SOLVAY PVC PLANT RELEASES TOXIC CLOUDS IN ARGENTINA: LOCAL COMMUNITY BLOCKS THE OPERATION OF PVC PLANT

29 August 2000

BAHIA BLANCA, ARGENTINA -- Local residents of Ingeniero White, a town close to Bahia Blanca, are currently blocking the entrances to the Solvay chlorine and PVC plant, asking for a comprehensive audit on the current environmental and safety situation of the plant. The local community is demanding a full investigation into the chlorine gas release and demand that the Solvay plant remains closed until it is proven that it can operate safely. If such an assurance cannot be met the plant should be closed indefinitely. Greenpeace believes the production of chlorine and PVC is inherently toxic and therefore demands the permanent closure of the plant.

According to testimonies gathered by Greenpeace, the chlorine gas escape from August 20 was due to the explosion of a pipe inside the plant. But for the strong ocean-bound winds the huge plume of chlorine gas would have drifted over the community of Ingeniero White.

There is still no information available to the exact amount released and the subsidiary of the Belgian multinational company Solvay has kept all the information related to the release secret. The community was alerted about the chlorine leak almost one and a half-hours after the release began. The emergency plan failed and there was no proper rapid response.

"Solvay clearly demonstrated its incompetence and lack of preparedness to run their Bahia Blanca plant", said Veronica Odriozola from Greenpeace co-ordinating the fact-finding mission in Bahia Blanca. "The chlorine gas release was not an accident as, according to local testimonies, Solvay has deprioritised industrial safety over other concerns," added Odriozola.

Solvay has a very poor record in Latin America. In Argentina, Greenpeace has already denounced the Solvay plant in Bahia Blanca for directly discharging mercury and chlorinated compounds into the environment. In Brazil, Greenpeace has also revealed direct discharges of mercury and organochlorines in the river adjacent to the plant. In addition, Greenpeace denounced the Solvay plant in Brazil as the source of the dioxin contamination detected in German Milk in March 1998. As an outcome of this investigation Solvay Brazil has signed a legal agreement to clean up their site and the riverbed.

"This is an important moment when the community of Bahia Blanca should evaluate if they want this toxic industry in their neighbourhood or not." Said Marcelo Furtado form Greenpeace, "We support the call for an international independent investigation into the toxic release as well as a full review of all emergency and rapid response plans for the industries operating in the region. Greenpeace renew its call for legislative framework demanding zero toxic discharges from all industries" added Furtado.

Only eight days after the major release of chlorine gas from the Solvay PVC plant, the Greenpeace fact finding mission sent to Bahia Blanca witnessed a new toxic release. The chemical this time was ammonia and came from the company Profertil, next door to Solvay. The fertiliser plant, which is partly owned by the North American Agrium, was also closed down after the toxic leak.

Similarly to the Solvay chlorine gas leak, once again, the emergency plan did not work and the evacuation of the local community was much delayed. Two schools evacuated their students only after learning about the release via the news in the local radio station. No one from the plant or from the Civil Defence team alerted the school.

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Visit Greenpeace's Toxic campaign website: www.greenpeace.org/~toxics