Document G6pY1vXZ3JRzoyM4n1B1JdJJr

Chemical Manufacturers Association Volume 17 Number 6 July/August 1989 Summer is a perfect time to hold an '7*)'l O' open house and share the wonder of chemistry with neighbors. This young ster has had his face painted like a lion and is getting a handful of "slim " during open house at a chemical plant in Louisiana. See page 14. BOR 0 0 5 5 2 5 CMANEWS July/August 1989 Mclntire named to head State Affairs In what he described as "the beginning of a new era in the Association's advo cacy program," CMA president Robert A. Roland has completed the establish ment of the new State Affairs Depart ment by naming the key people who will manage it. James D. Mclntire will lead the depart ment as vice president, a post he assumed June 1. Mclntire has a 15-year record of ac complishment in state and federal pub lic affairs, having served with the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants and the Ohio State Bar Association as director of government affairs. Mclntire also spent several years in Washington as the administrative assis tant to Ohio Congressman Clarence J. Brown. Most recently, he was director of public affairs for the Kroger Com pany and vice president and secretary of the Kroger Company Foundation. Bill Westendorf, director of State Affairs for the past four years, has assumed the new title of director, State Issues. Continuing to report to Westen dorf are states issues managers, Joan E. Riley, Larry F. Gallo, Mary B. Heaton, and Kymber Messersmith. The State Issues Division will remain the advocacy arm of the State Affairs Department and play an important role in developing and implementing an advocacy strategy for those states in which there is no chemical industry council. A new division of State Affairs, which will manage the Federation of State Chemical Industry Councils and CMA's association liaison functions, will be directed by Christopher Cathcart. That division will help state CIC's with organizational matters and man age the grants program that is a key part of the new state affairs initiative. Cath cart will also work with CMA's mem bership recruitment campaign. As a result of the increasingly signifi cant impact state activities have on the chemical industry, CMA's board of directors approved last October a far Mr. Mclntire BOR 005526 Mr, Westendorj Mr. Cathcart reaching commitment to improve the industry's capabilities at the state level. A key portion of the overall program is to build and foster through a chemical industry federation an effective network of professionally staffed state chemical organizations in priority states. These organizations will serve as the focal point for industry advocacy efforts in their respective states. Importantly, the program also recog nizes the vital role member companies must play in this effort by calling explic itly for both increased company finan cial support of the CIC's and hands-on CIC involvement by senior executives of member companies. Technical reorganizes CMA's Technical Department is being restructured to keep pace with the broadening scope of issues facing the Association, according to department head Dr. Geraldine V. Cox. Four divisions will be created by the change. The current Health and Safety Division will be divided into two divisions; Health Issues, managed by Gordon D. Strickland, who has been promoted to assistant vice president, Technical Department. Safety and Plant Operations, managed by Kyle Olson, who has been promoted new division director. His responsibilities include CAER, Title III, chemical weapons and drug policy. Mr. Strickland Mr. Olson The current National Chemical Response and Information Center (NCRIC) Division will be divided into; Distribution, managed by Dick Doyle, who has been promoted to direct that division, and NCRIC, managed by Joe May- hew, division director. His responsibili ties include CHEMTREC and the Chem ical Referral Center. As vice president. Dr. Cox will con tinue to be in charge of the Technical Department but will share its manage ment with Strickland. Dr. Cox will have direct supervision of the CHEMSTAR, NCRIC and Envi ronmental Divisions. The Health, Safety and Plant Operations and Distribution Divisions will report to Strickland. Mr, Doyle Mr, Mayhew Responsible Care called `the future' Responsible Care "is the future of the chemical industry," CMA president Robert Roland told company coordina tors for the initiative at their first meet ing in Washington recently. Roland predicted that Responsible Care eventually will be implemented in every business around the world. "It will be the way that chemistry and chemicals again become understood and appreciated as the lifeblood of our com merce, of our culture, of our health, of our society." Eugene McBrayer, president of Exxon Chemical Company and chairman of MA's executive committee, said the Management codes of practices "will Pit flesh and bones on the concept of Responsible Care and make it a reality." Codes are currently being developed for Community Awareness and Emer gency Response (CAER), plant safety, transportation safety and release reduc tion and management. CMA president Robert Roland (c) makes a point at the Responsible Care Coordinators meeting. Other participants are Ernie Ruppe (l), chairman of the coordinating group, and EugeneMcBrayer, chairman of CMA's executive committee. The CAER code is expected to be completed by the end of 1989. The others should be final by the end of 1990. The codes "won't fall into place easily," McBrayer said. "Each code must be meaningful. It has to have some teeth in it in order to gain the public credibility that the industry really is trying to improve its performance." McBrayer said industry "cannot settle for the lowest common denominator approach and have anything meaning ful come out of this." Noting that the initiative has gener ated a lot of activity, he cautioned that "success is not guaranteed by activity alone. Our activity has to produce results that are meaningful to the public. "We will be measured on progress in fewer accidents, fewer injuries and fewer emissions. These will be the true measure of success of Responsible Care," McBrayer concluded. One major event at the workshop was a preview of current drafts of the codes of management practices. At breakout sessions, coordinators had their first chance to provide comments on the direction, shape and timing of the codes. Ernie Ruppe, chairman of the Respon sible Care Coordinating Croup, stressed the importance of the coordinator's role in getting their company's input to the program as it develops. Advisory panel describes public concerns At the first meeting of Responsible Care's Public Advisory Panel, CMA president Robert Roland challenged its members to help industry properly address the concerns of the public and help identify issues for Responsible Care to address. The panel, which met in Washington in mid-May, is managed by Pat Delbridge Associates, the Toronto group that