Document 9LJQEXG3NxBJem7yLkkOG06JL

Dow CAPs pictured on d. 16 Freeport CAP facilitator quoted on pp. 9-10, 14 (box) Taken from Chemical and Facilitator of CAPs in Deer Park, Pasadena, Texas City- Engineering News, Feb 28, La Marque, etc. mentioned on pp. 9, 21. 1994 Chemical Industry Tries To Improve Its Community Relations Efforts to respond to community fears about chemical plant operations range from success to failure--but no one yet has given up Marc S. Reisch, in general and, in particular, "to openly commu C&EN Northeast News Bureau A decade ago, a number of chemical misZm haps culminated in an accident in jL JL Bhophal, India, that killed thousands of people. Since then, the U.S. chemical industry and the general public have feared that another chemical disaster like Bhophal could occur in the U.S. with the same life-destroying potential. Most chemical companies have realized that $ nicate relevant, useful information responsive to the public's questions and concerns about safety, health, and the environment" A means toward that dialogue is the Commu nity Advisory Panel (CAP) or similar public out reach group, which many chemical plant opera tors have set up and in which many participate Responsible Care does not specifically require chemical companies to participate in CAPs, but more than 215 CAPs were operating in the US. a their outright assurances that such an accident year ago, says CMA, and it is sure many more could not happen in the U.S. were not enough. operate today. In response, the U.S. chemical industry's CAPs are only one means of communication largest trade group, the Chemical Manufactur between chemical plant management and the ers Association (CMA), adopted a Canadian Chemical Pro surrounding community. Other plant community outreach ducers Association initiative in 1988 called Responsible methods include plant management meetings with environ Care. That program's primary goal, says CMA, is "to re mental organizations, presentations to civic and school groups, spond to public concerns about the chemical industry with plant tours, and community newsletters. actions, not words." Responsible Care is mandatory for The other five codes of management practice that CMA CMA's nearly 190 members, who account for more than adopted between 1989 and 1992 also have elements that re 90% of U.S. basic industrial chemical productive capacity. quire some degree of community involvement. For instance, But although the battle cry of Responsible Care may be the Pollution Prevention Code avows a goal of waste reduc "track us, don't trust us," words are a large part of the pro tion and requires plant attention to community concerns on gram. Emergency response and pollution prevention are the issue. The Process Safety Code requires that companies among the key codes of the CMA program. But the primary design and operate plants to prevent fires, explosions, and thrust of Responsible Care is to respond to public concerns. accidental chemical releases in a manner that considers the And encouraging dialogue with communities surrounding health and safety not only of plant personnel but of the pub chemical facilities overrides every facet of Responsible Care. lic as well. "Honest dialogue between industry and the public, and Still, CAPs are a hallmark of the CAER program. Some between plants and local communities, is a crucial element in CAPs have met with what participants describe as success. bringing about the industrywide cultural change required by Others have been much less effective or have failed out Responsible Care," said former CMA president Robert A. right. But not one group has entirely given up on the com Roland in CMA's 1992-93 Responsible Care Progress Report munications process, even if that has meant finding new Responsible Care includes six codes of "management avenues for communications. practice" addressing community concerns and emergency response, distribution, pollution prevention, process safety, Ideal advisory panels employee health and safety, and product stewardship. The CMA envisions CAPs as something more than the old main group codified the first element of the Responsible Care stay of community affairs programs. Ideally, CAPs are forums plan when it adopted the Community Awareness & Emer in which chemical facility operators listen to the concerns of gency Response Code (CAER) in 1989. plant neighbors. They are not one-way presentations to local CAER began as a voluntary CMA program in 1985 to bet civic groups, discourses on local business with chambers of ter coordinate emergency response between chemical plant commerce, or senior citizens' tours of chemical plant facilities. operators and local authorities in the event of a mishap. The David Hastings, CMA's CAER associate director of safe CAER program now includes not only emergency prepared ty and plant operations, argues that in its purist form, a ness but also a community outreach program with the aim of CAP is "a sounding board, a reality check for the plant assessing community concerns about a company's operations manager, letting him know what he needs to be concerned * a !U1 ff.trv -o t\l <N r> m JE </> Q STLCOPCB4037181 about" in the local community. It serves "in an advisory ca pacity first and foremost." Its membership should encom pass a broad range of community concerns and opinions, including negative opinions, and it should be independent of the company it advises. CAPs might advise as well as question plant manage ment on a wide variety of issues, says Hastings, such as wastewater treatment, operations safety, incineration, and even emergency planning in the event of a chemical release or fire. They should be separate and apart from the Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs)--the boards of industry and government, medical, fire-fighting, and other emergency service providers who by law (under Title III of the Superfund Amendments & Reauthorization Act of 1986) focus only on planning the delivery of services in the event of an actual emergency. But CAP members take the chance of appearing to be cap five to local chemical plants, which frequently host and pro vide refreshments for the monthly CAP meetings and supply a budget for CAP operation. As advisers to plant managers, CAP members risk appearing as a public rubber stamp for status