September 22, 2007

Pan African Paper operates a paper mill and forestry operation in Western Kenya in the town of Webuye, near the Uganda border.  The industry began in the mid 1970’s as a project of the Kenyan government with support and financing of the World Bank. Orient Paper Mills, part of the Birhla group from India, bought major shareholdings in the operation.  Despite the promise of international investor potential to invest in the improvement and updating of the mill, pollution and damage to the community and the local environment has increased.

On September 22, a team of environmental and human rights investigators from Global Community Monitor and the Resource Conflict Institute (RECONCILE) drove from Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria to Webuye. RECONCILE is a regional policy research and advocacy NGO registered in Kenya and implementing programmes in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. HAKI-MAZINGIRA is the environmental justice program of RECONCILE, the objective of which is to promote access to environmental justice in rural areas of Kenya through legal education and awareness creation, capacity building and training of communities and individuals.  It is this context that the group and their local community partners, Center for Development and Education Program (CDEP), have brought in the Bucket Brigade.

Mark Chernaik, Staff Scientist at the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (http://www.elaw.org) received e-mail from RECONCILE director Michael Ochieng Odhiambo this summer, seeking relief for the residents of Webuye.  ELAW and  RECONCILE have been collaborating for more than ten years to protect the environment through law in East Africa.  Mark connected Michael to Global Community Monitor.  Mark is providing critical scientific analysis, including interpretation of the shocking test results.  ELAW provided key support for the Toxic Tour and the training program in Webuye.

Upon entering the valley where the town of 80,000 is located, we crossed the raging Nzoia River, swollen from rains and colored of milk chocolate.  Within a short distance the stacks of Pan Paper’s huge mill begin to dominate the skyline.  We are greeted by the stench of ‘rotten cabbage’ coming from the mill’s emissions of odorous sulfur compounds.  Our guides from RECONCILE, Maurice and Anastacia note the small amounts of smoke from the usually billowing stacks is due to the incumbent President of Kenya’s visit to the region with legions of news reporters and cameras in tow.  The Pan Paper mill is a political hot potato that serves as an embarrassment to politicians who have either looked the other way or become part of the rampant corruption that grips the country.

We arrive at our accommodations to be greeted by members of the local group, CDEP and after a brief break, we start the “toxic tour” of the area.  Leading our tour are the group’s chairman, Eliud Kakai, a paper scientist and Rhoda Barasa, the town’s former mayor. Mr. Kakai, confirms the suspicions of the RECONCILE staff, that the mill is operating at about 10% of normal operations in order to appear clean because of the Kenyan President’s visit yesterday.  He states that this is routine for the Pan Paper officials to lower production dramatically when outside visitors or inspectors are in the area.

Mr. Kakai explains the multiple operations of Pan Paper’s operation which has changed over time due to depletion of raw wood supplies from the region’s forests.  Many of these forested areas were protected but were targeted and devastated by the growing hunger of the mill.  The mill now also contains various processes to use waste paper and wood which contain toxins like lead and mercury.  The chemical agents used in the various processes are manufactured at an adjacent facility and a power generating station is also part of the operation.  The liquid and solid wastes are dumped and stored in the open air environment. 

Most impressive in terms of gross pollution are the waste ponds which dominate the landscape leading down gradient to river.  Acres of land are covered with foaming acid smelling wastes off gassing into air.  Dried foam from the waste ponds blows off the site onto homes, farmlands and public spaces, burning the skin and lungs.  There is no noticeable difference in the color, odor or pollution of the liquid wastes as they travel from the first treatment pond into the lower ponds.  At the final stage of ‘treatment’, the water is covered in a half meter of acid foam as it pours into the river.  It is clear that there is little or no pollution removed from the liquid waste before it enters the river, with the exception of gases and foam which blow offsite uncontrolled.

We were greeted at the ponds site by curious nearby neighbors and members of CDEP, who invited us to see the pollution effects on their homes, lands and health.  Mr. Kakai introduced us to four families living adjacent to Pan Paper’s waste ponds and mill.  All the families showed us the metal sheets of their roofs were being corroded in a matter of a few months due to the acid pollution.  Crops were stunted and plant life browned by the exposure as well.  This situation has left many families without income and even subsistence food.  As we entered one of the homes, we could see that the acid had eaten through the internal roofs and walls of the home.  All of the neighbors complained of breathing problems, skin disorders and a variety of ailments they associate with the emissions of the Pan Paper operation.

