Volume22Issue12,Jun

0417,2005
India'sNationalMagazine
fromthepublishersofTHEHINDU

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ENVIRONMENT

AtoxichotspotinKerala
R.KRISHNAKUMAR
inThiruvananthapuram

AtitaniumdioxidefactoryinThiruvananthapuramdumpshazardous
wasteintotheseainspiteofcourtorders,andtheStategovernmentis
helpingitsecureimmunityfromenvironmentallaws.

S.MAHINSHA

ThecanalcarryinguntreatedeffluentsfromtheTravancoreTitanium
Productsplant(inthebackground)atVeliinThiruvananthapuramruns
rightuptothesea.

A PROFITMAKING titanium dioxide plant in Kerala, which has been

dumpingconcentratedsulphuricacidandotherpollutantsintotheArabianSea
for decades, continues to defy closure orders and coerce the authorities to
grant it more time to comply with environmental laws. The agency wielding
the stick now is the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) on
HazardousWastes.

The SCMC made its first visit to Kerala in August 2004 and, if the State
Pollution Control Board (PCB) is to be believed, within months of the visit
108ofthe198errantindustriesintheStatestartedcomplyingfullywiththe
pollutioncontrolnormsandmostoftheotherswereintheprocessofdoingso
(Frontline, October 2004). While 17 units preferred to close down, eight
ignoredthedirectionsoftheSCMCandthePCB,withthegovernmentowned
Travancore Titanium Products (TTP) Ltd. in Thiruvananthapuram being the
most recalcitrant of them all. All the eight units have been issued closure
notices, but the TTP has gained time until April 2006 by getting Chief
MinisterOommenChandytopleadwiththeSCMConitsbehalf.

The 50yearold TTP, one of the few profitmaking public sector units in
Kerala, uses the conventional sulphate route technology to recover titanium
dioxidefromilmeniteore,whichisabundantonthesouthKeralaTamilNadu
coast. Ilmenite and rutile are the main sources of titanium in the world,
although the metal occurs in numerous other minerals too. While ilmenite
contains compound oxides of titanium and iron, rutile is an impure form of
titaniumdioxide.

Approximately 95 per cent of the titanium consumed in the world is in the

formoftitaniumdioxide,astrikinglywhitepigmentusedinthemanufacture
ofpaints,plastics,paper,ink,rubberandotherproducts.Titaniumdioxideis
producedintwogrades,anataseandrutile.TheTTPisthelargestproducerof
anatasegradetitaniumdioxideinIndia,claimingamarketshareofnearly70
per cent. The public sector Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd. (KMML) in
nearby Kollam district holds the largest market share for (synthetic) rutile
gradetitaniumdioxide.

Infact,theTTPenjoyedamonopolyinthemarketuntiltheKMMLwassetup
in 1985. The rutile grade pigment produced by the KMML from ilmenite
through the lesspolluting chloride route technology is more expensive and
preferred in exterior paints and for various other uses. The TTP's "softer"
anatase grade pigment is considered ideal for interior paints, tyres, printed
fabrics, electronic components, footwear and leather goods, and flooring
materialslikelinoleumandwhitemosaicandfor"delustering"artificialfibre
inthetextileindustry.

The sulphate process was the first commercialscale technology used to

convert ilmenite (a mixture of titanium, ferrous iron and ferric iron) to
titaniumdioxide.TheTTPextractstitaniuminilmeniteusingsulphuricacid.
At present, it generates around 120 tonnes of concentrated sulphuric acid
everyday,alongwithlesserquantitiesofferroussulphate,titanylsulphateand
manganesesulphateaswasteproducts.ThesearedischargedintotheArabian
SeawithouttreatmentandtheycontinuetobedischargedevenaftertheWater
andAirActscameintoforceinthemid1970s.

According to the PCB, the company discharged 2,073,577,400 kg of

hazardous liquid effluent into the sea during 200304. In this, free sulphuric
acid was present at a concentration of 5,47,246 mg/kg of dry matter, well
abovethe50,000mg/kglimitprescribedintheHazardousWastesRules.The
companyhasnomaterialrecoveryorwastewater(effluent)treatmentfacilities
and it dumps huge quantities of toxic and polluting matter on the coast in
violationoftheWaterActanda1995orderoftheWaterAppellateAuthority
that "treated" effluents should be discharged to the sea through a 750metre
submarinepipeline.

