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 Times-Picayune April 8, 2004 Habitat-Greenpeace mix causes chemical reaction PVC makers accuse environmental group of abusing charity
By Greg Thomas
Sometimes good deeds really don't go unpunished, or so chemical plants in Louisiana that produce polyvinyl chloride, commonly called PVC, have discovered. PVC producers formed Vinyl Partners for Humanity and adopted Habitat for Humanity International as its main community relations endeavor a few years ago. The PVC makers have sponsored the construction of 27 Habitat for Humanity houses in the United States. The PVC makers have been most active in Louisiana, where they have committed $1 million in cash and building materials along with thousands of volunteer hours to the Baton Rouge affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. They have sponsored and helped to build 16 homes in communities where PVC producers such as CertainTeed Corp., Dow Chemical Co., Formosa Plastics, and Pioneer Chlor-Alkali Co. are located. The PVC producers have not sponsored a Habitat home in New Orleans. But when the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity affiliate recently teamed with environmental action group Greenpeace and a group of professional "green builders" from the Healthy Building Network to build a PVC-free home, Louisiana and national PVC producers cried foul. Greenpeace showered local media outlets with news releases about a nonvinyl Habitat for Humanity home being built on North Prieur Street. Afterward, vinyl-producer representatives charged that Greenpeace was "advancing a political agenda" and "misusing the good value and reputation of Habitat." Habitat for Humanity was founded in the 1980s and uses volunteers and sponsors to build new, affordable housing for the poor. The local executive director of the New Orleans Affiliate for Habitat for Humanity, Jim Pate, wanted two things: a sponsor and a "safe, affordable home" for the selected buyer. He got more. "I must admit," Pate said, "the rabid response from the vinyl industry caught me by surprise." Louisianais home for some of the world's largest producers of PVC. PVC products include vinyl siding, wire sheathing, plumbing, carpet backing, most appliances and a variety of other products. But the industry has been hounded by air-quality problems. Concerns of cancer-causing dioxins contaminating plants and surrounding environs in Mossville years ago forced vinyl producers to buy 98 homes to relocate the entire community. Greenpeace is a harsh critic of PVC companies, said Rick Hind, director of the Greenpeace toxics campaign. The chemicals used in creating PVC are extremely toxic and some are carcinogens, he said. And, he said, the PVC industry is attempting to soften the environmental impact of its plants by using its products in a charitable way to create an appearance that PVC manufacturers are good corporate neighbors. Tim Burns, president of Vinyl Institute, a PVC industry trade group, dashed off a letter of protest to Habitat for Humanity founder and president Millard Fuller, questioning Habitat's association with Greenpeace Greenpeace often takes radical stands on threats to the environment and freely uses civil disobedience. "To accomplish this, they are exploiting the humanitarian ideals and works of Habitat for Humanity. They are trying to use Habitat to injure our industry in spite of (or because of) our strong record of commitment to helping people and communities through your organization," Burns wrote. Ann Schiffman, executive director of the Habitat affiliate in Baton Rouge, said she would never "play politics" in trying to build homes for the poor, and that she "wouldn't spite" PVC producers who have worked with her affiliate diligently. "I would welcome Greenpeace coming" to sponsor a Habitat home, Schiffman said. "But don't tell me how to build my houses. . . . This isn't about Greenpeace. It's about the poor having safe, affordable homes." Schiffman said PVC producers have been longtime supporters. "And it's on an ongoing basis. It isn't a publicity stunt. Not a one-shot deal as is apparently going on in (Orleans) parish" with Greenpeace, Schiffman said. Schiffman believes the owners of the PVC-free house will face high maintenance costs. Each Habitat affiliate is independent and is governed by its own board of directors. Some directors for the Baton Rouge affiliates are employees of vinyl producers. The Prieur home features no wood treated with toxic chemicals, uses wood from "sustainable forests," uses a concrete-based siding and uses a "safer plastic" other than PVC for plumbing. Hind of Greenpeace points out that more than 140 chemical plants line the river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans -- a stretch often dubbed "Cancer Alley." Pollution attributed to PVC producers and other chemical plants was the reason for sponsoring the PVC-free house. "There's a cocktail of chemicals" produced by vinyl plants that migrate off-site into the community, Hind said. PVC is linked to a specific form of rare liver cancer found in some plant workers in the 1970s, which kick-started a rapid regulatory crackdown on plants. But emissions from plants have been cut by 90 percent in the past 25 years, said Beverly Smiley, the Baton Rouge-based executive director of Solutions Through Science, an organization sponsored by Louisiana PVC producers which was formed when Congress once considered banning PVC production. She said PVC producers account for less than one percent of the dioxins emitted into the atmosphere. Pate of the New Orleans Habitat affiliate said the mission of Habitat is to provide safe, affordable housing for deserving families, and he saw no reason not to accept Greenpeace's help. Pate pointed out that the PVC industry has never sponsored a home for Habitat's New Orleans affiliate, investing its energies instead in communities where PVC plants are located. PVC manufacturers are more than welcome to sponsor a home in the Orleans Parish area, he said. Ironically, four Habitat homes surrounding the new Greenpeace house all have vinyl siding. Pate sees the Greenpeace sponsorship as a test to see whether "using safe and affordable and environmental-friendly products were feasible and financially realistic" for the Habitat home. The home will be dedicated next week and a single mother with five children will become a homeowner for the first time. The house came in under the $55,000 price cap set by Habitat. Regardless of the flap, Vinyl Institute executive Burns said PVC producers will continue to support Habitat. "Our commitment is real and a long-term commitment to Habitat. . . . We are deeply involved because it's using our products, yes, but we have really been touched by the spirit and values of helping families get new starts," Burns said. . . . . . . . Greg Thomas can be reached at (504) 826-3399 or gthomas@timespicayune.com |
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