also manages the Canadian Chemical Pro ducers Association's advisory panel. The initial ten of the eventual 20 panel members attended the first meeting. Their occupations and wterests include: farmers, recyclers, a Bre chief, representatives from Environmental coalitions, an engineer, a city management official, a futurist, an ethicist, a consumer advocate and a public policy professor. "None of them are nationally recog nized people, at least from a media standpoint. They function more as a highly selected and selective focus group--with a difference--a chance to make an impact on policy," says Jon Holtzman, CMA's vice president of Communications. "Our agreement with the panel is that we won't talk about who they are until and unless they are ready. We don't want to imply that they approve of everything we do, and we don't want to use them or appear to use them." Ted Byers from Cambridge Associ ates reviewed survey data demonstrat ing the public's negative view of the chemical industry. He indicated that there is accelerated pressure for the chemical industry to respond to the pub lic's concerns. The initial concerns of the panel: Human health and exposure to chemicals; User and consumer education on the safe handling of chemicals, and Product and process stewardship over the life cycle of the chemical process. Holtzman's impression of the first panel meeting is positive "I'm impressed with the quality of the group. They are artic ulate, willing to speak their minds and to challenge each others' reasoning." The panel is anxious to participate in the Responsible Care process. Holtzman says, "The members want to get their sleeves rolled up and their hands dirty." In fact, panel members requested that they review the Community Awareness and Emergency Response Code at their second meeting in June. 3 r- Cvl in in o o O m CMANEWS July/August 1989 Board directing CMA's growth During his address to the membership at the annual meeting in June, CMA presi dent Robert Roland described the recent growth in the programs and activities of the Association. This facts-studded excerpt shows how CMA develops its muscle and where it is used. The advent of Responsible Care and the enhanced state advocacy program are evidence that CMA is growing. That growth has come in response to the needs of the membership and with the direct involvement of the board of directors. Mr, Kennedy Kennedy elected to headboard Robert D. Kennedy, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Union Carbide Corp., was elected chairman of the board of CMA at the annual meeting in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. He succeeds Robert C. Forney, an executive vice president of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. John W. Johnstone, Jr., chairman, president and chief executive officer of Olin Corp. was elected vice chairman of the board. H. Eugene McBrayer, presi dent of Exxon Chemical Company, was elected chairman of the executive committee. Robert A. Roland was reelected presi dent of the Association. 4 Over the past two years, more than 30 companies have joined CMA. They will contribute about $2 million in dues to the Association over the next year and will lend their experts to our activities. There are about 360 committees and task groups within CMA. They track some 200 issues that affect our industry. These committees and task groups hold 2,000 meetings a year at the CMA head quarters in Washington--meetings attended by 1,600 member company volunteers. Many of these member company vol unteers have testified before committees and subcommittees on Capitol Hill. In 1988, CMA representatives testified 20 times. We insist on getting our point of view across to those who make our laws, and lawmakers and their staffs are inter ested in what we have to say on a multi tude of issues. While members are asking more of CMA, the media are, too. In 1980, CMA received 1,200 calls from journal ists. Last year, 12,000 calls came in to our media relations division--a ten-fold increase in less than a decade. This is also true in CHEMTREC and at the Chemical Referral Center. CMA staff and member company rep resentatives get out and visit with writers and editorial boards at the nation's top newspapers and magazines. Over the past year, CMA conducted 125 media tours, and our level of media visits will continue to increase in fiscal year 1989-90. The Communications Department's broadcast unit provides 20 regular news programs a month to 3,000 radio stations in all 50 states and does special releases when a CMA representative testifies on Capitol Hill on issues like Clean Air Act reauthorization and SARA Title III. More than 200 television news releases are produced by CMA each year. They are distributed to 650 stations in all 50 states and Canada. All of the activities I have mentioned point to an Association that--thanks to your foresight--is in the vanguard of issues advocacy in Washington, in the state capitals and overseas. Witco lauded for membership Witco Corporation was recognized at the recent annual meeting for 50 years membership in the Association. CMA, founded in 1872 as the Manu facturing Chemists Association, is one ol the oldest trade associations in the Western Hemisphere. The Associatior began presenting anniversary award1 last year. The awards "recognize those compa nies whose longtime participation in thi Association has been so important to it development and growth." Companie are honored upon completion of 50, 7f and 100 years of membership. C Education crisis is here "We don't have to wait for the twentyfirst century. The crisis in chemical edu cation is here today," a science educator told industry executives at the annual meeting. At the same time, he described a novel technique that holds great promise for teaching chemistry and for industrial research. Pointing to a lack of federal support for chemistry education and research and a rapid decline in college chemistry majors, professor Dana W. Mayo of Bowdoin College in Maine warned that "we will experience an unprecedented shortfall in technically trained talent Ikrell before the end of the next decade." " Speaking on behalf of the 1989 Cata lyst Award winners. Dr. Mayo said that "the explosive growth of science and technology has generated a marvelously complex and sophisticated fabric to our society. Our current inability to attract and educate a significant fraction of the population in basic science can only result in catastrophic instability." Professor Mayo (l) works with a student. Underscoring his plea for more funds to small, liberal arts colleges. Dr. Mayo described a microscale organic labora tory that he and several colleagues developed with limited resources. Faced with costly renovations to his college's organic laboratory. Dr. Mayo decided to downscale the operation. "With the rapid development of power ful chemical instrumentation over the past forty yean, it is really no longer necessary to produce gram quantities of products in