The PCB norms state that the pH value (which indicates the acidity or
alkalinitylevel)ofthewastewatershouldbeintherangeof5.5to9.0.ThepH
oftheeffluentfromtheTTPis"always"around1,indicatingveryhighacidity.
(Figures below seven indicate acidity and above seven alkalinity.) The
companyhasalsobeenfloutingthePCB'sdirectiontodisposeofitsuntreated
ilmenite (containing traces of heavy metals) at a secure landfill. Over the
years, several studies tried to raise the alarm, but the TTP countered them
successfully by claiming that the sea, an alkaline medium, was traditionally
usedtodischargetheacidiceffluentfromtitaniumdioxideplantsandthatthe
wastewasneutralisedwithinminutesofenteringtheseaanddidnoharmto
theenvironment.

However,fishandothermarinespecieshavedesertedthearea,andfisherfolk
havelivedonthiscoastfordecadesenduringtheacidicdischargeandpungent
smellandthedeepyellowbrowncrustofsea.Theyholdagitationsfrequently
before the factory, only to withdraw on the basis of promise of jobs in the
factory.

According to the 200102 report of the Coastal Ocean Monitoring and

PredictionSystem(COMAPS),whichmonitorsthehealthofcoastalwatersat
specifiedlocationsinthecountry,waterqualityparameterssuchaspHvalue
(1.9), dissolved oxygen (2.86 mg/l) and Biological Oxygen Demand (0.47
mg/l) were abnormally low at the TTP effluent discharge point at Veli in
coastal Thiruvananthapuram. Suspended particulate matter (20.5 mg/l) and
silicate concentration (6.2 m mol/l) were also found to be the highest at this
point.

TheeffluentdischargepointoftheTTPshowedthelowestmicrobialcountin
both water and sediment samples, A brownishyellow colour and a pungent
smell are everpresent features at the discharge point. Dense white fumes
aroundtheatmosphereandcharacteristiccolourchangeintheremainsofshell
fish were also noticed during the study. An earlier study, conducted by the
NationalInstituteofOceanography,hadindicatedbiomassdepletionina100
sq km area of the sea surrounding the point of discharge, according to PCB
officials.

"Thecompanyclaimsthattheimpactofitseffluentislimitedtolessthan100
metres of the discharge point, after which the acidity is neutralised by the
alkalinesea.Neutralisationisnottheonlyproblemitisoneoftoxicity,too.
The carbon dioxide absorption capacity of seawater is increased many times
because of the continuous stream of pollutants entering it. The company
impacts the marine environment, forcing it to act as a carbon dioxide sink,"
S.D.Jayaprasad,thenewMemberSecretaryoftheStatePCB,toldFrontline.

TheTTPhasbeenhauledtocourtonseveraloccasionsbutoneachoccasionit
has enacted the ritual of pleading guilty and informing the court that it had
only nowin options before it: to close down for want of pollution control
facilities or implement costly pollution control packages. However, the
majority of its employees as well as the public viewed with suspicion the
proposals on pollutionabatement projects because of their economic impact
onthecompany(increasinglyfacingcompetitioneveninthedomesticmarket
from global players) as well as the possibility of corruption, given the high
costsinvolved.

Moreover, in industrially backward Kerala, closing down a profitmaking

publicsectorunitforitsfailuretoimplementpollutionabatementmeasuresis
a nono proposition for the political leadership. As a result, the company
carried on unhindered, making its marine dumpyard one of the most toxic
spots in coastal India. However, for nearly 11 years from the late 1980s,
Travancore Sulphates Ltd. (TSL), a jointventure company working literally
nextdoor,usedapartoftheeffluentloadfromtheTTPtoproducebyproducts
thatcouldbeusedinneutralisingeffluentsfromotherindustriesorintreating
domesticsewage.Thathasbeentheonly`pollutionabatement'measuretried
bytheTTPtoreducetheenvironmentalimpactofitsacidiceffluent.

