Residents of Kunnapattu 
C/o Temple Bay Tours 
Othavadai Street 
Mahabilipuram 
Tamil Nadu 603104 

Mr Edward Gerter 
APEC Kolath 
Plot No. 38 Kunnapattu Road 
Kunnapattu 
Tamil Nadu 6023105 

6th May 2020 

Dear Mr. Gerter, 

I represent 150 local residents in Kunnapattu. We are writing to complain about the odours coming from the waste materials storage area and feel very strongly about the contamination caused by your waste practices. We know that you dump much of your oil, paint and raw material waste in the Kunnapatt Lagoon and Kunnapattu River, which is adjacent to the village and the Tiger Lily Lake. As this lagoon is unlined the contamination coming from your waste seeps into the groundwater. This is contaminating the water in our boreholes from where we get our drinking water and the lake in which we fish. 

This is a photograph showing the pollution from the lagoon, seeping into the ground water and local river system, which borders some of the houses in our village. 

We also object to the dumping of chemical drums at the edge of our village. This is contaminating our river system, land and our groundwater, where we get our water. 

This is a photograph showing a small part of the area where you dump your chemical drums on the edge of our village. There are many cases in our villages of children born with severe disabilities. People seem to die early here too, the oldest person in our community is 51, and many have cancer. 

Please can you reply to our letters? I have written to you before on this matter many, many times and also on your high levels of water consumption. We really need to come to some arrangement, as APEC is making our lives unbearable. We fear that the locals will move away from Kounnapattu and it will become deserted. 

We urge you to change your waste disposal practices and reduce your water consumption. 

Yours sincerely, 

Vinay Kumar 

Mr. V Kumar