quo plant operations. Some critics see CAPs merely as a way for the industry to circumvent regulatory pressure and new regulatory initiatives by creating a pool of goodwill local ly that plant operators can draw on during permit approval processes. On the other hand, if a company establishes or chooses to engage an independent volunteer CAP with a broad range of community interests, it will have to realize that CAP members may not be content to remain docile advisers. The CAP may in fact become a vehement and outspoken community body, opposing or seeking to directly limit corporate plans. Panels vary widely In practice, the concept of a CAP and the description of its functions is somewhat elastic. Diane B. Sheridan, a vice president of the U.S. League of Women Voters who works as a paid professional "facilitator," has helped set up and now aids in operating several CAPs mostlyTn and around Houston. Sheridan says the nature, composition, and con cerns of each CAP differ depending on the chemical plant manager or managers it advises. CAPs may advise one or as many as 16 plant managers, depending on the number of plants in a given area and the size of nearby communities. In some instances, company managers may assemble their own CAP; in others, a facilitator, such as Sheridan, sets up a steering committee of community leaders that then in vites a broad range of interested people to join a CAP. Plant managers do not often sit on the CAP, though Sheridan says there are exceptions. Company employees are not usu ally CAP members either, but again, there are exceptions. The sizes of panels vary, but often have 15 to 20 people, says Sheridan. Because up to 25% of members do not attend a given meeting, the larger number ensures at least a suffi ciently large attendance. CAP agendas are up to the panels themselves, Sheridan points out. Meetings may be open, open by invitation only, or closed to the public, again depending on what CAP members themselves decide, she says. CAP effectiveness is hard to measure, Sheridan notes. Unless the company tells a panel it has made changes as a result of panel concerns, members probably would not know. It is even more difficult to measure the "more subtle influence" CAPs may have on a company as the company "begins to figure the public into its thinking." Peter A. Bowman, director of the Center for Conflict Anal ysis & Management at the University of Houston, Clear Lake, is a paid facilitator for four CAPs in the Houston area. He says he prefers to work with companies as they start up CAPs in order to ensure a fair representation of individuals kl V: ?, DSW 137227 FEBRUARY 28,1994 C&EN 9 STLCOPCB4037182 NEWS FOCUS Federal legislation helps disseminate chemical information to the public With the passage of the 1970 Gean Air Act, increased legislation and enforce ment of pollution control measures, as well as plant safety laws, empowered government oversight of the chemi cal industry. The same legislation also empowered community groups who could use the Freedom of In formation Act (1966) to obtain docu ments on pollution. As news organizations and commu nity groups learned how to gain access to this information, many companies were forced to deal with communities who wanted to know the whys and wherefores of chemical use, storage, and transportation. Geariy, chemical company formation of plant commu nity advisory panels is one way for the industry to provide its own perspec tive on publicly available evidence. Federal, as well as state, legislation either requires information on chem ical use or the nature of chemical dis charge at the nation's plants. Some legislation specifically requires pub lic access to the information. Other information filed with the Environ mental Protection Agency (EPA) of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration is available via spe cial request. Some of the more im portant federal legislation is: Emergency Planning & Commu nity Right-to-Know law (1986; Title III of the Superfund Amendments & Reauthorization Act)--Chemical fa cilities must report their annual emissions of listed toxic chemicals (the Toxics Release Inventory) into the air, water, and ground. Title III section 313 requires facilities to re port those emissions annually to EPA. Title III sections 311 and 312 re quire reporting of hazardous chemi cals stored at facilities to Local Emer gency Planning Committees. It also requires companies to file material safety data sheets detailing basic haz ards with the committees. Gean Air Act (1990 amendments)-- Lists 189 toxic air pollutants. The law requires chemical plants to develop risk management plans concerning the hazards posed by the plant, including the worst case scenario. The plans will have to be shared with the public by 1996. Clean Water Act (1987)--Allows for citizen suits if companies dis charge pollutants into navigable wa ters in excess of permit levels. Occupational Safety & Health Act (1970)--Regulates worker exposure to toxic substances. Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (1976)--Creates a cradle-to-grave manifest system to track hazardous chemical shipments. Legislation con tains a list of 400-plus discarded haz ardous chemical by-products that must be treated before drey can be dis posed of. Toxic Substances Control Act (1976)--Requires notices for newly de veloped or newly imported chemical substances be died with EPA 90 days prior to import or manufacture. on the panels. It is important that employees who know com munity leaders and community activists make up a steering committee, and that hey ask what constituent groups fairly represent the community. Community groups that might be represented on a panel include racial minorities, blue-collar workers, students, retired people, and especially environmental activists, since CAPs deal with many environmental issues. Chamber of Commerce members are not always ideal CAP members, since they are likely to pat their chemical industry neighbors on the back, says Bowman. Although he says activists have a place on CAPs, "assertive activists who tend to dominate a group with an activist agenda," may disrupt what he sees as a CAP'S purpose--coming up with a community consensus. Bowman has no doubt that chemical companies became involved with CAPs to improve their public image. Other industries