Pakistan: WWF concerned over bottled-water company’s plant

[Karl]

Daily Times, Pakistan – July 21, 2008

By Abdul Manan

LAHORE – The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan, a non-governmental organisation, has highlighted serious flaws in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report concerning the extension of a multinational bottled-water company’s purification plant at Sheikhupura. The company has requested the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to let it extend its existing purification plant. It has submitted an EIA report to the EPA for approval in order to begin construction.

Approval: WWF Fresh Water and Toxic Programme Director Hammad Naqi raised a number of objections in the company’s EIA report and demanded that the EPA should not give the company approval for the plant’s extension. The EPA’s Director for EIA, Mian Khalid Mehmood, told Daily Times on Tuesday that the WWF had raised a number of objections about the bottling company’s EIA report on July 10. On July 11, a public hearing was held in which he heard both parties’ arguments. He said that the EPA had asked the company to remove the objections raised by the WWF on its EIA report, or clarify its position on the issue within a week. He said that otherwise the company would not be allowed to extend its existing project.

Lack of information: The WWF’s main objection concerning the report is that it does not describe the hydro-geological conditions in general and the potential of the water aquifer in particular. There is no data or scientific information on water balance to assess the impact of withdrawing groundwater, which is the most crucial impact parameter. Pumping large quantities of water can affect the groundwater level and its availability in the area leading to a major social and environmental disaster. Therefore there is a need to conduct a thorough water balance study. The report does not encompass important questions like the availability of groundwater in the area, the current rate of extraction of water. The report proposes water extraction on an hourly basis.

They also objected to the fact that the EIA report did not state the radius of influence due to groundwater extraction by the plant and the current rate of groundwater decline in the area. The plant is currently producing 34,500 1.5-litre bottles every year. The total water withdrawn is 413,950 litres per year, which the WWF considers to be high. Each 1.5-litre bottle utilises 12 litres of groundwater, which the WWF says is wasteful and inefficient. The organisation claims that the ideal ratio of water consumption for bottled-water production should not exceed 3:1 (litre to litre).

It also argues that there are irregularities in the data on wastewater discharge from the plant. It suggests that the company should also incorporate groundwater monitoring, recharge and wastewater reuse/disposal into its Environmental Management Plan. The WWF demanded the EPA to return the report, halt extension of the plant and ask the firm to conduct a comprehensive scientific water balance study of the area. An official of the company said that the company would submit a written reply regarding the objections raised by WWF to the EPA.

Source: Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

[natureguy]

A similar case is going on in Keral, India against Pepsi.

Pepsicola India Holdings' bottling plant in Kerala is extracting excess groundwater and has also run into complaints of groundwater contamination, according to a study done by Kerala's State Groundwater Department some months ago. The study has traced toxic chemicals in the water samples from the company site, and has asked the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to take immediate measures to prevent spreading of contamination. The plant operates in the Wise Park Industrial Estate in the arid Palakkad district of Kerala.

The report submitted by the expert committee consisting of four hydro-geologists of the groundwater department warns that the factory should not be allowed to draw more than 2.34 lakh litres of groundwater a day, as against the present 6 lakh litres. Pepsi holds 53 acres of land in 750-acres industrial park, and extracts 48 per cent of the groundwater in the area, points out the expert committee.

The study also reveals that the company’s claim of storing its solid wastes in a secured landfill is baseless. In fact, the company dumps its sludge in a shed open on all sides and chemicals could get into the soil and groundwater during rains and this might contaminate the groundwater in the entire area, warns the report. Pepsi claims that it disposes the sludges in a scientific way — in a sanitary landfill.

The maximum permissible limit of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in fresh water is 1,000 mg/litre. Water samples from bore wells at the plant’s premise contain 5,684 mg/litre and the contamination is 10 times higher than in the wells outside the plant.

More: Its2hot.in | Pepsi Contaminating ground water