instructional laboratories," he reasoned. "We can easily operate at the milligram level." The results: Students mastered the relatively difficult small scale techniques at an ever accelerating pace; Experiments were completed in half the normal time; and Experiments were completed suc cessfully by essentially all the students. Mayo said the microscale laboratory experiment brought several revelations. "Better technique results in more suc cessful experiments, which lead to a stunning improvement in both the amount of chemistry covered (about double) and lab psychology. The major ity of students now enjoy the organic laboratory and an increasing fraction are completely infatuated with it." Another major dividend, Mayo said, is the "huge reduction of chemical waste products generated." By the time the program matures in the mid-1990s, Mayo predicted that it "will touch the majority of chemistry majors at all educational levels from sec ondary to graduate school. It will range across every form of institution from poorly equipped two-year community colleges to the largest and most wellendowed universities. "It is rapidly crossing all divisional boundaries and.. .it will significantly affect industrial research. " You'll like Bush's air bill, Reilly says President Bush's bill on clean air "is a simple, straightforward attempt to take a big chunk out of total national emis sions of toxic air pollutants at reasonable cost and in a reasonable timeframe," according to EPA administrator William K. Reilly. Speaking at CMA's annual meeting several days before the president un veiled the bill, Reilly said: "If you accept the idea that we have to do a better job of controlling air toxics, then you'll find a lot to like in the president's proposal." The bill will focus on the chemicals of ost concern, Reilly said, adding that e measure also gives EPA "the discre tion to think about costs and feasibility when it establishes levels of control." Reilly said the president is proposing new controls on toxic air pollutants because: The American people are becom ing increasingly concerned about the health effects of those pollutants, and The old legislation just doesn't work. "We've spent millions of dollars on the air toxics issue over the last two decades," the EPA administrator said, "but the environment has benefited damn little. "We've got to transfer all that money and energy out of the courthouse and into the workplace," Reilly continued. The president's proposal will encour age the use of market forces to control air pollution, Reilly said, noting that "The president believes very strongly that economic growth and environ mental protection are compatible." Mr. Reilly 5 BOR 0 0 5 5 2 9 CMANEWS July/August 1989 B0R 00553 0 We must reduce releases--Forney Speaking at CMA's recent annual meet ing, outgoing board chairman Bob For ney shared thoughts on where he sees the Association going and what the industry has to do to get there. Here are highlights: Without question, one of the most signifi cant developments in the Association during the past several years has been the commitment that we've made to Re sponsible Care. CMA has done a very successful job of developing the program elements and tailoring them to fit the needs of the U.S. chemical industry in the current public policy environment. We are aware, however, that at this point words mean little for our industry, and they can accomplish even less for it. The only thing that people are going to believe is performance. In the absence of performance, the slogans and the programs are only invitations for skeptics to label us as hypocrites. If we say one thing and do the opposite, we'll increase public cynicism rather than increasing public confidence. The challenge for member companies is to take this Responsible Care program and make it do the job for which it is intended. And that is to improve industry performance, and thereby the public perception that the chemical industry is ethical, safe and environmentally sound. Responsible Care provides us with the foundation. Rut to be successful, we're going to need genuine commitment on the part of all executive contacts. Responsible Care coordinators and your whole organization. If Responsible Care does not succeed in improving performance and public perception of our industry, it's not going to be easy to come up with something else that does. The next most important program ac tivity of the Association is our effort to increase our effectiveness at the state level of government. During the 1980s, CMA and the industry gained effective ness among government officials and elected leaders in Washington. We've still got a long way to go before we have similar recognition and credi bility in the states. We're making progress but, as I am sure you appreci- 6 ate, the challenge is very considerable. We can see that the shift in regulatory formulation from the federal to the state governments is in many respects just beginning, and it may very well acceler ate in the next decade. State superfunds, right-to-know laws, Proposition 65, other toxics control initiatives--these are all indicators that the state govern ments are going to be just as important in our future as the federal government. CMA has always tracked develop ments in the states but has never had major advocacy programs in place, and our links to the state industry councils have, frankly, been on the weak side. And even now, you've got to say that the state of chemical industry organization and advocacy in several very key states is best described as ragtag. This is going to have to change, and we're going to have to do it. The change is going to require great cooperation, considerable financial support, and a lot of sweat equity as we strive to build up these state CICs and get the most of what CMA has to offer in terms of sup port for industry concerns at the state level. I believe the single most important issue that we have to deal with is the impact of releases to the environment, and I mean this in the broadest sense of all releases, whether sudden or routine, to all media--air, land or water. The public is telling us that we're going to be responsible for everything that leaves our plants, be it an air emis sion, a release to a river or a stream, solid waste or product that somewhere down the line from us ends up where it should not be in the environment. Just as six years ago rusted drums were the primary symbol of everything that Americans think is wrong with our industry, today, our SARA 313 reports are destined to become an annual agony for us and a yearly exasperation for the public. At the top of the current list of public concern with releases is clean air. We successfully resisted the passage of a very poorly crafted toxic section of a clean air bill in the last Congress. But now this issue is back and some of the current proposals are at least a little bit better. We have successfully positioned CMA as a leader among industrial institutions in