Dioxin Sources

["Sam McClintock" <scmcclintock@ipass.net>]

  Charlie Cray wrote:
  
  > Maybe instead of making vague insinuations you can provide some  
  > details of your critique of our "Dioxin Factories Expose," since you 
  > suggest it's "close to out and out libel"...where is the evidence  of
  
  > "hard work" among the state and federal agencies which oversee those 
  > facilities?  
  
  First, let's get the area set up:  I am an environmental consultant, I
  work for industry, which has in the past and in the present included
  some facilities that either manufacture or extrude plastics (along with
  oil companies, ore refining, incinerators, lithium production, paper
  mills, and a host of other places).  I also do gratis work for various
  environmental groups, which has included SELC, WELC, Joann Almond's
  SCOTCH group, and a few others, which include current listserver
  attendees and posters.  I have and continue to do air emission testing
  for dioxins, in the past under contract to the USEPA and now for
  industry.  I state now that I am arguing because I believe that the
  report Greenpeace made is in error and that it is distracting from
  other more vital efforts needed to protect our environment.  I am not
  getting paid by industry or anybody else to argue with you.  
  
  First question/request:  The Greenpeace report "Dioxin Factories
  Exposed" (DFE) has several sections listing various contaminants found
  in various waste streams, which  included dioxins.  I am not
  questioning that dioxins or pollutants were found.  However, in order
  for me to provide a critique as accurately as possible, it would be of
  great service to have the original field collection notes and full
  analytical report from the various labs used.  Just listing the
  contaminants and making claims of dioxin concentrations (which in many
  cases were VERY generic and used varying units, etc.) won't do me a lot
  of good when the debate becomes really heated - and we are a far cry
  from that yet.
  
  At your convenience, I would appreciate receiving a copy of the field
  collection notes and full analytical reports (sans any names to protect
  folks from trespassing charges).  You could copy them and post them via
  the internet (so all can see) in a zipped PDF or graphics file, or send
  them to me by mail - makes no difference to me.  
  
  Food for thought:  PVC production has almost tripled in the last
  fifteen years.  Yet, dioxin exposure has dropped by over 75% in the
  last decade; I am talking the total biologically available as a
  function of TEQ.  Seems to me that if the PVC industry was the smoking
  gun of dioxins you are claiming, and the regulators so useless, then
  dioxin exposure would have increased over the last decade.  Now the
  numbers of production come from the PVC industry based on their reports
  to industry, not regulators (no reason to lie there, and they would
  have fudged on something besides tripling the numbers).  The reports on
  dioxin exposure are independent university research efforts or
  government studies (US and Europe), *not* from the PVC industry.
  
  We'll come back to this on occasion.  Thought I'd throw it out there. 
  
  More to follow, your turn.
  
  Sincerely,
  Sam
  
  Samuel C. McClintock 
  Director, En-Vision Inc.
  7533 Milestone Court
  Raleigh, NC  27615
  
  (919) 847-3688
  (919) 847-6339 (fax)
  
  Current email:  scmcclintock@ipass.net
  On Aug 15, will be:  mac@ensanity.com  (would have used en-vision.com,
  but envision is used everywhere, thought I'd try something else) :<)