"Mercury remediation level fixed", 9 November 2018

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given the go-ahead for Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) to carry out the mercury remediation at its Kodaikanal thermometer factory site, fixing the remediation level at 20mg/kg. Environmental activists had opposed this level of remediation and were demanding a level of 6.6 mg/kg.

In its order dated November 1, the principal bench of the tribunal...relied on the opinion of a committee of eight members constituted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)...The experts held two meetings...and considered the guidance document ‘Development of Methodologies for National Programme for Rehabilitation of Polluted Sites in India’ and applied the guidelines to the situation at Kodaikanal...

...[A] resident of Kodaikanal and member of the Local Area Environment Committee — who had moved the tribunal against the remediation standards proposed, had also moved the NGT in September after the expert committee was formed by the CPCB on the directions of the tribunal that four of them had conflict of interest. HUL had opposed this subsequently. In its order, the tribunal said it found no merit in these objections raised...