this arena. But to hold on to that lead ership role and the attention that it com mands, we're only going to do this if we continue to maintain our expertise, our credibility with legislators and with their staffers, and only if our perfor mance in reducing releases backs up what we say. In terms of releases to land, we're confronted with the increasingly diffi cult problem of solid waste. I don't mean just hazardous waste, although certainly that's one aspect of the prob lem where emotions run high and public debate is most intense. But rather, I mean waste as a symptom of how indus trialized societies are being perceived by some people as running up against the limits of growth. We in the chemical industry are right in the middle of the public's perceptions of these waste problems, whether it's haz ardous waste, plastic waste, abandoned waste sites--these are all pressure points that can be used as an excuse to moder ate chemical industry expansion, or even shut down chemical industry oper ations. In response, we obviously have to dedicate our resources to properly "The companies that get out in front on environmental issues are going to be the dinners down the road" treating, handling and disposing of all wastes and, where feasible, recycling it. We also have to acknowledge that, long term, the public is going to insist that we minimize or eliminate the gener ation of waste at the source. By the end of the next decade, waste minimization, or the lack of it, will be one of the most pressing policy challenges that will be faced by die members of this Association. In the area of water releases, our industry supported the modifications to the Clean Water Act that were enacted in the last Congress. The threat to the rivers and streams of our nation is increasingly from municipalities and agricultural runoff, rather than from our point sources. But we're going to have to go beyond the requirements of the Clean Water Act and reduce our releases further. Groundwater is going to be an area of ever-increasing concern. At the begin- ng of this decade, slighdy more than a larter of Americans thought that groundwater pollution was a serious problem. Last year, more than half did. In 1981, only seven percent of Ameri cans believed that most underground sources of water were polluted. Last year, 22 percent believed that. There's a real call for action for us in those numbers. The message to our industry is very dear. We need to reduce releases, emis sions and waste products that end up in the air, land or water. And through our Association's release reduction program and policy, we've agreed to work to re duce these releases into the environment. The companies that get out front on environmental issues are going to be the winners down the road. Those who compete best in meeting the environ mental demands of society are going to have a leg up on their competitors. At the same time, unacceptable prac tices on the part of any one company will tarnish the reputation of every other company. That's why our whole industry has got to be seen as committed to improved performance. I know that many of you and many of your plants have made real progress in reducing releases in recent years. But good as our progress has been, we're going to have to do a lot more. I also know that there is really no credible evidence of harm caused by the materials released into the environment at the levels that we release them. But evi dence of harm or lack thereof is really not the point at this stage. The mere fact that we are releasing materials of this sort into the environment in the amounts now reported is basically going to be unacceptable to the public. Companies win awards Dow Coming Corp., Midland, Mich., and Weyerhaeuser Company, Chemical Business, Tacoma, Wash., are being honored by CMA for their outstanding safety records. The safety awards are presented to: companies working more than 20 million exposure hours annually; companies working two to 20 mil lion exposure hours annually; and companies working less than two million exposure hours annually. There was no winner in the "large" company category this year. Lawrence A. Reed, president of Dow Coming Corp., accepted the award as mid-size company winner. Donald Work, Longview, Wash., chemical plant man ager, accepted the award for Weyer haeuser Company's chemical division in the small company category. Certificate awards were also an nounced for second place winners in the mid-size and small company categories. The companies are: Mid-size company--Quantum Chemical Corp., New York, N.Y.; Small Company--Carus Chem ical Company, Division of Carus Corp., LaSalle, HI. Donald Work (l) receives DuPont safety award from Mr. Forney. 7 BOR 0 0 5 5 3 1 CMANEWS July/August 1989 Introducing CHEMSTAR, our research arm Seven years ago, CMA's Phthalate Esters Panel faced $14 million in testing costs that EPA had ordered for a cate gory of plasticizers. The panel launched an intensive campaign to present indus try's position to the agency through briefings, comments and scientific workshops. After several years of advocacy with EPA, the effort paid off. Testing costs have been reduced to less than $2 mil lion spread over several years. This example has been duplicated many times by other CMA panels since such activities started in 1972. Their efforts save the industry many millions of dollars, help fashion regulations that are more effective and simpler to imple ment and keep viable products on the market. Until recently, this work was done under a CMA activity called Biomedical and Environmental Special Programs Division. The board has approved a move to raise the visibility of this impor tant activity, including renaming it Chemical Self-Funded Technical Advo cacy and Research, or CHEMSTAR. According to Dr. Langley Spurlock, director of CMA's CHEMSTAR Division, "each panel is a collection of companies that focuses on regulatory concerns or research for specific chemicals or chem ical categories. CHEMSTAR panels sponsor research to collect scientific information on the potential impact of substances on human health and the environment." The data, Spurlock said, "are used to promote the health and safety of the general public and those involved in the manufacture, processing, distribution, use and disposal of chemicals." Spurlock said that "CHEMSTAR panels also conduct advocacy to encour age governments to develop or modify regulations for the benefit of society and the chemical industry." CMA makes public final reports and significant findings from panel-spon sored research. Since the program began in the early 1970s, more than 50 panels have been chartered under CMA. Each panel may produce a variety of work products, depending on the needs of member com- 8 Contractorsfor the alkylphenol CHEMSTAR pond take stream samples during a national environ mental monitoring survey to test for presence of nonylphenols and their ethoxylates, which are ingredients of soaps. panies and the regulatory