that have suffered in the public eye, such as the nuclear and tobacco industries, have not started any similar program on such a large scale in reaction to community concerns, he says. And in his judgment, chemical compa nies are sincere in working with CAPs. They are making their best efforts to explain their toxic releases and the na ture of chemical storage at plant sites. Disaster planning since the 1950s To give the industry credit for its early organized efforts on behalf of a community's well-being, Jim Wick, DuPont safety, health, and environment manager, tells of efforts dating back to 1951. Then, the Sabine-Naches Chiefs Association brought together local police, fire services, and chemical plant opera tors in Sabine County, Beaumont, and Orange, Tex., in an ef fort to share resources in the event of a fire. Another such lo cal group was the Hazardous Materials Advisory Council (HMAC) formed in 1980 in Memphis, Tenn., under the aus pices of the mayor's office and county officials. It included DuPont, other local industries, and the Memphis fire depart ment with its new hazardous materials response team. The Memphis effort, says Wick, grew out of local concern following a 1979 accident at DuPont's distribution terminal. The accident involved a fire and exploding drums containing pesticides. The HMAC, says Wick, was an early forerunner of LEPCs. But as Wick points out, these early compacts were meant to bring industry together with local fire and disaster planning officials. They take a measured, rational approach to disaster scenarios. They are not, however, set up to deal with the emotional issues surrounding not only disaster planning, but also pollution abatement, safety, and a host of other local concents of plant neighbors. Dick Knowles, plant manager at DuPont's Belle, W.Va.r complex, had some early experience dealing with the emo tional issues. Ten years ago, as a plant manager for DuPont in Niagara Falls, N.Y., he formed a Chemical Liaison Committee with Love Canal area residents as an offshoot of the HMAC DuPont helped form in that community. That early attempt at raising emotional issues with area residents came more than a decade after the discovery that an abandoned toxic chemi cals dump had allegedly affected residents' health. He has also helped form a CAP at the plant he manages today in West Virginia's chemical production center, the Kanawha Valley. He says that in his experience, the best time to form such a community group is ffoefore-a sbewup^-andnot^fter. when establishing a dialogue is more difficult., / A'sTpIahTfnana^rTTi^^aysrfieTias acquired the skill to listen to his plant's neighbors. That skill was not one he ever s DSW 137228 STLCOPCB4037183 thought he would need years ago, "but now the rules have says. NICS publishes a "Citizens' Guide for Environmental changed; it's important." CAPs are based on a "simple Issues," which provides a summary of environmental laws idea," says Knowles. People can "sit down and talk. We can and issues and gives chemical definitions. Its printing is un discuss difficult issues and still value each other as people," derwritten by EPA. and not see one another as representative of a company Pam Nixon, a member of the Institute CSAP and a commu logo or environmental position. Knowles attributes Du nity activist, says the CSAP forces companies to realize their Pont's willingness to be open to the CAP and the commu responsibilities to residents. The Institute CSAP covers plants nity for the success the company recently had in attaining a that Rhone-Poulenc, Union Carbide, FMC, and Arco Chemi permit to dispose of nonhazardous sludge behind the Belle cal operate; Institute has about 600 residents and is part of the plant. There was not a single adverse comment from the greater Charleston area (population 250,000). Whenever a public. Tlie DuPont plant employs 950 people at its 500-acre chemical release affects the community (once or twice a year), site at Belle, whose population is 4,000. companies are held responsible for hospital bills residents Before DuPont formed its Belle CAP, it participated in a may incur as a result. Community Safety Assessment Panel (CSAP) with other In December, the Institute CSAP heard a report from Van nearby chemical operations, but the company says local inter Long, plant manager of Rhone-Poulenc's Institute plant, on est waned in the CSAP and so it now operates a CAP. Just as an investigation of the Aug. 18,1993, explosion in a thiodi- CMA's CAER program was an effort to improve industry carb insecticide unit. Communities adjacent to the plant had disaster response after the Bhophal accident, the CSAPs were selected an "independent"consultant to investigate the acci developed in the Kanawha Valley to address community dent that killed one worker, injured two others, and sent fears following the Bhophal incident. nearby residents scrambling for cover from black smoke is Kanawha Valley residents had reason to be especially con suing from the site. But Nixon says the consultant only re cerned because Union Carbide's Institute, W.Va., plant manu viewed Rhone-Poulenc's report on the accident, and "dis factured methyl isocyanate--the same chemical released at claimed" any original investigations of the incident. The Carbide's Bhopal plant. Ironically, shortly after the Bhopal Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) just accident. Carbide's Institute plant also accidentally released this month proposed $1.6 million in fines against Rhone- methyl isocyanate, injuring more than 100 people and add Poulenc and says Rhone-Poulenc's report on the accident ing to local concerns. was "inaccurate." Rhone-Poulenc is contesting OSHA'S First community forums fines, and disputes OSHA's assessments of the report. Nix on says the Institute CSAP is keeping close tabs on these After the Bhophal and Institute methyl isocyanate releases, developments. plant neighbors "wanted to know what was going on behind the plant fence," says Thad Epps, Kanawha regional director Small community panels of public affairs for Union Carbide. Residents, with help from Although CSAPs have been around in the Kanawha Val local political, business, and industrial representatives, and ley for about seven years, such groups are relatively recent from the University of Charleston, fostered