Toronto Action

[Scott Sederstrom <sederstrom@igc.apc.org>]

For More Information:
 
Scott Sederstrom <sederstrom@igc.apc.org>
Great Lakes United
 
Toronto City Council Votes to Restrict Some Uses of PVC
 
     After months of acrimonious debate, including one all-
night joint committee hearing and a lengthy City Council
session nearly as long, Toronto's City Council voted Monday
evening in favor of several restrictions governing the use
and disposal of PVC materials in the City of Toronto. In
addition, City Council recommended that other levels of
government take steps to investigate questions regarding
threats to human health and the environment posed by the
entire PVC life-cycle.  Environmental groups, including the
Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA), Great Lakes United,
and Greenpeace, enthusiastically welcomed City Council's
actions.
 
     The original measure under consideration by City
Council would have phased out the use of PVC pipes in
Toronto's water and sewer systems.  The Vinyl Council of
Canada engaged in a furious campaign to lobby against the
measure, retaining a plethora of consultants to pressure
Council into rejecting any restrictions on PVC use and
disposal.
 
     Despite a sophisticated corporate disinformation
campaign mounted by the PVC industry, City Council voted in
favor of the following restrictions:
 
* a ban on the incineration of PVC because of concern over
the relationship between PVC in waste streams and
organochlorine releases, particularly dioxin emissions.  The
City Council also requested that the Provincial and Federal
Governments introduce legislation or regulations to the same
end;
 
* a restriction on the use of PVC pipes in contaminated
soil.  Studies have demonstrated that short-chain
hydrocarbons (e.g. gasoline) can permeate the pipes.  City
Council also asked Health Canada to evaluate the potential
for other substances, particularly pesticides, to leach
through PVC pipes;
 
* a request that Toronto's Acting Fire Chief conduct
sampling tests to evaluate dioxin levels following major
fires in the city.  This issue is important because vinyl is
a common construction material;
 
* a request that the Vinyl Council of Canada request its
member companies to develop plans that will protect workers
and communities during a transition to manufacturing
processes that do not involve the use or release of
persistent toxic substances such as organochlorines; and
 
* an expression of continued support for the virtual
elimination of persistent toxic substances, such as
organochlorines, to the environment.  Toronto City Council
had previously recommended that the Department of Public
Health develop a chlorine free strategy and implementation
plan for the City.
 
     Groups around the Great Lakes have been working on many
different fronts to develop citizen-based campaigns to
achieve zero discharge of persistent toxic substances into
the Great Lakes.  Despite policy recommendations to that end
from the International Joint Commission (IJC) the two
national governments and the state and provincial
governments have been reluctant to take the necessary steps
to achieve the policy of zero discharge.  The action of
Toronto City Council represents an important first step to
eliminating persistent toxic releases from the Great Lakes
ecosystem.