situation. CHEMSTAR panels are supported by every CMA department and by numer ous standing committees. The Associa tion's Administration Department helps ensure proper policy and financial man agement of CHEMSTAR activities. The Legal Department provides anti trust counselling and aids in negotiating contracts with outside consultants and laboratories that conduct research for panels. And the Communications Department disseminates significant research findings. CHEMSTAR coordinates its activities and plans with technical policy committees. Some panels have had a short life span due to the regulatory climates that surround them, but most persist because of regulations that continue to impact the chemicals. The first activity, which involved phosgene, is still in existence. Over the past 17 years, CMA member companies have spent $51 million on CHEMSTAR panels. The Association managed $15 million in panel funds in the past fiscal year alone. "Obviously, CHEMSTAR panels are.. .important to the economic health of our industry," according to Earnest Deavenport, senior vice president of Eastman Kodak Company. A CMA director and executive committee mem ber, he is chairman of the CHEMSTAR Policy Committee, which oversees panel activities. In a recent presentation to CMA's board on the name change, Deavenport said that the panels need "encourage ment from the top." He urged executive contacts of member companies to: Designate a senior corporate con tact who can direct information and corporate responses on specific chemical issues and act as liaison with CHEM STAR panels; Seek out panel representatives for briefings on their activities, and Gain an understanding of the per sonnel requirements of panels and assign needed technical staff when needed. Deavenport concluded that "As more chemicals become involved in the regu latory process, more panels will form and grow to meet the challenges of ensuring that new regulations do not hinder our industry's competitiveness. It is in all of our interests to promote their efficiency and effectiveness." 9 ^ O r*? 005533 CMANEWS July/August 1989 Waste reduction is good business--CMA "Waste reduction is good business," a CMA spokesman told the House Sub* committee on Transportation and Haz ardous Materials. "It reduces releases to the environ ment, resource use, manufacturing and waste management cost and liability and also responds to the growing public concern most recently spurred by SARA Title III," continued Morton Mullins, director of regulatory affairs for Mon santo Company. Mullins, who is also chairman of CMA's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act legislative work group, shared an example of Monsanto wastereduction activities that is indicative of industrywide practices. "By identifying improved gasket materials and maintenance procedures, modifying process equipment and treat ing the remaining emissions," a plant near Cincinnati achieved a 75 percent waste reduction, saving nearly $200,000 per year in raw materials and waste management costs. "While chemical manufacturers have pursued these types of waste and release reduction efforts individually for years," Mullins said, "CMA has recently insti tuted a voluntary, industrywide program to further stimulate release reduction. This initiative builds upon CMA's exist ing waste minimization program and air quality policy by extending waste reduction to all environmental media. "Using SARA Section 313 release inven tories at each plant as a starting point, member companies will develop reduc tion priorities based, among other things, on potential health and environmental impact and community exposure, and then formulate a release reduction plan," he said. "Progress and future plans will be communicated on a regular basis to the plant's employees and to the public." Mullins offered the following com ments on the pending federal legislative proposal, HR 1457: CMA supports "the use of qualita tive goals and reliance on voluntary programs." The association supports "the grants, technical assistance and infor mation clearinghouse as means to facili tate voluntary reduction." CMA supports the need to estab lish a comprehensive national database that quantities and can track trends in generation and management of waste. However, "the bill as drafted stops short of this goal by not recognizing treatment." CMA opposes the requirement to project future results. Mullins said the Association will con tinue to work with staff "to improve protection of confidential business infor mation and to clarify that closed-loop recycling is intended as a form of source reduction." Mullins added that "the bill contains many of the components CMA believes necessary to workable waste reduction legislation." Calendar Government Relations Briefing Break fast, July 27, Sheraton Carlton Hotel, Washington, D.C. Contact: Robert Hill (202) 887-1128. Communicating Ride: The CMA Work shop, September 19-20, Newark, N.J.; October 11-12, Chicago, 111.; and November 15-16, New Orleans, La. Contact: John Slavick (202) 887-1210. CHEMTREC Emergency Response Team Workshop, September 25, Holi day Inn, Pueblo, Colo. Contact: Alma Howard (202) 887-1263. International Chlorine Dioxide Sympo sium, November 1-2, Stouffer Con course Hotel, Denver, Colo. Contact: Robert Romano (202) 887-1198. CMA Chemical Industry Conference, November 6-7, Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C. Contact: Edith Fleming (202) 887-1114. Velsicol pledges cut in emissions Velsicol Chemical Corp. says it is com mitted to reducing hazardous chemical air emissions throughout the company 90 percent by 1994. According to Art Sigel, Velsicol's president and CEO, "SARA Title III has helped define the public's agenda on toxic chemicals. A clear picture of the public's perception of industries which transport, use and manufacture hazard ous chemicals has emerged from that agenda. As a responsible corporate citi zen, Velsicol believes it must respond with actions that will address the public's priorities." A workman operates a vacuum pump at Velsicol Chemical's plant in Memphis, Tenn., where the com pany reduced hazardous emissions 50 percent from 1987 to 1988. Velsicol's 90 percent air emissions reduction program uses the SARA Title III emissions reports filed last July 1 as its baseline. The company's achieve ment will be reflected in its emissions reports filed on July 1, 1994. "Velsicol's environmental program has successfully reduced emissions of all lands at all locations during the past ten years. Internally, we know we've had an aggressive program with excellent results," Sigel said. "Unfortunately, those results still fall short of the public's expectations. Velsi col believes this emissions reduction, combined with all the other elements of its environmental program, will go a long way towards meeting those expec tations," he continued. Costs associated with the air emission reduction program cannot be estimated, since much of the technology needed must still be