Swedwatch supports East African partners to hold businesses accountable
Article
With training sessions on business, human rights and the environment, Swedwatch has supported East African partners working with communities affected by mining and agribusiness in their work to hold business actors accountable.
While welcome for their potential to create jobs, foreign investments in sectors such as mining and agribusiness often come with a high cost to the environment and local communities, local civil society organisations from a range of East African countries testified in two capacity building workshops co-arranged by Swedwatch and local partner organisations in Kenya in November.
The aim of the workshops was to provide participants with theoretical knowledge of corporate responsibility and with practical tools on how to monitor human rights risks linked to business operations in the East-African context. Many participants described the security risks, threats and attacks that they face when supporting communities affected by mining, energy and agribusiness investments.
“The process of research and investigation has many challenges, including company representatives attempting to bribe researchers and giving false reports to government officials,” said Gloria Mafole, a Tanzanian business and human rights lawyer.
To advocate for their rights, communities across East Africa need greater support, said Augustine Masiga from the community coalition Haki Madini in Kenya. However, this requires funding and training for research and documentation of human rights impacts.
Swedwatch’s capacity building workshops combined an overview of international frameworks governing business, environment and human rights with discussions on how to safely and effectively monitor and report on companies’ negative impacts as well as advocating for change. In total, 48 representatives from over 20 community-based organisations from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, DRC, South Sudan and Zimbabwe participated. Representatives from Kenya’s National Commission on Human Rights were also present.
The workshop in Nanyuki, was co-organised with Impact, a Kenyan civil society organisation supporting indigenous peoples. The second workshop was held in Nairobi with FECCLAHA (Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa), a regional partner of Swedwatch’s member organisation ACT Church of Sweden.
- Publication: Article
- Themes: High-risk and conflict areas
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NATURAL RUBBER
23 February, 2021
“Heavy metals bioaccumulate throughout the food chain”
Swedwatch interview with Flaviano Bianchini, the director of Source International. The NGO Source International provides local communits with scientific studies and analysed air and water samples around Firestone Liberia´s rubber processing plant as part of the Swedwatch report Murky Waters - Environmental and human rights impacts of natural rubber processing in Liberia. The interview was carried out in February 2021.
Can you briefly describe how the water and air sample analysis conducted and how accurate it is?
All the analysis we performed were made according to international standards. The methodology chapter of the study lists the exact methodology for each water analysis and all of them are widely recognized by the most important international authorities (mostly US EPA and WHO). For the dust analysis we used an instrument called Aeroqual 500S which is also used by the US EPA as a portable instrument to measure PM10 and PM2.5.
Flaviano Bianchini, director of Source International
Among the substances/chemicals you detected in the wetlands and waterways surrounding the Firestone factory, which two or three did you find the most alarming in terms of health risks to the local community?
It is very difficult and somehow non-scientific to do a ranking of the most dangerous ones. Each one affects the environment and human health in a different way. Heavy metals are particularly dangerous for their residuality. They will never disappear from the environment and they bio-accumulate throughout the food chain up to humans. Some of them are cancerogenic and mutagenic and in general they pose a big threat to environment and health.
Phosphorus and Nitrogen are the main responsible for eutrophication: a phenomena widely present in the Farmington area and responsible for the ecological poverty of the river and for the die-offs of fishes that widely affects the protein intake of local population.
PM10 and PM2.5 are over the limit near the factory. According to WHO these particulates are among the most dangerous pollutant in the world, widely present in urban and industrial areas and responsible for millions of death every year. However, the area of study is a remote and agricultural one and the presence of such pollutants is likely due to Firestone’s facilities.
As I said it is difficult to do a ranking but the combination of all of these is a very high risk to human health in the area. People in the Farmington basin are suffering from shortage of protein (due to eutrophication caused by phosphorus and nitrogen), heavy metal intake and they are breathing high level of particulate matter. All of these together put in serious danger their health.
What substances/chemicals did you find to be far above internationally acceptable levels?
In the wetland, just after Firestone wastewater discharge, Aluminium, Manganese, Copper and Iron are all above the limit. Same for phosphates and total phosphorus and also nitrogen. In the same point also the Chemical and the Biological Demand of Oxygen are both above the limit. As far as we move away from the wetland the concentration of all these elements decrease but most of them remains above the limit along all the Yur-Chu Creek.
