern India village can seek compensation from the company, according to legislation that sets up a claims tribunal in the Indian state of Kerala...
"The bill stems from complaints against Coca-Cola surrounding a bottling plant in the village of Plachimada. Seven years ago, protesters accused the Atlanta-based company of pollution and water depletion. Coca-Cola closed the plant in 2004."
"Government to Introduce Legislation To Hold Coca-Cola Accountable: Bill Allows Coca-Cola Affected Parties to Seek Compensation from Company" by India Resource Center, February 18, 2011
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"New Delhi: The state government of Kerala in India has approved a draft Bill to set up a tribunal which will allow individuals adversely affected by Coca-Cola's bottling operations in Plachimada to seek compensation from the company. The state government is expected to introduce the Bill in the state legislature next week, and the Bill is expected to pass.
"The decision to introduce the Bill to set up a mechanism to hold Coca-Cola financially accountable for the damages it has caused is a very significant move by the state government of Kerala. The passage of the Bill by the state legislature will formalize the state government's position that Coca-Cola is responsible for causing environmental damages in and around its bottling plant in Plachimada in the state of Kerala, and that the company must pay for the damages it has caused."
India Resource Center, "New Report Highlights Coca-Cola's Shortcomings in India," January 21, 2008
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'The report by TERI is a damning indictment of Coca-Cola's operations in India. The report takes the company to task for siting its bottling plants in already water stressed areas, without much thought given to the impacts on communities. The report also validates the concerns of water scarcity and pollution that have been raised by communities in Kala Dera, Mehdiganj as well as others. A list of Coca-Cola's shortcomings, according to the report, follows this press note."
The Hindu, "Coca-Cola claims questioned,"January 17, 2008
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"He [R. Ajayan ofThe Plachimada Samara Aikyadartya Samithi] said Coca-Cola's decision to get a 'third party study' done by an institution that 'enjoyed its sponsorship' had created a lot of protest in the country. Even so, the report of the Delhi-based TERI, released on Tuesday, did not give the company a clean certificate as was being made out by 'propagandists.'"
The New York Times, Coca-Cola Urged to Close an Indian Plant to Save Water," By Amelia Gentleman, January 16, 2008
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"A leading environmental research group based here has asked Coca-Cola to consider shutting down a bottling plant in the drought-stricken state of Rajasthan, saying that the plant is depleting scarce water supplies."
IndiaPost.com, "TERI calls for closure of Coca-Cola plant," January 16, 2008
"In a major blow to the Coca-Cola company in India, a report by its ally, the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has called for the closure of one of its bottling plants in India - in the village of Kala Dera in the state of Rajasthan. Citing the widespread water shortages being experienced by villages around Coca-Cola's bottling plant, the report by TERI recommends that either the Coca-Cola bottling find alternative sources of water - a highly impractical option - or either relocate or shut down the plant altogether."
The Economic Times, "TERI report not a clean chit to Coke: Plachimada Council," January 15, 2008
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"In a statement here, council convenor R Ajayan said TERI's 500-page report had not made any suggestion of a clean chit, though the report was an attempt to hide certain facts and `whitewash' the company's operations.
"The Plachimada Coke plant, which could not operate for the last four years following locals' agitation was left out from the purview of the study. The report was silent on why the plant at Plachimada and the one at Ballia in Uttar Pradesh had to suspend their operations.
"The Coca-Cola company's attempt to regain its lost credibility had once again failed, Ajayan said. The company should explain to the people why Plachimada was not included in the study conducted by TERI, he added."
Important Reports on India
High Power Committee to Asses the Extent of Damages Caused by the Coca-Cola Plant at Plachimada, India, "Abstract: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE HIGH POWER COMMITTEE ON THE EXTENT OF DAMAGES CAUSED BY THE COCA COLA PLANT AT PLACHIMADA, PALAKKAD DISTRICT," March 22, 2010
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We received an email from S. Faizi, environmental expert on the committee that wrote this report: "The Report of the High Power Committee to Assess the Extent of Damages Caused by the Coca Cola Plant at Plachimada and Claiming Compensation was submitted to the govt of Kerala today. We have gathered impeccable evidence to show the depletion and pollution of groundwater caused by the company...The multidisciplinary, 14-member committee was set up by the Kerala govt. in April 2009. It was chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary Mr K Jayakumar and included heads of various depts. I was its environment expert member. Early in the course of the Committee's work Coca-Cola had sent us a threatening letter which we had chosen to ignore."
International Environmental Law Research Centre, "Legal Implications of Plachimada: A Case Study," By Sujith Koonan, May 2007
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"The deterioration of groundwater in quality and quantity and the consequential public health problems and the destruction of the agricultural economy are the main problems identified in Plachimada. The activity of the Coca Cola company has caused or contributed a great d