developed. Despite the challenge it presents, Sigel says he is con fident of Velsicol's ability to achieve its goal. Dow wins gold medal for cleanups The Dow Chemical Company has received a Gold Medal for international corporate environmental achievement from the World Environment Center. In accepting the award in Washington recently, Dow's president and CEO Frank Popoff said the award is a recogni tion of Dow employees, who are "deeply concerned" about the environment. Popoff said Dow employees world wide "took exceptional initiative. . .by acting locally as environmentalists" on waste reduction, community outreach programs and emergency response planning. The award cited the company's com prehensive waste reduction program called WRAP--Waste Reduction Always Pays. WRAP was initiated at Dow in 1986 to formalize its U.S. area waste reduc tion activities. Its objectives are to inventory all losses to the air, water and land; set waste reduction goals and pri orities; track performance and plan for future reductions at Dow facilities. Similar programs have been or are being established in each of Dow's geo graphic areas: Canada, Latin America, Pacific and Europe. Since 1974, Dow's U.S. air emissions have decreased 85 percent and losses to the water have been reduced by more than 95 percent. The Gold Medal citation also recog nizes Dow's worldwide "topdown" environmental commitment and its open communication with the public on environmental concerns and solutions. The World Environment Center, a nonprofit and nonadvocacy organiza tion, was founded in 1974 with initial support from the United Nations Envi ronment Programme. u Pi O m 005535 UMANtWS July/August 1989 Clean Air Act needs amending--CMA Stating that EPA has not adequately regulated hazardous air emissions under existing law, a chemical industry execu tive has told Congress that the Clean Air Act should be amended. Robert C. Forney, an executive vice president of the DuPont Company, told a House subcommittee that the problems EPA has encountered in regulating these emissions--rather than concerns that Rep. John Dingell listens... . .to Mr, Forney's testimony. CMA hits misuse ofairdata It wasn't the introduction in early June of another air toxics control bill in Con gress that sparked criticism by CMA. The Association viewed it as just one more option for legislators to look at in reauthorizing the Clean Air Act. But CMA was distressed by the "inten tional misuse" of an outdated EPA data base by congressmen who introduced the bill as a publicity ploy to draw atten tion to the legislation. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, held a press conference June 8 to introduce the air toxics bill, HR 2585. The measure, authored by Reps. Mickey Leland (D-Tex.) and Guy Molinari (R-N.Y.), would mandate tech nology-based controls for all identified sources. Health-based standards would require risks for carcinogens to be reduced to less than 10". Other provisions include requirements for risk management plans and creation of a Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigation Board. Rep. Waxman used the occasion to release preliminary EPA data gathered in 1984 associating a number of indus- 12 trial sources of air toxics with-very high cancer risk estimates. In turning over the information to Rep. Waxman, EPA administrator William Reilly cautioned that the num bers were "intended only for relative comparison and ranking of source cate gories and pollutants on a nationwide basis. "The facility-specific risk estimates are not accurate determinants of local public health hazards," Reilly wrote. To imply that these estimates depict the real risks of living near one of the plants is not just exaggeration but an outright misuse of data to deliberately alarm people, CMA said in a press statement. Moreover, CMA continued, the infor mation doesn't include the more up-to- date estimates now available from Sec tion 313 reports of Title III. CMA said it agreed with Reilly, who wrote that while he believed the data base "represents a useful tool for ranking source categories for further assessment and evaluating the distribution of esti mated risks across emitting industries, the data on individual sources may be subject to significant error." emissions pose a significant health prob lem--has led the industry to reach this conclusion. Forney, who also is the immediate past chairman of the board of CMA said the industry has "confidence in the safety of our operations. "Nevertheless," he said, "to increase our margin of safety and alleviate public concern, we are voluntarily further reducing our emissions, and support leg islation to embody... additional reduc tions in law." Additional controls, Forney told the House Health and Environment Sub committee, should be "balanced and sensible." For example, he said, "regula tions should apply to those chemicals that really need control." "Rather than automatically mandat ing the regulation of long lists of chem icals," he told the panel, "Congress should give EPA discretion in which emission sources are to be regulated based on toxicity, exposure rates and the consequent degree of actual health threat posed by the substances." In addition, he said, appropriate technological controls should be applied to emission sources of the chemicals to be regulated. EPA also should be given the flexibility to "adapt the technology standards to require effective, practical and commercially available control technology for each source," he said. Legislation also ought to allow for different standards, he said, as well as different timetables for implementing controls on new and existing sources. And once controls are in place, For ney told the subcommittee, EPA should assess what risks remain from residual emissions and apply additional controls for the emissions that pose an unreason able level of risk. To do this, he said, "EPA should use scientifically realistic judgements and the best empirical data." It should not mandate controls on the basis of blanket quantitative or numerical risk factors, he said. "Risk assessment methods currently used are not reliable enough to deter mine with any precision the actual risk posed by emissions," he pointed out. 005536 ( 1 t c 1 s t \ l 0 tl n n tx aj Conference stirs support for chemical weapons ban "Ambassador Cook A major international conference to mobilize industry support for a chemical weapons ban will take place in Can berra, Australia later this year, accord ing to Michael J. Cook, Australian Ambassador to the United States. Speaking at the May 25 Chemical Forum luncheon. Cook said the confer ence in Canberra September 18-22 will present the opportunity for an unequiv ocal declaration by international indus try about its opposition to chemical weapons. The ambassador said that the only effective solution to chemical weapons proliferation is the comprehensive Chemical Weapons Convention being negotiated in Geneva. A treaty will be agreed upon and will work only if