PM10 and PM2.5 are above the limit in Owensgrove, just in front of the Firestone factory.
What impact do they tend to have on the local environment and what did you observe?
As mentioned before heavy metals bioaccumulate throughout the food chain and finally they reach human been. Phosphate and nitrogen are responsible for eutrophication of water which is responsible for the reduction of oxygen in the water and it directly affects plants and fishes in the rivers.
What kind of health problems are they known to cause?
Aluminium:
The uptake of aluminium can take place through food, through breathing and by skin contact. Long lasting uptakes of significant concentrations of aluminium can lead to serious health effects, such as: damage to the central nervous system, dementia, loss of memory, listlessness, severe trembling.
People that work in factories where aluminium is applied during production processes may endure lung problems when they breathe in aluminium dust. Aluminium can cause problems for kidney patients when it enters the body during kidney dialyses.
Manganese:
Manganese is one out of three toxic essential trace elements, which means that it is not only necessary for humans to survive, but it is also toxic when too high concentrations are present in a human body.
Manganese effects occur mainly in the respiratory tract and in the brains. Symptoms of manganese poisoning are hallucinations, forgetfulness and nerve damage. Manganese can also cause Parkinson, lung embolism and bronchitis. When men are exposed to manganese for a longer period of time they may become impotent. A syndrome that is caused by manganese has symptoms such as schizophrenia, dullness, weak muscles, headaches and insomnia.
Chronic Manganese poisoning may result from prolonged inhalation of dust and fume. The central nervous system is the chief site of damage from the disease, which may result in permanent disability. Symptoms include languor, sleepiness, weakness, emotional disturbances, spastic gait, recurring leg cramps, and paralysis. Manganese compounds are experimental equivocal tumorigenic agents.
Copper:
Long-term exposure to copper can cause irritation of the nose, mouth and eyes and it causes headaches, stomach-aches, dizziness, vomiting and diarrhoea. Intentionally high uptakes of copper may cause liver and kidney damage and even death. Whether copper is carcinogenic has not been determined yet. There are scientific articles that indicate a link between long-term exposure to high concentrations of copper and a decline in intelligence with young adolescents. Whether this should be of concern is a topic for further investigation.
Chronic copper poisoning results in Wilson’s Disease, characterized by a hepatic cirrhosis, brain damage, demyelization, renal disease, and copper deposition in the cornea.
Phosphate:
Too much phosphate can cause health problems, such as kidney damage and osteoporosis. Phosphate shortages can also occur. These are caused by extensive use of medicine. Too little phosphate can cause health problems.
Are the substances/chemicals common biproducts from natural rubber processing?
They are all substances that can be released from natural rubber processes if not properly managed.
Did you find evidence to suggest that Firestone’s plant may be polluting the local environment? If so, what?
We found heavy metals and phosphates in the wetland near their water dumping. Those elements (especially the heavy metals) are very unlikely to be naturally present in the water. Furthermore, they are not present in the other points along the Farmington river basin, suggesting that they are not naturally occurring in the area. Therefore, all the elements point towards Firestone’s plant.
As for dust emission PM10 and PM2.5 are much higher close to the factory then far from it. The area is a rural and remote area and therefore it is unlikely that there are other sources of dust emission.
Could there be other potential polluters in the area, like farms or other industries, contributing to the contamination?
Firestone is the only big industry in the area. The type of pollution (especially phosphate and nitrogen) that we encountered can also be related to big scale farming; but that one is also carried out by Firestone.
What action should Firestone Liberia take to ensure that it does not release harmful effluents?
They should improve their water treatment plant and install proper filters for their fumes.
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NATURAL RUBBER
23 February, 2021
“It has become clear that it is the water that makes us sick”
Swedwatch telephone interview with G. Mondyou P. Garmondeh, Chairman of Concerned Citizens' Advocacy for the Protection of the Ancestral Land (CCAPAL), Owensgrove. The interview was carried out in February 2021 as a part of the Swedwatch report Murky Waters - Environmental and human rights impacts of natural rubber processing in Liberia, an investigation of environmental pollution in the vicinity of Firestone Libera´s rubber processing plant in Owensgrove.
How has your community been affected by the Firestone plant?
