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Clean chit to Plachimada plant

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Sept. 29. The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has given a clean chit to the Plachimada bottling plant of the Hindustan Coca-Cola after conducting more tests on samples of the sludge generated by it.

In a report submitted to the Kerala Government today, the KSPCB said the presence of heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and chromium were well within the allowable limits in the sludge samples collected on three occasions in August this year. The tests also revealed that the water in the wells located around the company and land applied with the sludge as manure were not contaminated with heavy metals, the report said.

"The solid waste generated from the company will not come under the purview of hazardous waste. However, the solid waste ... is not advisable for application on land as manure. Hence, as utmost precaution, the company should handle the solid waste as per the procedures and safeguards prescribed under the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2003'', the report said.

In the 12 sludge samples collected, the presence of cadmium was found to be in the range of "below detectable level" to a maximum of 36.5 mg a kg of dry weight. The limit for classifying a solid as a hazardous substance in the case of cadmium is 50 mg a kg of dry weight.

The maximum level of lead found in the sludge samples was 401.40 mg a kg, while the limit is 5,000 mg per kg.

In the case of chromium, the maximum content found was 296 mg per kg against the danger limit of 5,000 mg per kg.

These tests contradict the earlier findings of the KSPCB. On August 6, the KSPCB chairman , Paul Thachil, announced at a press conference that tests conducted then had shown 201.8 mg a kg of cadmium in the sludge samples collected from Plachimada.

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