it is fully accepted by indus try in Western, developing and socialist countries, he predicted. The agreement Roth bill would suspend duties Citing a need to enhance America's trading posture, Sen. William Roth (R-Del.) says he plans to introduce legis lation that would establish administra tive procedures for suspending duties on certain imported goods. Speaking at the June Chemical Forum luncheon in Washington, Roth said the objective of the bill is to enhance the U.S. duty suspension procedure, which currently is legislative only. Roth, a member of the Senate Joint Economic Committee, said that "on occasion, a domestic company discovers that there is no U.S. supply for raw material or components it needs to manufacture here at home. "And when it imports the needed material," he continued, "the duty the company must pay increases the price and lessens the competition of the com pany's product." Sen. Roth said this adversely affects e U.S. manufactured goods that must compete with foreign products at home and abroad. Canada, for example, has Sen. Roth (r) chats with CMA president Roland. already streamlined procedures for duty suspensions, he pointed out. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) will co sponsor the bill, must account for industry's require ments and operations, including the avoidance of unacceptable commercial penalties. Cook continued. A weapons treaty can be encouraged, the ambassador said, by an interna tional dialogue between government and industry such as the one being con structed within the United States. Ambassador Cook urged U.S. indus try to work with the administration to make an early public reiteration of U.S. commitment to a convention. "Such a commitment would reassert the United States' leadership role inter nationally on chemical weapons issues," he asserted, "and would remove a dis tracting element from some of the debate we hear while the U.S. position remains formally under review." The luncheon at which Ambassador Cook spoke was part of a day-long CMA seminar about domestic and interna tional proposals to control the prolifera tion of chemical weapons and related technology and materials. At the multilateral negotiations in Geneva, points under discussion include: The creation of an international agency authorized to conduct on-site inspections of commercial chemical plants that produce, could produce or use potential chemical weapons precursors; The need to protect the confident iality of proprietary business information; Development of an international registry of all plants that produce or use certain chemicals, and An outright ban on the production of certain chemicals. In a related matter, legislative pro posals under consideration by Congress would impose sanctions on foreign com panies found helping countries develop weapons capabilities. One proposal also would suspend patent rights and prohibit government contracts for companies found to have provided technology or materials to such countries. 13 BOR 0 0 5 5 3 7 3 9 CMANEWS July/August 1989 Carbide's open house draws crowd What if your company gave an open house and 5,600 people came? That's what happened to Union Carbide Corp. in Hahnville, La., and the company was delighted. "By any measurement, it was a huge success," said one organizer. The neighbors who came were from communities near Carbide's Taft and Star plants in Saint Charles Parish about 30 miles from New Orleans. They were treated to food and entertainment, plant tours, exhibits and a chance to visit with stars from the New Orleans Saints foot ball team. Star plant manager Ron Marold de scribed the event as a way "to help people understand what we do and how we are an integral part of the community." "We felt it was important that our neighbors have an opportunity to see our operations first hand," said Taft plant manager Tom Gray. And see them they did. After register- ing and getting a map of the open house grounds, guests saw an orientation film introducing the company. Then they could choose between a bus tour of the plants or the exhibits. The plant tour included a stop at a process control room and a quality con trol laboratory. A typical comment from one visitor: "I had no idea so much was involved in a chemical plant." The exhibit area included displays about Union Carbide products and proc esses, environmental protection, health and safety, site history, the emergency response team, personnel protection and family safety. One tent displayed a number of every day household products made from Carbide chemicals. Another exhibit showed the processes used to make poly ethylene, a major company product. Probably the biggest crowd pleaser was a presentation called the "Wonders of Chemistry" by professors from the University of Wisconsin. "Our job is to make science fun," said one of the pro fessors. That included giving the neigh bors a chance to make "slime" and latex balls after a 20-minute chemistry presentation. Saint Charles Parish president Albert Laque described the open house as "a unique experience" and commended Carbide on their community outreach program. The company said its monumental undertaking was "pulled off without a hitch" by more than 400 employee vol unteers who manned exhibit tents and acted as tour guides and hosts. "We more than accomplished what we set out to do," said Cressend Schonberg, chairman of the open house com mittee. "I think the community now feels better about having Union Carbide as a neighbor because they see it's not only units and tanks and pipes, it's people." There was standing room only for the popular Wonder$ of Chemistry show. 14 7 New staff strengthens advocacy Eight new employees have joined CMA to bolster the Association's expanding advocacy program. Claude P. Boudrias comes to the Fed eral Government Relations Department as legislative representative on trade and tax matters. Boudrias worked with Counselors for Management, Inc. before coming to CMA. A member of the District of Columbia and Florida Ms. Creedon Ms. Diamond Bars, he also was an assistant state attor ney in Florida. Elizabeth M. Burgan is the new assis tant controller for CHEMSTAR. An accountant, she worked with several financial firms in the Washington, D.C. area before joining the Association. As a manager in the Health, Safety and Chemical Regulations Division, Karen Creedon will focus on epidemiol ogy and human health issues. Previ ously, she held several research positions with the American Red Cross. Laura Diamond has joined the Com munications Department as manager of member services and will provide sup port for the new State Affairs Depart ment. Diamond previously worked with two trade associations and a public relations firm in the Washington, D.C. area. Diane Layne has been promoted to manager in the Health, Safety and Chemical Regulations Division, where she will work with CAER and Tide III issues. Previously, Layne was an admin istrative secretary in that division. David Hastings comes to CMA as a