Two Major Institutions of the Wood Preservatives Industry Fall
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Date:
Sat, 21 Dec 2002 16:41:37 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Daily News - Updated on December 20, 2002 - Beyond Pesticides
Two Major Institutions of the Wood Preservatives Industry Fall
Since Beyond Pesticides and others filed a lawsuit to ban the three most hazardous and widely used wood preservatives on December 10, 2002, two major institutions of the wood preservatives industry have fallen. First, on December 13, the American Wood Preservatives Institute (AWPI), the national industry trade association representing the pressure-treated wood industry, announced that it would be laying off all of its employees and handing operations over to a management firm. In a memo to AWPI members, Parker Brugge, President of AWPI, cited finances and lack of cooperation from AWPI's insurers. See today's Photo Story.
Then, on December 16, the Kerr-McGee Corporation, the nation's largest creosote producer, announced that it would be leaving the forest products business and closing at least four of its five forest products plants immediately. The company is in talks regarding the fifth plant, located in Dalles, Oregon, which is leased from Union Pacific Corporation. Options at the site include a continuation of operations for the term of the lease, through Nov. 30, 2004, or selling the leasehold interest.
Joining Beyond Pesticides on the lawsuit filed in Federal District Court, are the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Center for Environmental Health, and a victim family from Florida. The complaint seeks to stop the continued use of the wood preservatives chromated copper arsenate (CCA), commonly used in pressure-treated lumber and utility poles; pentachlorophenol (penta), used most commonly in utlility poles; and creosote, used most commonly in railroad ties.
The lawsuit charges that the chemicals, known carcinogenic agents, hurt utility workers exposed to treated poles, children playing near treated structures, and the environment, and cites the availability of alternatives. The groups say that EPA has overwhelming data on the wood preservatives' health and environmental risks and is aware of widely available and economically viable alternatives that compel the agency to stop use, rather than continue reviews that have gone on for over 20 years.
The groups cite high cancer risks from exposure to treated wood, contaminated soil and worker risks. They say that the voluntary action to remove certain uses of arsenic-treated wood, announced by the wood preservers and EPA in February, 2002, does not offer sufficient public, worker and environmental protection and only affects a small portion of the pesticide-treated wood in use. The lawsuit also cites EPA's test results that indicate that continued disposal of treated wood in municipal landfills does not provide necessary protection and violates EPA's hazardous waste regulations. Beyond Pesticides has filed a separate petition urging EPA to reclassify pesticide-treated wood waste as hazardous, citing requirements in law.
The three wood preservatives targeted by the lawsuit are linked to a wide range of health problems including cancer, birth defects, kidney and liver damage, disruption of the endocrine system and death. In fact, two of the components of CCA, arsenic and chromium (VI), are classified as known human carcinogens. Penta, classified as a probable carcinogen and a known endocrine disruptor in its own right, is contaminated with dioxins that the National Institutes of Health has classified as known human carcinogens. Creosote, a mix of toxic chemicals, is a cancer-causing agent and is neurotoxic.
EPA has calculated that children exposed to soil contaminated with penta leaching out of utility poles face a risk of cancer that is 220 times higher than the agency's acceptable level. According to EPA's own data, a typical worker who paints penta onto poles in the field faces more than a 100% lifetime risk of cancer. Other categories of workers, such as utility pole installers, also face risks many times above EPA's "acceptable" level. The practice of allowing the disposal of treated wood in unlined dumps or its recycling into mulch is exacerbating contamination and risk factors, according to the lawsuit.
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