Contact: John Harrington – 707.252.6166
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2005
Napa, California
Going, Going, Gone!
Shareholder asks Coke to report on water use in areas of India where it is becoming increasingly scarce.
Harrington Investments, Inc.(HII), has filed a shareholder resolution with The Coca-Cola Company on behalf of William C. Wardlaw III, a longtime shareholder and political activist. The resolution requests that a committee of independent directors report on the environmental and public health damage resulting from extracting water from water-stressed areas of India. HII is a socially responsible investment advisory firm based in Napa, California.
Coca-Cola plants are extracting millions of gallons of ground and surface water in India every day. With water tables dropping, wells drying up, and anti-Coke protests organized throughout the country, Wardlaw became concerned about the ramifications of taking water from areas where local communities are dependent on a limited water supply.
Wardlaw said that Coke's recently released 2004 Environmental Report failed to adequately identify the adverse impacts of the company's India operations or consider the implications of extracting water in areas where the supply is scarce. In southern India, Coke's Plachimada plant has been closed since March 2004 and is the center of ongoing resistance. Following the closure of a joint venture in Sivagangai, there is mounting Indian opposition to a proposed joint venture in Gangaikondan. In northern India, "pressure is mounting to close Coke's Mehdiganj plant as well. Wardlaw said it was time for the owners of the company to receive more detailed information from independent, outside, non-management directors.
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