SO WHAT IS THE GAME?

Back on June 15/11 here in the Advocate I mentioned the formation of the inaptly named Apte-Chemtura Committee. This group meeting privately with Chemtura includes two members of the National Advisoy Panel to the Chemical Industry Association of Canada (CIAC). This is not necessarily shameful in it's own right but in my opinion certainly is very suspect. This Industry Association's purpose is to polish the tarnished image of the Chemical Industry here in Canada. The expression "guilty by association" comes to mind. Household names like Dow, Polysar, Union Carbide, Uniroyal (Chemtura), BP and Ciba Geigy all have had more than their share of bad press based upon environmental disasters, here or abroad.

It has been confirmed that Chemtura, despite their waffling at last Thursday's public CPAC meeting, are indeed paying expenses at least for this group. That is unconscionable. For Chemtura it is a win-win scenario. Approximately twelve years ago they stormed out of a CPAC meeting because they felt that their good name had been impugned. Having stormed out they had nowhere to go, at least public consultation wise. Eventually, over a year later, the forerunner to the CIAC, namely the Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA) advised Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura that they would never receive their "Responsible Care" designation if they refused to consult with the community ie CPAC. Perhaps this time Chemtura feel that they can pick and choose and indeed play one group off against another. If CPAC are too insistent on a real cleanup than Chemtura can pick up their marbles and run to this latest group.

So what's in it for the old CPAC Chair and her sidekick? Well for one the old Chair gets to be Chair again. Secondly APTE were co-opted by their leadership without their knowledge by their rolling over on the DNAPL cleanup, back in the early nineties, in exchange for nothing more than permanent access. Access to nothing more than meetings and discussions with Chemtura and or the Ministry of the Environment (M.O.E.). Yes as pathetic as that is, there it is in a nutshell. Possibly it was one step at a time down a slippery slope. Regardless it was done surrepticiously and without APTE Coordinators or members approval. Maybe status, prestige and local fame were all part of the package. It's very difficult in hindsight figuring out other people's motives. I do feel badly for the old CPAC members who were and are still sincere. They are being led down the garden path and who am I to criticize them? I also was led down the very same path and took years to realize it. Such is the force of personality and human relations.