You were here to investigate the water and air pollution around the Farmington river ... As we speak you would not stand the air pollution we are having here, even for me and I am used to it ... When you come to the riverbank you see the dirty water ... The air pollution and the smell of the factory makes you sick and gives you headaches. The air is highly polluted, and the water is highly polluted. There is no way Firestone can deny … It is clear cut.
How long has this been going on?
For a very long time. People never knew if pollution comes from Firestone ... We have running stomachs, we have to go to the hospital, it has become clear that it is the water that makes us sick ... If you ask those people what is the cause? The cause of the water pollution is Firestone ... The water is polluted. People have come to help us, to test the water and air. People have come to document it again and again. A lot of youth, women and children are still affected and make the same allegations.
What do you want the authorities and the company to do now?
Thank you for the question. The question is very fine. You are speaking to an individual now … I cannot speak for everyone … These pollution things are in the air. But there are other communities that are affected by the pollution of Firestone … What we can do is document complaints to prove … and forward that documentation to Green Advocates.
Is there anything else you want to add?
The pollution of Farmington river and air pollution caused by Firestone has been documented again and again, has been proven by documents by men, by women and youth. We are not afraid to stand to Firestone, to the Liberian government, to the international community to tell them that. It is proven. Firestone cannot deny the allegations. We tell Firestone that our water has been damaged again and again ... If you have the chance to come … Your heart would be brok...
Report
23 February, 2021
Firestone Liberia and Bridgestone Corporation Must Investigate Pollution Claims
Natural rubber is used in many products from car tyres to clothes. Its processing provides livelihoods for millions. But it is also one of the world’s worst water polluting industries. In a new report Swedwatch calls on Bridgestone Corporation, one of the world’s largest tyre companies, and its indirect subsidiary Firestone Liberia Inc to investigate serious environmental pollution in the vicinity of its rubber processing plant in Liberia.
Firestone Liberia operates the world’s largest rubber plantation in Owensgrove, 50 km west of the capital Monrovia, and is the country’s largest private employer with a land concession occupying nearly ten percent of arable land.
During a Swedwatch investigation, air and water samples from around the processing site were analysed by project partner NGO Source International. The water analysis found levels of heavy metals such as manganese and aluminium that clearly exceeded limits for drinking water. According to Source International, these pollutants pose a severe health risk for humans as they bio-accumulate throughout the food chain and can cause serious illness. There were also high phosphate and nitrogen levels and evidence of eutrophication, known to deplete fish stocks.The sampling results suggested that the company’s wastewater treatment system had not been working adequately and confirmed reports from local communities affected by water and air pollution. Similarly, air quality analysis and testimonies from community members suggested that the use of industry-standard air scrubber technology to improve air quality was not sufficient.
“This situation has been ongoing for years and the company still claims that they are treating wastewater and filtering the air,” said Francis Colee, director of Green Advocates International, Swedwatch’s project partner in Liberia. But still, the local communities don’t have enough fish to eat because of water pollution and they have a lot of pollution-related health problems.”Read the full report
Join our webinar "Environmental and human rights impacts of natural rubber processing" 24 Feb 4PM CET!
The odour coming from the Firestone factory affects us greatly. The stench causes headaches and nosebleeds; it can really make you go out of your mind./Community member, Owensgrove
Water samples, taken by Source International, from around Firestone Liberia´s processing site revealed concentrations of heavy metals far above the standard set by the World Health Organization.
Heavy metals (mg/l)
WHO human consumption
Local creek
Local wetland
Aluminium
0,2
0.16
6.3
Iron
0,3
3.8
19
Manganese
0,05
0.18
0.42
Infections, nausea and food shortages
In meetings with local residents in early 2020, Swedwatch collected reports of people falling ill after consuming local water supplies and suffering from a range of health problems such as infections, nausea, as well as food shortages caused by dwindling fish stocks. Some described the smell from the factory as so intense that it causes headaches and nosebleeds. Just ahead of the report’s publication, community representatives described the situation as unchanged.
The industrial production and processing of natural rubber has long been associated with wide-ranging negative human rights impacts around the world, including child labour, environmental pollution and land grabbing. This report adds to extensive documentation by national and international civil society groups on how local communities continue to be affected by pollution around Firestone Liberia’s factory in Harbel.Communities want transparency
Local community leaders have long called for transparency regarding the severity of suspected water pollution, as well as an objective assessment of overall pollution levels. In dialogue with Swedwatch, Firestone Liberia acknowledged that certain nutrient constituents in the wastewater have, on multiple occasions, exceeded permitted standards but claimed to be unaware of any harm or damage resulting from this. Furthermore, the company claimed to operate within all required air-permits.