ButtheTSL,inwhichtheTTPandtheKeralaStateIndustrialDevelopment
Corporation (KSIDC) had a 46 per cent joint stake, closed down in 1991 in
controversial circumstances. The TSL management alleged that the TTP
deliberately forced it into economic unviability through a series of subtle
measures,whichtheTTPneveracknowledgedasdoing.Addedtothiswasthe
TSL'sownpostliberalisationwoes,asharpfallintheimportdutyonsulphur
andhigherenergycosts."ItappearedthenthattheTTPwantedtoprovethat
the TSL cannot work and the company would have to go for alternative
technologytocontrolpollution,"saidaseniorgovernmentofficial.

According to environmental engineers, there are theoretically three

possibilities of dealing with effluents from sulphate plants. The simplest
solutionistoneutralisetheacidiceffluentusinganalkalinemedium,suchas
hydratedlime.Butsuchaprocesswouldgeneratemountainsofsludgeabout
500tonnesadayinaplantliketheTTPthe storageanddisposal of which
wouldbecomeunmanageable.

The second option, called the acid recovery process, is to crystallise the
ferrous sulphate (known as copperas) from the effluent, reconcentrate the
remainingacidandreuseitintheproductionprocess.Butthisrequiresalot
of energy to evaporate water while reconcentrating the acid, and the acid so
recovered would be about three and a half times more expensive than the
virginacidthattheTTPproducesnowbyburningimportedsulphur.Thecost
ofproductionoftitaniumdioxidewouldgoupbyatleastRs.15,000atonneas
aresult.Thisprocess,too,wouldproducelargequantitiesofsolidwastes.

Thethirdalternativeistoconverttheeffluentintosomeothernontoxicform
that could be of use in other industrial applications, similar to what the TSL
had done for years before it closed down. The TSL process converted the
effluentintoarangeofinorganicsulphatesthatwereusedinthepurification
ofotherindustrialeffluentsanddomesticsewage.

STRANGELY,underthepretextofcomplyingwiththeSCMC'sdirections,the
TTP is proposing to undertake pollution control through the costliest acid
recovery route (a proposition it had rejected repeatedly as economically
unviable), along with substantive expansion and diversification programmes.
Itwouldhavetogeneratethefundsforthis,amountingtoRs.251.6crores,on
its own, through equity and loans from financial institutions, without the
supportoftheStategovernment.
 S.MAHINSHA

AttheeffluentdischargepointatVeli.

EapenJoseph,ManagingDirectoroftheTTP,toldFrontlinethatonMay19
the State government approved a Rs.256.1crore project proposed by the
companyprimarilymeanttotacklepollutionrelatedproblemsandtoaddress
the company's expansion and diversification needs. "Along with capacity
expansion, the product mix will also undergo changes, with the company
taking up the production of the rutile grade titanium dioxide pigment, which
commands a higher price in the market. Capacity expansion and
diversificationhavebecomenecessarytooffsetthehugeadditionalinvestment
required for pollution control measures and to keep the company financially
viable. Expansion is also necessary because several new players, with the
advantageofeconomyofscale,haveenteredtheTTP'straditionalmarket,"he
said.

From the pollution control perspective, however, the company that the PCB
orderedtobeclosedforfloutingpollutioncontrolnormswasbeingallowedto
expand capacity and diversify without addressing, in any way, the PCB's
directionsintheclosurenotice.

A senior PCB engineer said: "Although there is no justification for giving

further extension of time until April 2006 to a company discharging
poisonous, noxious and highly polluting effluents with a pH value
continuouslylessthanone,theSupremeCourtcommitteehasaskedustogive
conditional consent to the TTP until then, as a special case, because of the
interventionoftheChiefMinisteronbehalfofthepublicsectorunit."

The condition is that the company will comply with all pollution control
requirementsbyApril2006,adeadlinesetearlierbytheKeralaHighCourtin
a public interest petition filed in 2003. Although the Supreme Court said
specificallythatnolowercourtorauthorityshalltakecognisanceorentertain
any challenge connected with the implementation of its order passed on
October14,2003,askingallerrantindustrialunitsintheStatetobeshutdown
by May 31, 2004, the SCMC itself allowed the TTP time until April 2006.
Given the TTP's track record, nobody is convinced that it will become fully
compliantbythen,despiteanactionplanproposedbytheSCMC.

"Ideally,thewaywardcompanythatwasorderedtobecloseddownfornon
compliance of pollution control norms should have been asked to fulfil all
conditions first before being allowed to function. In effect, what the SCMC
has asked us to do is to give consent to the expansion plans of an errant
company,whichhasrefusedtocomplywiththelawsofthelandforsomany
years,"thePCBengineersaid.