the CSAP, a com occurrences in other communities. Ciba-Geigy's CAP in munity-run forum open to the public and press. McIntosh, Ala., has been in place for about two years, says The concept of CSAPs predates CMA's CAPs, says Paul Jill R. Haynes, community relations supervisor at the plant. L. Hill, president of the National Institute of Chemical Stud The six-member CAP includes the town mayor, a police ies (NICS), in Charleston, W.Va. "They are meant to be man, and four others who are "racially and ethnically rep open to everyone, like a New England town meeting," he resentative" of the 400 or so people who live in and around says. NICS is a "third-party broker" and acts as a bridge McIntosh and Ciba's 1,400-acre plant. No environmental ac between the chemical industry and its surrounding commu tivists are on the CAP, and Haynes adds that she is not nity, he explains. DuPont, Monsan to, and Union Carbide provided much of the original funding for NICS. The Environmental Protec tion Agency and other federal agen cies now provide 80% of NICS's an nual $1 million budget. There are differences between CMA's CAP model and NICS's CSAPs, says Hill. A community res ident--not a facilitator, plant man ager, or company public affairs rep resentative--chairs and runs a CSAP. Area plant managers attend monthly meetings and public affairs person nel or attorneys are not allowed to stand in for them. Meetings are doc umented and minutes are available for public scrutiny. "We believe pub lic involvement is paramount," Hill A Community Advisory Panel in action at DuPont's Conoco subsidiary in Lake Charles, La. DSW 137229 FEBRUARY 28,1994 C&EN 11 STLCOPCB4037184 NEWS FOCUS aware of anv who reside in the area. A retired Ciba employ ee serves as the group's facilitator. ' McIntosh Mayor Carroll Daugherty says the CAP has helped keep the community informed, reducing local fears about the plant's impact on the environment. The CAP has also helped increase the amount of business the company is doing with local people. Daugherty, whose constaiction firm works for Ciba and other area companies such as UOP, Coastal Refinery, and Scott Paper, says he is confident the company is operating above environmental "guidelines." He admits, though, that "not being a scientist or chemist, you have to take their word for it." Daugherty's only quarrel is with EPA which, he says, has held back on approving remediation plans for a Superfund site at the plant. Ciba, he complains, has spent $6 million to S7 million on studies and "not a shovelful has been moved" in a project expected to cost SI75 million. He is convinced that mercury at the Superfund site is monitored and is not migrating to area homes outside the plant, but he is still concerned about the effect of the two Superfund sites in the area, including Ciba's, on local property values. Though CAP meetings generally are not open to the public, Daugherty says the public was invited to an open meeting of the CAP this month. When closed monthly meetings are held, plant personnel brief the CAP on cur rent operations, and "then they leave and we have our own meeting. Most people who live here work at the plant" and do not want anv plant management to be in on discussions for fear of possible retribution, he notes. The local cable station also interviews CAP members and airs their comments. ` Stance Rignev, McIntosh fire chief and a first-line produc tion supervisor at Ciba's 1,300-employee plant, says the community's LEPC operates independently of the CAP. About 19 other volunteer fire departments, eight or nine of whose chiefs are also Ciba employees, participate in the LEPC. County taxes, local fund raising, contributions, and donations of equipment from Ciba have helped the county of 10,000 prepare for local emergencies in coordination with area chemical plants, savs Rignev. Small communities may be so grateful for the jobs that a chemical plant brings into an area that they may be reluc tant to question the plant's operation too closely. Although no one says that is the case with Ciba's McIntosh plant, it is a concern in the similarly small town of Seadrift, Tex. (pop ulation 600), in Calhoun County (population 10,000), where Union Carbide operates an industrial chemicals, solvents, and olefins facility employing 1,000 people on its 3,400-acre site on the Gulf Coast. According to Diane Wilson, who formed what she says is the only environmental group in the area--the Calhoun County Resource Watch--most residents are afraid to speak out against the hand that feeds them. After a March 1991 explosion that killed one and injured 32 workers at the plant, Wilson and her 70-member group tried to get Car bide to release information to the public about the accident as well as safety audits, worst case scenarios, and informa tion on toxic chemicals (C&EN, Oct. 5,1992, page 30). After confrontations between Wilson's group and plant officials, and also involving Union Carbide's chairman, Robert D. Kennedy, Wilson believes Carbide is still pretty much ignoring her. A recently formed CAP at the plant does not include her or any members of her group, because, Wilson says, the consultant who helped form the panel was afraid she would dominate the group. "Responsible Care is a great idea," says Wilson, "but it is still in their heads and not in the way they do things." . For the company's part, a Union Carbide spokesman says the Seadrift CAP meets monthly and is operating effectively. Dave Wingate, human resources manager at the plant, says the CAP includes members of two environmental groups-- the Sierra Club and the Gulf Coast Conservation Association, a sports fishermen's group. Al though the CAP does not include Wilson, Wingate suggests that CAP members "could" decide to invite her in the future. For now, the com pany has an "agreement" with Wil son to "meet and exchange data and work toward common goals." But to hear her tell it, Wilson savs she is still concerned about the effluent released from the **<*' Kingsport community surrounds Eastman Chemical's Tennessee facility taliore); the plant's C(>' annuity Advisory Panel. i2 11 mn \kv :s. iuur v f \ DSW 137230 STLCOPCB4037185 NEWS FOCUS iniueha Cautions, considerations in setting up advisory panels Setting up an active Community Ad visory Panel (CAP) entails a number of cautions, say