As we toured the area, a ‘snowstorm’ of foam droplets from the waste ponds clouded the sky and burned our skin and noses.  The stench of sulfur gases was intense and we cut our visit short to this area.

The CDEP team took us through a variety of downwind areas of Webuye which all showed the characteristic corroded metal roofs, browned and stunted vegetation and poverty evident in the previous impact zones.  The area of impact is very large as the mill’s emissions are located at the bottom of the river valley in Webuye and remain trapped in the bowl created by the surrounding mountains.

The following day, GCM staff held a day long training session with five CDEP leaders and RECONCILE staff Maurice and Anastancia.  Elements covered were the basics of air pollution, types of air pollution, sources and health effects.  CDEP members produced a series of community maps of pollution hotspots and impact zones, which were used to identify potential sample locations.  Then the group built and tested 4 air pollution “buckets”.   A six month action plan was developed by CDEP and RECONCILE to educate the community and stimulate their involvement in efforts to clean up the mill pollution.

According to Mr. Kakai, CDEP’s goals are: (1) Reduce pollution from Pan Paper, (2) Increase Corporate responsibility of Pan Paper’s owners (3) Provide more jobs and benefits to the residents of Webuye (4) Compensate the worst victims of past pollution from the mill.  The former mayor, Rhoda, stated their goal would be to take what they learned at the training and “empower residents with a powerful weapon for justice.”

Joyce, who works as a medical technician at the local hospital, spoke from her experience as to the serious nature of the problems.  “I have been directly affected by living next to Pan Paper and we have suffered for a long time.  It is very difficult for common people to reach up and be heard by the leaders at Pan Paper.  My husband died and it is difficult for a widow to forge ahead for the safety of the family.  People tell you to be keep quiet, but now it is the right time to speak out.  Babies are being born with chest and breathing problems.  Our children will have no future is they are born sick into this world.”

Mr. Kakai related a story of how after media reports several years ago, he was able to confront officials from the World Bank with some of the facts of the mill’s problems.  He pointed out that their water monitoring point for the discharge was 53 kilometers from the point of actual discharge.  However, when he suggested that the officials immediately accompany him to the mill for an unannounced inspection, the meeting abruptly ended and no further follow up has occurred.  Mr. Kakai hoped that air and water samples now planned as part of the new effort would be effective in exposing the truth about the pollution and harm from Pan Paper.

The training was adjourned until 10 PM in order to await Pan Paper’s nightly pattern of heavy pollution and operation.  As we approached the mill the sound of intensive manufacturing, venting and operations were deafening as compared to daylight hours.  The plumes of smoke and mists were many times greater as were the odors of sulfurs, caustics and acids.  Despite the heavy night production, the winds were very strong following early rains, so the team was unable to capture a sample and we prepared to return in the morning to try again.

The team reconvened early and we could still see the heavy plumes spewing out of the mill in the distance.  The plumes traveled a kilometer or two and then dropped to the ground causing a heavy and noxious fog in downwind farms and homes.  Shifting winds made it difficult to chase the fog and capture a sample, so we returned to the area adjacent to the mill to take a sample near the source.  Finally we had success after about 20 minutes of team sampling. 

We then moved on to the ponds to attempt to capture a sample of the powerful off gassing near the waterfall into the lower ponds.   As we drove down the road, the foam from the ponds again caused another ‘snowstorm’ of burning acid across several square kilometers. Due to shifting winds when we arrived at our sample site, the CDEP and RECONCILE team had to risk life and limb by leaping across the top of the toxic waterfall’s step stones about 3-4 feet apart.  It was clear the team would not be deterred by a little shift in the breeze.  Once the team was downwind of the falls, the pump ran out of power on the bucket and the team took turns using their lungs to suck in and create vacuum pressure inside the bucket.  After about ten minutes of huffing and puffing, the team opened the bucket to reveal a fat bag of Pan Paper’s odorous air had been successfully gathered for a sample.

Following our work to gather the first two bucket samples in Kenya, the team completed the chain of custody forms that accompany the samples to the shippers and the lab in California.  After a short celebration, we gave Mr. Kakai and Mr. Mukasa souvenir Bucket Brigade baseball caps and headed off to Kisumu.

