For the average Indian, Tata stands for ethics, responsibility and environmental consciousness. As a corporate, Tata Steel boasts of a stringent code of environmental conduct. However, there are paradoxes galore in Tata's social and environmental record, including its ventures in Kalinga Nagar, Singur, Sukhinda, Mithapur and Bhopal. The port at Dhamra, a joint venture between Tata Steel and Larsen &Toubro, will be the latest in that list unless the company puts its environmental theory into practice before it is too late. The proposed port is less than 15 km from Gahirmatha, one of the world's largest and last mass nesting sites for the Olive Ridley sea turtle. It is also less than 5 km from the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary, a designated Ramsar Wetland of International Importance and one of the last habitats of the saltwater crocodile in India. However, Tata Steel's sustainability report, which is available on the company website, says, "There are no national parks/wild life sanctuaries/CRZ/other sensitive areas notified areas within 10 kms of any current or proposed project sites barring the Dalma Sanctuary, which is about 10 kms from the Steel Works in Jamshedpur." The only Environmental Impact Assessment conducted for the project says almost nothing of the likely impact on Gahirmatha. The fundamental flaws in the EIA relate to a complete omission of the impacts of noise and chemical pollution on turtles and a poor hazard analysis and emergency plan. Further, the EIA, done in 1997, considers a port with significantly different specifications from the one being built. The initial proposed capacity was 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) while the proposed capacity is now 83 mtpa. The original project was to handle bulk carriers up to 120,000 deadweight tons (dwt), while the revised plan proposes handling ships up to 180,000 dwt. What is most surprising is that the EIA also considered a different port site, on the nearby Kanika Sands, but this was later shifted to the adjoining mainland. Since the Tatas announced their involvement in 2004, the port at Dhamra has been opposed by a phalanx of conservation and environmental groups, traditional fishermen, scientists and researchers. However, the company has refused to budge from its position and explore other options such as alternatives sites. Its response on this is that they have tied up with the World Conservation Union to prepare mitigation measures. Indian groups are up in arms, protesting that mitigation is a shortsighted view when the port's very presence poses a threat to the area. Moreover, given that there is still no comprehensive and scientific EIA, any mitigation measure will, even in the best-case scenario, be inadequate. Joining the existing multi-constituency in opposition to the port, around 60,000 people have now written to Ratan Tata asking him to relocate the port, via a cyber campaign that has been hosted by Greenpeace India at www.greenpeace.org/india/turtles. Never before has such pressure been exerted by public interest activist groups directly on Tata himself and thus his customers and supporters are expressing concern. Prominent members of the scientific community are advising against the port, fishermen have opposed it, science has shown the presence of rare species in the area, and the public is now adding its voice to the conservation community . The consensus seems to be that as a global corporation with a growing presence overseas, the Tata Group needs to show that its commitment to the environment is real. Particularly in a case where there is a clear choice to be made between greater profits and sustainable development that factors in environmental concerns and social imperatives. This decision will decide the fate of the turtles - one way or the other. Areeba Hamid is an ocean campaigner with Greenpeace India. Feedback to Greenpeace may be passed on through shweta.ganesh@in.greenpeace.org