communications ex perts. According to Caron Chess, di rector for Environmental Communi cations at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., there are many rea sons why a CAP could "explode in a company's face." Those reasons may vary depend ing on the company's historic rela tionship with the community in which it operates, its record on the environ ment, and its success in dealing with CAPs, says Chess. Although compa nies that form CAPs may not be able to change their history or past envi ronmental record, they can decide whether their CAP will provide just another opportunity to schmooze with their supporters in the community, or be a forum for listening and improv ing communications with the commu nity as a whole. If the company appoints only its sup porters to CAPs, it creates just another buffer between the company and the community, says Chess. Companies ought to have definite CAP goals and these goals should be in writing. Com panies should also be "absolutely dear" on their willingness to take criticism from outsiders. If the company implies it will take its CAP'S advice and does not do so, it will only make its relation ship with the CAP and community worse. In addition, a company manager should deal directly with the CAP, and not a public relations offidal whose job may be "to keep the community off the manager's back." Chess thinks the Chemical Manu facturers Assodation's (CMA) CAP ex periment is "laudable," but believes there is little real evaluation of "this grand experiment" CMA's own self evaluation really doesn't answer ques tions of what works with CAPs. Chess and Frances Lynn of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, have start ed a two-year study with funding from the Hazardous Substance Management Research Center, Newark, N.J, which is in turn funded through the National Sdence Foundation. The object is to do a systematic study of CAPs that have a positive impact in their communities and that people outside the company and CAP say are exemplary. Peter Bowman, director of the Cen ter for Conflict Analysis & Manage ment at the University of Houston, Clear Lake, says that evaluating the success of a CAP is often problemat ic. Sometimes it is hard to identify the CAP'S advice, which "is often im plied in an attitude, such as a general pressure on the company to reduce toxic emissions." In other cases, says Bowman, it is hard to raise tough issues because panel members may be appreciative of the jobs the company brings into the community, or because the ordinary citizen on the panel may be psycho logically impressed with company of ficials, or because panel members lack the technical expertise to understand plant operations. Joanna D. Underwood, president of the New York City-based environ mental group Inform, says CAPs can work welL But, she says, for CAPs to work companies must get a better feel for the breadth of citizens' concerns, know that toxics emissions numbers are widely reported and that commu nities wiU push for reductions, look with fresh eyes at their products, and remain open to suggestions. plant, which may affect not only the town's drinking water supply but also the sea life in Galveston Bay. Wilson's group is made up largely of commercial shrimp fishermen. They have had their worst fishing season ever and suspect Carbide may be a large part of the problem. She does give the compa ny credit for signing onto a state program to limit pollution and resolve conflict with the community, but is waiting for some results. Some members are frustrated T In Allen County, Ohio, where BP has a refinery and chemicals plant, government officials formed a 12-member Environmental Citizens Advisory Council (ECAC) that in cluded members of a local environmental group who later decided to withdraw. Unlike Seadrift, where Wilson con tends she was rejected from the CAP, Noreen Wamock, a member of the Allen Citizens for the Environment (ACE), was invited to join the ECAC but later decided to withdraw along with another ACE member. Wamock was not satis fied with the depth of discussions concerning BPs plans for dealing with its waste emissions. David L. Rosebrock, health commissioner for Allen County and chairman of the ECAC, says the ECAC was formed in 1989 when BP in Lima, a city in Allen County, proposed test runs of a mobile hazardous waste incinerator. BP employs about 1,000 people on a 1,000-acre site outside Lima, which has a population of about 45,000. BP's prede cessor, Standard Oil of Ohio, has had operations in Lima since 1886. The county formed the ECAC group to include local health, safety, and fire officials, along with three citi zens, two of whom were Wamock and another member of her group. Meetings are generally open to the public, and BP safety and environment officials from both BPs refinery and chemicals operations are almost always present, as is the plant manager. Minutes and reports originating from meetings are on file in the city library. Wamock says she initially joined the ECAC because she suspects children living in residential areas adjacent to the plant could be harmed by airborne contaminants from the plant. Her own infant developed serious respiratory prob lems when she lived about two miles from the plant. She has since moved to a house 16 miles from the plant. Wamock and her group "felt our process was too slow," says Rosebrock. Wamock agrees, describing her membership on the ECAC as "a frustrating experience." She says that her group has found a better means to reach BP. With help from the New York City-based environmental group Inform, ACE has been able to meet directly with BP officials in daylong sessions to discuss waste reduction at the source of manufac ture. "BP is becoming more aware of our concerns," she says. "It took six years of pressure, and probably only because of the pressure have they started to respond." A spokeswoman for BP says the ECAC was formed in part at the company's suggestion. It has helped "increase the level of emotional comfort" surrounding BP's opera tions in the community. Doing so, she acknowledges, has p* 3S oo Q STLCOPCB4037186 NEWS FOCUS Dow has 16 Community Advisory Panels worldwide Community Advisory Panels Gayles Ferry, Conn. Allyn's Point Plant Ironton, Ohio Hanging Rock Plant Pittsburg, Calif. Torrance, Calif. Joliet, III. Plaquemine, La. - Midland, Mich. , Freeport, Tex. Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta Sarnia, Ontario Barry, Wales Rheinmuenster, Germany Stade, Germany Aratu, Brazil Guaruja, Brazil Altona, Australia Under consideration Temeuzen, the Netherlands King's Lynn, England not been easy because the public is not "scientifically liter ate," and it is difficult for facility operators to describe envi ronmental issues in nontechnical terms. Although Wamock and her group withdrew from thenlocal version of the CAP and found other means to pursue environmental issues with BP, in another case--that of Dow's Midland, Mich., CAP--a committed environmental activist has decided to remain on the CAP despite her belief that the company does not fully respond to concerns. When it comes to dealing with some issues, such as helping local suppliers do business with Dow, the company has respond ed, says Mary Sinclair. On environmental matters, she says, she has "reached a stone wall." Sinclair applauds Dow's decision to form a task force to examine the safety of chlorine derivatives and start an envi ronmental technology center that would transmit its find ings to company facilities. But when she asked Dow what it was doing to phase out chlorine, the company gave her CAP a presentation that acknowledged the dangers of chlo rine and then continued with a presentation on "how won derful chlorine was." The presentation, she says, defended the manufacture of chlorine and derivatives, in part based on the number of jobs it brought into the community. Dow employs 3,500 people on its 1,600-acre manufacturing site in the Midland community of 38,000. "I want to see the CAP work," says Sinclair. She does not want to go through the "bruising" adversarial conflict she had with Dow when she opposed the construction of a nu clear power plant in Midland some years ago. Sinclair says Dow excluded the local media in a meeting she had with 16 FEBRUARY 28, IW C&EN company officials and an outside expert concerning the chlorine issue, and she considers the CAP "a perversion" of the open forum it ought to be. Jerry Ring, the Dow manager of public affairs who acts as the company liaison to the CAP, says Sinclair "asks good questions and challenges us. This is why we put the panel together. If we weren't challenged, we wouldn't learn any thing." Ring says the company may not necessarily take its panel members' recommendations, but "it is important that we consider" their views. The Dow Midland CAP has 16 members, says Ring, and has monthly meetings. Larry Washington, general manager of the Michigan division, attends all meetings. To ensure the CAP that the Tittabawassee River (which runs through Dow's plant) is healthy enough for swimming and fishing, Dow arranged for a meeting with a water quality expert and state natural resources officials to answer panel ques tions. Other topics the CAP has covered are employee health, child care, and plant safety and security. Community squabble in Richmond, Calif. One of the less successful CAPs is the one that reviews Chevron's refinery and chemical operations in Richmond, Calif, (population 60,000), a largely poor, minority commu nity. Chevron's plant covers 3,500 acres on San Francisco Bay, and has 3,000 employees. The city also hosts many other chemical operations including Henkel, ICI, General Chemical, and Rhone-Poulenc. When the company recently filed for a permit with the lo cal planning commission to begin a $660 million refinery ex- DSW 137232 i STLCOPCB4037187 pansion, the CAP asked for a number of things before the project would proceed, including $60,000 to engage an out side consultant to review the company's project, installation of up-to-date remote-sensing monitors on the company's fence line to track emissions, and $2 million a year for 30 years to fund a health clinic and other community programs. With the help of several organizations, including a state en vironmental group based in San Francisco--Citizens for a Bet ter Environment (CBE) of California--the CAP succeeded in getting the planning commission to attach 11 of 12 land use conditions to the permit Chevron, however, succeeded in re moving most of those conditions, including the requirement for an outside consultant to track the project, at a city coun cil session late last month. The CAP cried foul, claiming the company negotiated secretly with city council members to fund those members' pet projects, but gutted most of the land use requests. Chris Howe, a government affairs manager for Chevron, says the year-old CAP has become a political forum out for its own gains and has not been the advisory committee Chevron sought. The city council, he says, only removed conditions that had no relevance to the refinery project. "It is difficult for us to recognize that a group we cooperated with" opposed Chevron's permit application, "but we still hold out some hope for the CAP." ' Groups outside Richmond, including CBE of California, have made the debate more rancorous and contentious than it needs to be, Howe says. He also believes that Chevron is caught between the neighborhood groups represented on the CAP and local elected officials. Since getting the permit for its expansion from the city council, the company has agreed to fund $2.4 million to operate a new health clinic in Richmond and purchase a mobile health van, and to provide $650,000 for a new siren warning system, $400,000 for the Police Athletic League, and $300,000 for a city emergency coordinator. Denny A. Larson, campaign director of CBE of California, says Chevron formed its CAP in Richmond after an acci dent in 1991 spread 40 tons of catalytic cracker dust contain ing nickel and alumina silica over a 16-square-mile area. His group describes its interest in the Richmond CAP and the dispute with Chevron as an effort to secure "environmental justice." A press release from CBE describes the permit con ditions the CAP sought as "offsets" to make up for the in creased toxic emissions community groups contend they would have to endure as a result of the refinery expansion. Sarah Eeles, a Richmond resident and CAP member, says she and most of her neighbors joined the CAP not sure of what a CAP was, but knowing enough that they would not become "mouthpieces for the company." The biggest suc cess of the CAP is