manager of safety and plant operations. Hastings previously worked in the office of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and as a news reporter for a radio station in Salt Lake City. Janet Sanders is the Association's new benefits manager. She has held similar positions at George Mason University and with several defense contractors. Charles N. Saunders, III has joined the Federal Government Relations Department as senior economist. A former economics instructor at the Uni versity of North Carolina at Greens boro, Saunders also worked in market ing with AT&T and as a research statistician for SAS Institute. No tax credit for cleanups is bad idea A bill that would prevent companies from claiming income tax deductions on the costs of cleaning up hazardous mate rials spills could have a negative impact on human health and the environment, CMA has told Congress. The bill, S 771, would reverse section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code that presently allows taxpayers to deduct for income tax purposes all ordinary and necessary business expenses, including cleanup costs. Testifying before the Senate Commit tee on Finance, CMA president Robert Roland said the bill would produce "an administrative nightmare for both kidustry and government." Roland noted that the measure would allow a tax deduction if the company involved can get a certification from EPA or the Coast Guard that it has made a good faith effort to comply with the Clean Water Act and the Compre hensive Environmental Response, Com pensation and Liability Act. "Unfortunately," he continued, "S 771 would discourage many companies from taking the immediate action neces sary to avoid serious harm to persons or the environment in the event of a haz ardous materials spill. "No matter what the Congress decides in this matter," Roland stressed, "the membership of CMA will continue to respond to accidents involving its prod ucts without hesitation. "Our industry is very proud of its efforts to prevent accidents and to mini mize damage should they occur," he said. CMA's concern about S 771 is that it would cause many companies to hesitate in taking action following the accidental discharge of a hazardous material. Worse yet, Roland continued, some may decide "that for their own protec tion, they should simply sit on their hands and wait for EPA or the Coast Guard to tell them what to do before doing anything." The bill is also unacceptable, CMA's president argued, because it "creates unnecessary confusion for the govern ment officials who must enforce the Superfund and Clean Water Acts." A responsible federal official operat ing under the terms of S 771 could well question whether granting a certificate immediately after an accidental dis charge could later prejudice EPA's over all and long-term responsibilities for cleanup and recovery, Roland said. 15 Ok <n m o o g CMANEWS July/August 1989 Nalco teaching children about safety Nalco Chemical Company's Clearing, 111., plant Emergency Rescue Team (ERT), safely transported 7,500 chil dren and talked to 2,500 "concerned" parents recently when the team cospon sored a children's fire safety festival in Mt. Prospect, 111. Team members spent eight weeks pre paring for the event, which included displays by 10 local police, fire and emergency services agencies. Nalco's Clearing plant ERT members take an active role in such events, believ ing that the time to talk about emer gency response is before a problem occurs. "We feel Nalco is an integral part of the community and should be a respon sible, concerned neighbor," said J. Longton, ERT supervisor. So, in addi tion to giving children rides and paper fire hats bearing Nalco's logo, Nalco provided company literature as well as CMA brochures to adults. Children enjoyed a tour of Nalco's emergency response road van, exiting the vehicle by sliding down an emer gency escape chute. Each child took an educational ride around the "safety track," where they were taught to rec ognize and observe the warning and safety signs encircling the display. At the display exit, crossing guards provided guidelines for crossing streets safely, Nalco's ERT members regularly con duct plant tours and participate in com munity events with regional fire, police, and emergency services agencies. Each of the 12 team members plays an active role in community safety awareness efforts. All are state certified fire fighters, emergency medical and rescue technicians. ERT team member Joseph Zeveckas recently starred in public service TV and print announcements for the mid- America chapter of the American Red Cross. The campaign focuses on the Red Cross's "Latch Key" program for children who are unsupervised at home before and after school. Zeveckas, a Red Cross volunteer, spends his free time educating latch key children about safety and other high priority concerns, such as how to recognize toxic substances or answer the telephone while home alone. 16 More than 7,500 children and parents took in a display of Nalco's emergency rescue vehicles and equip ment during a safety festival in Chicago. CMA's risk communication workshop is vital for managers Three new sessions of Communicating Risk: The CMA Workshop have been scheduled for this Fall in key industry locations. They are: September 19-20 in Newark, N.J.; October 11-12 in Chicago, and November 15-16 in New Orleans. These workshops are a continuation of the successful series that began last spring. One attendee at an earlier work shop said "This type of formal training is vital for anyone likely to be called upon to be a chemical plant spokesperson." Another participant felt the work shop "put meat on the bones" of the risk communications knowledge he had. The course is designed to give opera tions and management personnel prac tical experience in developing skills for community outreach, media relations and risk communications. Each two-day session allows partici pants to role-play, listen to experts in risk communication and view videotaped case studies, news stories and communi cations experiences. On the first day of the workshops, instructors describe how to establish credibility in your community. The sec ond day revolves around anticipating and dealing with problems. Case studies and course work are taken from real-life examples of difficult problems facing plant communities and companies around the country. For more information and registration materials about the fall sessions, contact John Slavick at (202) 887-1210. Z& CMA News is published monthly by the Chemical Manufacturers Association, 2501 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037. Phone: (202) 887-1100, Chairman of the Board, Robert D. Kennedy Vice Chair man of the Board, John W. Johnstone, Jr. Chairman of the Executive Committee, H. Eugene McBrayer President, Robert A. Roland Vice President, Jon C. Holtzman Editor, James P. Turner Designer, Billy Paul Member: International Association of Business Communicators Oivira BOR 005540