doosan final

Environment Management

Presented by

• Nikhil Wankhede P-44• Priyanka Desai P-50• Tushar Chaudhari P-46• Seema Tapole P-31• Sandesh Rane P-30• Amit Jain

P-03

Doosan Oil Spill

Introduction• Doosan Electro-Materials Inc., a subsidiary

of the Doosan Corporation.

•Established in 1974

•Industrial leader in the global market. 

•Produce high-quality copper clad laminates

(CCLs).

•Makes 80% of South Korea's circuit boards,

and Korea's most popular beer and whisky.

Contd...

•  Owns franchises for Coca-Cola, Kentucky Fried

Chicken, and other foreign consumer goods.

• Located in Kumi which is close to Taegu city,

third-largest city in South Korea.

• The Naktong River flows along the city of

Taegu and supplies tap water to over 10

million homes.

• In 1990, the sales for the fiscal year totaled

over $2.9 billion with net profits of $30.6

million dollars.

• In 1991, the profits of Doosan Corporation

were affected by a significant environmental

incident which occurred in March, 1991.

The Incident• On March 14, 1991, the Doosan Electro-Materials

Inc. dumped 320 tons of phenol waste into the

Naktong River.

• South Koreans turned on their tap water and were

overcome by a repulsive stench caused by a

highly toxic form of phenol

• Phenol leaked overnight from a storage tank in

the factory.

Contd...• An underground pipe leading from an outdoor

tank to the Doosan factory burst causing pure

concentrated phenol to leak into the river.

• The toxin travelled through the reservoir system

of Taegu.

• Phenol is a highly toxic chemical which is known

to cause cancer or damage to the nervous

system.

Contd...• The phenol poisoning caused hundreds to

thousands of people to become violently

ill.

• Naktong River also provides habitat for a

variety of wildlife.

• Animal species also affected by the phenol

leak

Issues

Who is responsible? • Both the South Korean government, and the

company.

• The government should enforce environmental

guidelines, and take initiative when outside

factors threaten the environment.

• The Doosan Corporation also has a

responsibility to the people

Compensation & penalties

• The compensation to the victims and to

determine the penalties of Doosan.

• The company was ordered to shut-down

for a very short period of time.

• Doosan Electro-Materials, Inc. has a

monopoly on electronic goods

Clean up of wastage• How to clean-up the waste

• How could Doosan and other companies

eliminate the possibility of future problems

• This particular incident shed light on other

companies in the area who were illegally

dumping in the river.

Actions• One-month suspension of operations

• The Minister of Environment, Huh Nam-hoon, was ordered to resign , and was replaced by former health minister, Kwon E-hyock

• Also, 7 government officials and 8 company executives were arrested

Contd…• The chairman of Doosan Corporation, Park

Yong-kon, stepped down from his position, and Doosan Corporation was forced to pay around $30 million in compensation to the victims.

• Two challenges in the decision of this case– The Water Quality Preservation Law and

related legislation were vague and limited– Thirty day suspension of the Doosan factory

Law

• Environment Improvement Expedition Law

• Individuals who break environmental laws will be jailed for life.

• Interministerial commission to tackle environmental issues.

• The commission's job is to, "coordinate government measures for sustainable development and environmental protection  

Contd…• The four broad trends came after the

incident are:

– International conventions

– Developing environmentally friendly

technologies

– Greater consensus and cooperation

– Korean citizens are becoming more aware

Reactions of Public • Hundreds of people demonstrated in the

streets shouting anti-government slogans.

• Demonstration in Pusan provoked one

hundred people to dump sixty bottles of OB

brand beer of Doosan into the streets.

• Boycott of Doosan products as well as their

international affiliates of Coca-Cola, Nescafe,

and Kentucky Fried Chicken. 

Contd...• Approximately 12,000 citizens and 30,000

grocery stores filed compensation against

the Doosan Corporation.

• The Taegu city government filed suit

against Doosan Electro-Materials for

remuneration of its losses in tap water

charges.

Harsh reality• The Doosan plant was allowed to reopen for

production only a couple weeks after closing.

• The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI)

asked the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to

allow Doosan to continue production.

• Other dependent companies could suffer

setbacks of more than $400 million due to

closing of plant.

Contn...• Many foreign buyers rely on Doosan's specialized

electronic exports making it difficult for them to

replace the product.

• Officials argued, "if suspension of Doosan's

factory operations drags on, 883 firms are

expected to face operations cutbacks.

• A second phenol spill occurred into the Naktong

River.

Contn...• This simply showed the carelessness of

both government and company officials.

• Government actions illustrated their

economic priorities over environmental

interests.

Thank you