[Corporations] New Report Underscores Need for Phase-out of Vinyl at Controversial CertainTeed PVC Plant on Buffalo’s Waterfront

[CESTPODGE at aol.com]

Citizens’ Environmental Coalition
Environmental Advocates
Great Lakes United
Learning Sustainability Campaign
New York Public Interest Research Group


NEW TUFTS REPORT CONCLUDES VINYL ISN’T CHEAP
New Report Underscores Need for Phase-out of Vinyl
at Controversial CertainTeed PVC Plant on Buffalo’s Waterfront

(Buffalo, NY) Vinyl products may appear to be cheap, but in many cases
are actually more expensive than alternative materials that are safer
for people and the environment according to a new report analyzing the
full costs of vinyl products released today by Tufts University
researchers.  The report, entitled /“The Economics of Phasing Out
Vinyl”,/ concludes the economic advantages of vinyl or PVC are
overstated, and that substituting vinyl with safer alternatives is
cost-effective and practical.  CertainTeed, a PVC producer and
fabricator, has proposed to site a PVC fabrication plant at the Union
Ship Canal on Buffalo’s waterfront.  The new report, /“The Economics of
Phasing Out Vinyl”,/ underscores the need for the phase-out of vinyl at
CertainTeed’s PVC plant in Western New York.

“The American public has been sold a short-sighted and wildly
exaggerated claim about the economic benefits of vinyl. In the long-run,
vinyl is no bargain at all,” said *lead author Frank Ackerman, director
of the Research and Policy Program, Global Development and Environment
Institute, at Tufts University.* “Our analysis shows phasing-out vinyl
in favor of safer alternatives makes good sense from an economic
perspective,” *Ackerman said.*

The report compares the cost of common vinyl products, including
roofing, flooring, pipes, medical devices and siding. In many cases, a
vinyl product that looks cheaper than alternatives, based on the price
tag alone, is actually more expensive based on life cycle costing – that
is, the total cost to the user for purchase, maintenance, and disposal
over a fixed number of years. “In all product categories we looked at,
affordable alternatives are available,” *said Ackerman.*

“The report debunks a widely held belief that phasing out PVC would
impose a painful burden on the economy,” said *Michael Schade, Western
New York Director of Citizens’ Environmental Coalition.  *“This new
information underscores the need for CertainTeed to make a commitment to
phasing out PVC at its proposed fabrication plant in Buffalo.”

“The
Great Lakes are already overburdened with a legacy of persistent toxic
pollution from the production, use, and disposal of materials such as
PVC,” said *Bailey Myleville of Great Lakes United.*  “Now that we know
that affordable and safer alternatives exist to PVC, CertainTeed should
join the ranks of other companies in switching to safer materials.  The
health of the Great Lakes is at stake.”

"For too long, producers and vendors have taken an ostrich approach to
their toxic materials - thrusting the economic and health burdens
associated with their products onto consumers and taxpayers," said
*David Higby, solid waste project director with Environmental Advocates
of NY*, "this report demonstrates loud and clear that this unjust
pattern can and should end."

“When its entire lifecycle is considered, vinyl may be associated with
more dioxin formation than any other single product,” said *Mary Carney,
Regional Coordinator of the New York Public Interest Research Group
(NYPIRG).  *“Dioxin is the most potent synthetic carcinogen ever tested
in laboratory animals, and it damages development, reproduction, and the
immune and endocrine systems at infinitesimally low doses.”

"It is unfortunate that City, County and State elected officials have
decided to invest precious public money in a questionable PVC facility
on Buffalo's environmentally fragile waterfront,” said *Jay Burney of
the Learning Sustainability Campaign.*  “It goes against common sense
and points out that the economic development principles followed by the
Mayor, the County Executive, and the Governor are more focused on
"beggars can’t be choosers" strategies, rather than realistic, critical,
and pragmatic development principles focused on planning for a
sustainable future."

CertainTeed is the seventh largest producer of PVC in the United States
(Chemweek, 2001).  CertainTeed’s vinyl is produced in Mossville,
Louisiana – an African American community that has the largest number of
vinyl production facilities in the United States.  The U.S. Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) reported that Mossville
residents have an average of three times more dioxin in their bodies
than the average U.S. population.  In some samples of Mossville
residents’ blood, ATSDR detected high levels of the worst dioxins.
Dioxin levels in breast milk samples from Mossville were 30% higher than
the national average (Greenpeace).

“Mossville is a living testament to the fact that vinyl production,
which releases massive quantities of cancer-causing chemicals, comes at
a heavy price.  Mossville residents have died from diseases related to
this exposure and others are being treated for related health problems,”
said *Monique Harden, Co-Director of Advocates for Environmental Human
Rights based in Louisiana.*

Nations around the world, as well as several U.S. cities, have taken
steps to avoid vinyl products in favor of safer alternatives due to
concerns about the health threats associated with their manufacture and
use. The emissions from vinyl’s production, use and disposal --
including lead, cadmium and the potent human carcinogen dioxin --  are
toxic chemicals that are highly persistent, and are known to build up in
the food chain.  This month, the U.S. Green Building Council, which has
created the nation’s leading green building standards, will initiate a
process to consider whether green credits should be issued to buildings
that avoid vinyl.

*For a copy of the Tufts report, visit
http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/Economics_of_PVC.pdf

*For information on chemical body burden, visit*
http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/

*- 30 -*
-- 
Mike Schade
Western New York Director
Citizens' Environmental Coalition
543 Franklin Street.
Buffalo, New York 14202
(716) 885-6848 Phone
(716) 885-6845 Fax
cecmike at choiceonemail.com

http://www.cectoxic.org/
http://www.ecothreatny.org/
http://www.kodakstoxiccolors.org/