that the plant's "top brass" attends meet ings, but it has been difficult to start dialogue. She says it is "still not clear what Chevron's objective is" in forming the CAP since it appears difficult for the company's manage ment "to ask for or listen to our advice." Advisory panels are not always necessary Orange County, New York (popula tion 308,000), 50 miles north of New York City, is not a chemical industry manufacturing center. It is, however, a major trucking thoroughfare; the New York State Thruway and routes 84 and 17 are major arteries serving traffic between New England, points south, and Canada. A chemical spill at the site of a truck accident or a truck cargo transfer point is an ever present danger. County officials have recently be come concerned about threats from chemical spills because of a smolder ing hazardous chemical fire last Oc tober at Yellow Freight's Maybrook, N.Y., 300-trailer-capacity distribution center. In such a case, a community advisory panel is not nearly as im portant as good emergency coordina tion between truckers and county emergency services to prevent chem ical accidents from becoming deadly. According to Sandy Stanish, man ager of environmental services for the trucking firm Yellow Freight, based in Overland Park, Kan., the ac cident convinced the company and county officials they may not be ful ly prepared in the event of a worse fire. While Yellow Freight and the county got the October incident un der control without serious repercus sions, the two groups say there is still a problem. Their ability to respond to a chemical hazard is now limited, in part because no companies with the resources to advise on chemical spills are very close by, says Stanish. Yellow Freight can track hazardous materials shipped on its trucks, ac cess material safety data sheets for those shipments 24 hours a day, and engage a certified local contractor to respond in the event of an accident, says Stanish. But she acknowledges that the county and Yellow Freight must be prepared to coordinate chem ical or other serious emergencies in small communities that border major thoroughfares. According to Orange County exec utive Joe Rampe, the county has a hazardous materials team in place, but it is only capable of giving tech nical assistance in an emergency. He says the county needs a fully trained hazardous materials team and better coordination with fire departments and other emergency services. He adds he is looking for funding for this planning effort from companies that ship hazardous materials through the county, because it is in the best interest of both the county and those companies. This effort, he points out, is just in its infancy. Stanish says meetings are under way to coordinate emergency re sponse efforts between state police, ambulance services, area hospitals, fire officials, the county executive, and county legislators. The hope is, she says, that a formal county local emergency planning committee will get under way and that training and drills will eventually include how re sponders should enter a truck trailer after an accident. DSW 137233 FKBRUARY 2H. I *>4 C&HNl 17 i i 1i STLCOPCB4037188 NEWS FOCUS Eeles says Chevron did not consult with the panel before submitting its permit to the planning commission. And af ter the permit was filed, the plant manager evaded negoti ating with the panel but was available to "make a deal" with the city council. She thinks the "CAP is a very healthy thing," but adds sardonically that it has "changed every thing but our mode of thinking." Despite the bad blood that has developed between CAP members and Chevron, most CAP members and Chevron of ficials say they are still willing to give the process a chance. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Eastman Chemical's experience with its CAP in Kingsport, Tenn. (population about 45,000). The company's 1,000-acre site there employs 13,000 people. Its four-year-old CAP has 16 members and now meets every other month, because monthly was too fre quent, says community relations manager Bill Edwards. The company selected members who had no direct affiliation with Eastman, who lived in the community, and who had no reti cence about sharing their opinions on the company, Edwards says. Five initial panel members themselves decided to rotate off the panel, and remaining panel members approved Eastman's selection of new members. Bill Garwood, president of Eastman Chemical's Tennessee Eastman division, attends all meetings. Panel members have questioned the company about odors, noise, air, and water pollution. Environmental concerns re main the principal preoccupation of the CAP, says Edwards. Hazardous waste incineration, emergency preparedness, and INDUSTRY IS GETTING READY FOR THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION Plastics Nftjwp , <Vr ^ cPrtfucer*00* Cosmetics U.S. CHEMICAL INDUSTRY BCBue'c"'* Automotive ^0-S?C' Se*`C00d IS YOUR COMPANY READY? The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) will directly affect hundreds of private sector chemical manufacturers and users. Effective in early 1995, the CWC will require those companies to: Submit reports on the production, processing, international trading, and consumption of many organic chemicals: Report plant Information and anticipated production plans; Host on-site inspections by international verification teams. The Convention has been submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification. Implementing regulations and guidelines will follow. The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency is sponsoring one-day briefings for industry on the treaty and its implementation. Please plan to attend at one of the following locations: Atlanta, GA: Atlanta Airport Marriott Tuesday, April 12, 1994 New Orleans, LA: New Orleans Airport Hilton Friday, April 15, 1994 Las Vegas, NV: Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Friday, April 29,1994 Baltimore, MD: Sheraton International Hotel Tuesday, May 3, 1994 Boston, MA: Logan Airport Hilton Thursday, May 5, 1994 Chicago, 1L- Radisson Suite Hotel Glenview Wednesday, May II, 1994 Briefings will run from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. An optional fee of $35.00 per attendee will cover materials, refreshments, and a working lunch. For more information on