Community members told Swedwatch that this information has not been readily available to local communities.
The environmental pollution reported by local community members contradicts the vision of a fair, equitable and environmentally sound natural rubber value chain and principles of safe water management agreed by the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) members, including Bridgestone Corporation. The alleged lack of access to information is not in line with the company’s commitments under the GPSNR Policy Framework or with international guidelines, such as the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Swedwatch and its project partners Green Advocates International and Source International call on Firestone Liberia and Bridgestone Corporation to urgently conduct human rights due diligence and a human rights and environmental impact assessment in relation to its rubber processing plant in Liberia. These results must be shared with communities and action taken to rectify any shortcomings.We found heavy metals and phosphates in the wetland near their water dumping. Those elements … are very unlikely to be naturally present in the water./Flaviano Bianchini, director of Source International
The pollution of Farmington river and air pollution caused by Firestone has been documented again and again ...... It is proven. Firestone cannot deny the allegations. /G. Mondyou P. Garmondeh, Chairman of Concerned Citizens' Advocacy for the Protection of the Ancestral Land
Press Contacttom@swedwatch.org
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2013: Cut and Run
2019: Business, Human Rights, Environment and Sustaining Peace – Experiences from Liberia and Sierra Leone
Additional materialInterview with the community leader and Chairman of Concerned Citizens' Advocacy for the Protection of the Ancestral Land.Interview with Flaviano Bianchini, director of Source International.Bridgestone statement in response to Swedwatch Repo...
21 January, 2021
Interview with Electronics Worker
Interview with Diwatai* who has worked for 20 years in electronics manufacturing in a special economic zone outside Manilla. The interview was made in January 2021 as a part of the Swedwatch report Hazardous chemicals in ICT manufacturing and the impacts on female workers in the Philippines.
What is your background?
The land where my family lived was privatized, investors bought our farmland to build factories, now they do not have money for everyday expenses.
Before we had farmland. In my province there are many factories, the farming land is being turned into industrial areas, land is exchanged for land. They told us that working in the factories would be better than working in the fields but working in the factories is much more difficult.
Now we feel like detainees, like we are in prison, there are many CCTV cameras inside, there are guards, like in a prison.
What is it like?
I try very hard to manage the income … to reduce the expenses. I have one child. He is five.
My sister is a widow, she is taking care of my son. It is very difficult. During my rest days, I don’t go out. I just spend the whole day with my son.
I would not encourage my son to work in an electronics company. Maybe he will become a teacher. It is very difficult to become rich here
How is the working environment?
When I started working, we were given a safety orientation and a list of the chemicals. But no one told us about the risks. We were told how to perform the task, but the chemicals and their effect on the body, that was not included in the orientation.
One contractual worker died. She was 26 and she died of thyroid cancer. Both the company doctor and the doctors outside the company said that it was a possible that she contracted the disease because she was exposed to soldering fumes.
We have to endure in silence, we have to endure the pain every day because we need the job.
We are not the only ones exposed to the smoke. It is smelled by others as well, even some who are very far from the process. The smoke only circulates inside, it does not go out. Everyone needs to know about the risk, but no one knows, because no one tells us about the risks. Even if we feel it, we are not told about it.
What about the products?
In some ways I feel happy that our products are used all over the world and that they last for many years. It is at the expense of our health but there is nothing I can do about that. I need the job and cannot complain. I have no choice; I need the job so the product gets made at the expense of our health. We just suffer in silence because we need the job. If I complained I would be out of a job. that is the dilemma.
What about speaking out?
If we want to know about the chemicals the company asks us if we want the job or not? They say that we applied for the job and should not be complaining?
But when we applied for the job we did not know, and now we cannot get out, because we need the job. I have no choice, I have no other income. Even if it is dangerous for me, I have to do it.
* Assumed name to protect her identi...
21 January, 2021
Interview with UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights
As part of the report Hazardous chemicals in ICT manufacturing and the impacts on female workers in the Philippines, Swedwatch interviewed Dr. Marcos A Orellana, the UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights. The interview was carried out in December 2020.
What is your view of the general situation of factory workers exposed to hazardous chemicals?