The second issue in the controversy is regarding the TTP's selection of the
acidrecoveryprocesssuggestedbyitsconsultant,MECON,aGovernmentof
India company, as the solution. In doing so, it disregarded suggestions from
theKeralaHighCourtandtheSCMCthatitconsiderseriouslytheproposals
made by the TSL as a lessexpensive alternative. MECON is now entrusted
with the review and selection of technology, detailed engineering, project
managementandimplementationoftheRs.256.1croreproject.

In2003,theHighCourt,whilehearingapublicinterestpetitionandanother
petitionfiledbytheTSL,askedtheTTPtoevaluatetheTSL'scheaperoption
within one month and report back to it. The TTP's lawyer had reportedly
informedthecourtthenthatthecompanywouldhavetoclosedownifitwere
toimplementthecostlierprojectproposedbyitsconsultants.

Sreekumar K. Nair, TSL's executive director, told Frontline that to this day
neithertheTTPnorMECONhadcontactedtheTSLtoevaluateitsproposal,
even though the TTP and MECON subsequently claimed before the SCMC
that they had evaluated the TSL's technology and found it not feasible.
AccordingtoaPCBofficial,thoughtheTSLhadpetitionedthecourtthatthe
technology evaluation should be done by engineers from either the Indian
Institute of Technology or Engineers India, the TTP appointed MECON,
whichrejectedtheTSL'sproposal.

Strangely,whilesuggestingthattheTTPshouldconsiderseriouslytheTSL's
lessexpensiveoption,astheHighCourthaddoneearlier,theSCMC,during
itslatestvisittotheTTPonMay10,alsosaidthattheTTPproposalshouldat
leastbeconsidered"asameanstoreducethevolumeofeffluentthatmustbe
treatedbytheTTP".TheTTPhasignoredthis,too.

"MECONhasstudiedthecheaperalternativeofferedby[the]TSL.[The]TSL
may partially solve our problem if the company starts working, but what it
offers is not a complete solution. Moreover, a public sector company cannot
become so completely dependent on what is for all intents and purposes a
private company for managing its pollution control requirements," Eapen
Josephsaid.

Employees of the company are a worried lot, even though S. Somasekharan

Nair,secretaryoftheTitaniumProductsLabourUnion,whichisaffiliatedto
therulingCongress,termedtheRs.256croreproject"essentialforthesurvival
of the company, even though workers may have to forgo some existing
benefitsforthesakeofthesurvivalofthecompanyandtheremayevenbean
elementofpossiblecorruptioninthedeal."

However, according to S. Jayan, secretary of the Titanium Products General

LabourUnion(CITU),theproposedprojectcanleadonlytotheclosureofthe
company.Hesaid:"Theprojectistobeimplementedintwophases,raisingan
equity of Rs.85.4 crores and a loan of Rs.170.7 crores. The company, which
has assets worth Rs.50 crores, trying to raise Rs.85.4 crores through equity
willonlybeopeningitsdoorsfordisinvestment.Theburdenofrepayingthe
hugeinterestandprincipalandmeetingtherecurringcosts,especiallyonthe
proposed acid recovery project will surely affect the survival of this profit
making PSU. We are also sceptical about the sudden enhancement in the
project cost as suggested by MECON. In November 2004, MECON had
estimated a cost of Rs.227 crores for the same project. When it is being
proposed finally for implementation, seemingly with the approval of the
SCMC, we find a sudden enhancement of about Rs.30 crores. We have our
reservationsaboutitandareworriedaboutitsimplications.TTPemployeesdo
not want the management to implement any project that would affect the
survivaloftheunit."

The case of the TTP is now at the centre of the antihazardous wastes
campaigntheSCMClaunchedinKeralawithalotofenthusiasm.Withinthe
firstfewdaysoftheStategovernmentsanctioningthenewprojectusingthe
good offices of the SCMC and literally bypassing the PCB, the people were
alerted to the likely hidden agendas behind the stated intentions of various
agencies involved in pollution control efforts. No wonder that even as they
watchtheTTP'sproposalswithmuchinterest,inThiruvananthapurampeople
seem reconciled to the idea of an everlasting pollution hot spot on their
coconutgreencoastline.

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