the CWC briefings contact: Mr. Geoff Nagler, EA1 Corporation 2111 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 302. Alexandria, VA 22314-4679 Phone: (800) 528-1041 or (703) 739-1033 FAX: (703) 739-1525 CIRCLE 25 ON READER SERVICE CARD Several members ofa Community Advisory Panel in Plaquemine, La, review the water treatmentfacility at Dow's Louisiana division. response to accidents and injuries at the plants have been concerns of the panel as well. Edwards says the panel advised Eastman that although its programs were good, no one in the community, including Eastman employees, knew enough about them. Eastman has started "environmental tours" of the plant for all employees and has a tour program for com munity residents during the warmer months. Edwards says the company has purchased a number of full-page advertisements in the Kingsport Times with pic tures of CAP members "so people in the community would know about the panel." As a result, friends and neighbors have contacted panel members about concerns. Although CAP meetings are not automatically open to the public and media, Edwards points out that the CAP has never rejected a request by anyone interested in attending. Roy Settle, a district conservation officer with the Soil Con servation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says he was concerned that sitting on Eastman's CAP would ap pear to be an endorsement of the company. He told Edwards that if at any time it appeared that way, "I would resign." And he adds, "I do not think they have tried to take advan tage of me." Settle says Eastman has spent money on a number of CAP recommendations. The dialogue is good and he "re spects Eastman for seeking out people that were not 'yes' people." He is impressed with Eastman's computer warn ing system to track the movement and toxicity of any acci dental plant release, and its alert system for neighbors in the event of an accident. Settle would like to see the company make more of an effort to reduce air emissions. "Businesses are realizing more their impact on the community besides the dollars they bring into the local economy," he says. Conner Caldwell, Kingsport fire chief and a CAP member, explains that the CAP effort is separate from the LEPC's func tion. The former is an effort to improve communications with citizens and the latter is a matter of emergency preparedness, involving over 100 people whose efforts include dealing with hazardous materials, evacuations, and the media. Eastman, he 4rr N r m 3E 00 Q STLCOPCB4037189 adds, took a lead role in forming the LEPC long before it was required by federal regulation. Caldwell says malodorous emissions from the plant "are always a problem." On the CAP'S recommendation, Eastman has now added full-time personnel to work on odor reduction. Caldwell is not concerned about East man's management of its hazardous waste incinerator. As for Eastman's ability to notify its neighbors in the result of a hazardous release, he "would love a warning system in every home." He has in mind a radio system that would interact with the countywide emergency alert system now in use. Faye Young, an Eastman CAP member who lives half a mile from the plant and directs a 24-hour human crisis line, says CAP members ask Eastman officials many questions and keep their ears open to find out what neighbors want to know. She says the company provides emissions data to the CAP on a regular basis. "They show us what they are doing" to reduce those emissions "and what plans are" for further reductions. The company is "diligently trying" to improve the community's attitude toward Eastman. Eastman's Edwards says Rohm and Haas helped his company with its early efforts to set up CAPs at Eastman sites. According to John McKeogh, Rohm and Haas director of communications, he worked on behalf of his employer to try to defeat the first "right-to-know law" in the U.S., passed in Philadelphia in 1980. The company learned from the experience that it had to "put a human face on what we do," says McKeogh. By the time Congress passed similar federal legislation in 1986, Rohm and Haas had advisory councils in all of its plants. - Although some may believe that a CAPs primary objec tive is to help a company better disseminate information to the pubjic, that is a secondary concern, says McKeogh. A CAP'S primary focus is to "enable a community to have an impact on the thinking of chemical company management," he says. In his experience, it has been important to include at least one person who has been critical of the company on each CAP. McKeogh explains that the company does not necessar ily change its critics to supporters, but those critics have "moved from critical with a venom to critical for a con structive purpose." If a CAP "just advances the com pany's causes... you probably do not have a good CAP." The company and its community "do not benefit from cheerleaders." Environmental groups remain among the chief critics, but it is interesting that even the most critical would somehow like CAPs to succeed. Fred Millar, director of the toxics project for the environmental group Friends of the Earth, in Washington, D.C., believes most CAPs are merely an indus try effort to "preempt an activist government." Millar says that taken at face value, the idea of a CAP is good, but in practice, companies tend to dominate CAPs and the out come is almost always disheartening. But aside from what companies, environmental critics, and individual panelists may say about their expectations for the ideal CAP, it is important, says CAP facilitator Sheri dan, to recognize that each CAP will be different. Each chemical plant is different, as are its operators, products, and pollutants. As no two people are alike "no two CAPs are alike or have to be alike," she says. Applications Highly selective reducing agent for-. Aldehydes & Ketones Oximes & Enamines Animation of Aldehydes & Ketones Alkylation of Amines & Hydrazines Displacement of Halides & Tosylotes Quantities Research & multi-kilo lots Ton quantities-piease inquire To Order To order Sodium Cyanoborohydride or to receive a FREE SAF Brochure, Please contact us: TEL: 800436-9719 FAX; 800-368-4661 BULK CHEMICALS (the power of threef Sigma, Aldrich, Fluko Chemical Companies DSW CIRCLE 8 ON READER SERVICE CARD FEBRUARY 28, 1<W4 C&EN 21 137235