Exposure of workers to hazardous substances in the workplace is widespread and pervasive, unfortunately. At times exposure is the result of unscrupulous businesses that disregard their human rights responsibilities. At other times, exposure is the result of inadequate occupational health standards that legalize the assault on workers’ health.
Also, workers often lack information on hazardous substances at the workplace. Lack of information aggravates vulnerabilities, since without it, people are unable to act to protect themselves. For example, workers have the right remove themselves from situations where they are exposed to toxic chemicals, but it is very difficult to exercise this right in the absence of information on toxic substances in the workplace. Additionally, lack of information imposes additional hurdles to obtain effective remedy in cases of violations or abuses.
What should corporate actors be doing to protect workers from exposure?
Corporate actors should recognize the right of every worker to a toxic free work environment. They should uphold their human rights responsibilities to prevent exposure of workers, especially those most vulnerable to exposure such as women. To this end, they should exercise effective human rights due diligence, including making sure that the upstream and downstream impacts of their operations do not compromise the effective enjoyment of rights. Specifically, to protect workers from exposure, corporate actors should organize their whole production process in a way that prevents exposure. This includes applying the hierarchy of hazard controls: Eliminating or substituting hazardous chemicals for non-toxic alternatives; applying
engineering and administrative controls to avoid hazardous situations; and as a last resort, employing adequate personal protective equipment. This last element in the hierarchy should be a real element of last resort, since personal protective equipment may end up transferring the burden of prevention to the individual worker and neglecting corporate responsibility. To protect workers from exposure, corporations should respect the right to science. This includes not spreading uncertainty for the sake of confusing the public and delaying regulation. It includes not harassing scientists that denounce the hazards of certain chemicals. Respect for the right to science also includes not distorting scientific evidence or manipulating regulatory or production processes to perpetuate exposure.
What particular steps do you think companies should take when sourcing components or products from high-risk contexts such as the Philippines?
One important step that companies should take in their exercise of due diligence are human rights impact assessments. This tool can assist businesses, especially those sourcing components from high-risk countries, to obtain the information they need to avoid entering into business arrangements with providers that expose workers to dangerous toxics. Failure to do so is a form of complicity in human rights abuse.
The serious situation in the electronics industry has been known for decades but little has been done. Why is that do you think? How can it be changed?
One reason for the lamentable exposure of workers in electronics supply chains is corporate globalization. Globalization imposes immense pressure on businesses to bring down production costs by any means, legal and illegal. Protections for workers in factories are often the weakest link in the chain of production, especially where workers lack the ability to organize in defense of their rights. That is often the case in countries with repressive regimes where dissent is not
tolerated. That is also the case in countries where occupational health laws are inadequate or poorly enforced. A related factor is that globalization allows businesses to externalize the costs of their products on other societies. It is workers in poor countries that pay these costs with their bodies and their hopes for a better future. In many of these countries, labour is cheap because people are denied environmental and occupational health protections in the workplace. It used to be that the State provided the space and the parameters for property owners and workers to come together in search for a common interest. This social contract of sorts produced protections for workers and institutions mandated to oversee those protections. But with supply chains that integrate operations across countries, globalization is eroding the social contract and workers abilities to organize. The result are corporate practices that harm workers in distant lands by exposing them to toxic chemicals, for profit. This is a form of deliberate exploitation. If in the past several industries of the West relied on the slave trade to support their operations, today many businesses rely on workers being exposed to toxic chemicals that are known to cause illnesses and disabilities. These are gross human rights abuses at a global scale.
What is your view on the introduction of mandatory human rights due diligence legislation in this area?
Mandatory human rights due diligence legislation is a necessary tool to secure actual respect for occupational health standards in the workplace. Guiding principles and voluntary code of conducts are useful, but they have their limitations. For one, voluntary measures do not work when a company deliberately decides to ignore its human rights responsibilities. That is where the law must step in to provide effective protection to workers.
Human rights due diligence legislation should encompass upstream supply chains and downstream impacts of use and disposal. A life-cycle approach to due diligence can ensure that no gaps allow human rights abuses to continue. A life-cycle approach also extends to operations that may take place beyond national boundaries. Mandatory human rights due diligence is critical to ensure that businesses, and especially transnational corporations, take active steps in scrutinizing the source of the components used in their products and not turn a blind eye to the exposure of workers in developing countri...