Before leaving Kisumu by plane, we were treated to a meal of whole cooked Tilapia from Lake Victoria, covered in tomatoes and fresh greens.  The local maize dish, ugali, a bit like hard white polenta, made an excellent side dish.  Later we took an hour boat cruise to Hippo Point on Lake Victoria on an old 20 foot wooden fishing boat with the local captain, Kennedy.  We look forward to continue to help the people of Webuye with their struggle for justice from Pan Paper, the government of Kenya and the World Bank.

BACKGROUND: Kenya: Pan African Paper Mills spread sickness

Pulp and paper production in Kenya is presently dominated by one firm, Pan African Paper Mills (Panpaper), which is a joint venture between the Kenyan Government, the World Bank’s private investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Orient Paper Mills, part of the Birhla group from India. The pulp mill was established in 1974 and is based in Webuye town, with a population of some 60,000 people, on the banks of the Nzoia River which drains into Lake Victoria.

From the start, despite the potential environmental impacts concerning plantation establishment, liquid effluents, air emissions, sludge and solid waste disposal, the project did not benefit from a full environmental assessment. The IFC’s Environmental Review Summary simply stated that the project was designed to meet all applicable World Bank policies, and environmental, health and safety guidelines.

However, fears have proved right. A report from the local newspaper East African Standard denounced in 1999 that local residents had accused the paper mill of having turned a vast area of countryside into an environmental wasteland and of being an economic and social burden. Pollution of the Nzoia River on which residents depend for their water needs was so severe that bathing in the river had become a health hazard and animals drinking the water died. As a result of the chemicals produced during pulping, the area around the mill was enveloped in foul smelling air. Acid fumes and fly ash were resulting in the corrosion of the corrugated iron roofs of the houses in the vicinity of the mill. In addition, the mill’s solid waste, which was dumped on fields as manure, had led to a decline in local agricultural production.

At the time of the establishment of the mill, the Webuye area used to be a heavily forested region and formed part of the Kagamena Indigenous Forest. The mill’s demand for wood had turned the area barren and the company trucks now had to travel for over one hundred miles for raw material.

In 2003, the mill's impacts continued unabated. People in Webuye complained that the smell emanating from the mill, mainly caustic, chlorine and sulphuric acid was hazardous. Webuye is now viewed as a “sick town”. Experts said purification process of the waste from this factory was inadequate and that effluent was emitted into the River Nzoia halfway treated. Such half-purified effluent could be catastrophic for the river or lake’s aquatic life as its high oxygen demand would suck the gas in the water bodies causing mass aquatic deaths.

The most recent event is the serious pollution of Lake Victoria, leading to investigations by the Ministry of Water. Effluent from factories including Panpaper are believed to have endangered aquatic life in the lake.

On the other hand, logging has been a major cause of destruction of the forests of Kenya, a country of environmental and ethnic diversity. The Ogiek People, inhabitant of the forest, have been suffering the loss of their homeland and livelihood, especially from the 90’s onwards. Panpaper is exempted from a government logging ban and is allowed to fell trees to produce pulp for paper, being one of the actors held responsible by the Ogiek (see WRM Bulletin Nº 45).

However, as recently as May of this year, a Director of PanPaper Mills, Harri P. Singhi, called on the government of Kenya to assist the company in solving the problem of shortage of wood supply. Would that mean more forests to be degazetted? This, as well as Singhi’s appeal to the government to assist the company to reduce its cost of production lowering the electricity tariff, make up the typical fiscal incentives which include tax exemptions, investment, grants, subsidies, on which the global pulp and paper industry develops. For its globalization it has counted also on direct or indirect subsidies coming from bilateral agencies, State investment, multilateral development banks, among other actors.

In the case of Kenya, the IFC had invested 86 million in the pulp, paper and packaging production. According to Singhi, Panpaper is working closely with IFC to expand the paper mills. The IFC Chief Special Operations officer, Mr. Erick Cruikshank, confirmed that the institution would continue working closely with the government as well as other industries including Panpaper Mills.

Meanwhile, the Ogiek lose their lands, local agriculture is endangered, deforestation increases, the environment is destroyed and the quality of life of local residents worsens. For the sake of job creation, says the official discourse. But the local labour component created in pulp and paper mills is minimal and in many cases restricted to casual labourers working under conditions which put their health at serious risk.

Source:  WRM's bulletin Nº 83, June 2004  - World Rainforest Movement

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