Chemical too toxic for other countries to be made in South Carolina
A highly toxic chemical banned by up to 168 countries is set to be produced in South Carolina, making the state one of the few places in North America — if not the only place — that will manufacture the potentially cancer causing material.
Gulbrandsen Chemicals Inc., of Orangeburg, plans to begin producing pentachlorophenol when North America’s only maker of the material closes a factory in Mexico next year.
Mexican government officials have pushed the plant’s owner, Cabot Microelectronics, to stop production so Mexico can comply with an international agreement that calls for a global ban on pentachlorophenol.
More than 90 countries ratified the ban on the use of pentachloraphenol in 2015, but the environmental group Beyond Pesticides says the list of countries has grown to 168 today. The United States is not part of the agreement, meaning Gulbrandsen can produce the chemical in South Carolina.
Pentachlorophenol, a wood preservative used to coat utility poles, is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen and a hazardous air pollutant. It is toxic enough that only certified applicators can use it. The federal government prohibits the use of pentachlorophenol indoors, according to the EPA.
Beyond Pesticides, which tracks chemical use, says pentachlorophenol is more hazardous than numerous other chemicals, including some of those also used to preserve wood. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency records show that 1 in 1,000 people who work with the compound face an increased cancer risk from long-time exposure.
A worker is more likely to develop cancer from exposure to pentachlorophenol than from exposure to creosote, another preservative used to treat wood, the environmental group says. Up to six of every 100,000 workers face an increased cancer risk from long-time exposure to creosote, according to Beyond Pesticides, citing EPA documents.
People who work with the chemical are particularly vulnerable, but others can be affected as well, research shows.
“This is not something I would want in my backyard,’’ said Drew Toher, an official with Beyond Pesticides.
Gulbrandsen, which has operated in Orangeburg County for three decades, declined an interview request from The State newspaper, but said in written statements that it can make the chemical safely, even though it has never done so. The company makes an array of chemicals.
Pentachlorophenol is needed by industry, including multiple wood treatment plants in South Carolina, that prepare utility poles for use, the company said in emails to The State. Those plants employ hundreds of people, according to the company.
“Our Gulbrandsen team has a proven safety record and we possess the expertise and technology necessary to safely produce pentachlorophenol,’’ the company said in a statement.
When Gulbrandsen made its announcement in January, the company said it was entering the pentachlorophenol market as a result of Cabot Microelectronics’ decision to quit producing the material in 2021.
The closure of the Mexican plant would apparently make Gulbrandsen the only producer of the compound in North America, unless another company also decides to enter the pentachlorophenol production market. One Canadian company with U.S. holdings has indicated it may also want to produce pentachlorophenol.
Pentachlorophenol production in the United States started in 1930 but shut down in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At one time, four U.S. plants manufactured the material.
The South Carolina plant where pentachlorophenol is to be manufactured is on the outskirts of Orangeburg, next to another chemical plant. The area off U.S. 21 is largely wooded and sparsely populated. The North Fork of the Edisto River, a blackwater stream popular with kayakers and fishermen, is about one mile away.
Jeff Miller, president and chief executive of the Treated Wood Council, a trade association, said the EPA has previously certified pentachlorophenol for industrial use so he’s confident it is safe. He also said he has toured the Gulbrandsen site and believes the company can do the job.
Treating poles with the chemical is vital to utilities across the country, said Miller, whose group represents companies that coat utility poles with pentachlorophenol.
“Our industry wants poles to last a long time,’’ he said. “That is the reason they are treated with a preservative like penta. If you didn’t treat a pole and put it in the ground, it might last five years. You treat it with a preservative, you’re going to get 25 to 30 to 50 years, depending on the location. We don’t want poles subject to decay.’’
Gulbrandsen, a privately held company, has facilities in 10 places worldwide, including New Jersey and India, that employ a total of 800 people. In Orangeburg, the company employs about 100 people and has been a community leader, contributing to multiple charities since it opened in 1990. The new pentachlorophenol production line will create an as-yet-unspecified number of jobs, the company says.
While the company says it has a good environmental history, records show it has had blemishes.
Gulbrandsen ran afoul of DHEC in 2017 when the agency found the company had not been conducting weekly inspections and had not ensured waste was disposed of properly. The agency levied an $8,000 hazardous waste fine and told the company to make improvements.
DHEC officials had little comment on Gulbrandsen except to say they have not received an application from the company to manufacture pentachlorophenol. The agency said the process could require a change in air pollution and wastewater discharge permits, which would need state approval.
Routt Reigart, a doctor and researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina, questioned why the U.S. would allow any plant to manufacture pentachlorophenol when other countries have banned it.
“It’s very toxic, and it has a broad range of toxicity,’’ Reigart said, noting that it can be “injurious to every organ in the body.’’
A paper he co-authored with fellow MUSC physician James Roberts says the material can affect people who breathe it and those who ingest it. Large doses can cause mental distress and send people into comas, according to the publication he co-authored with Roberts. Pentachlorophenol also can be toxic to people’s skin, the publication said.
Studies cited by Reigart and Roberts found that people living near a wood treatment plant had a higher rate of cancer, respiratory diseases and neurological disorders than people who lived farther away. Treatment plants are often facilities where protective coatings are applied to utility poles. The location of the plant was not revealed in their publication.
Reigart, a Beyond Pesticides board member, is a professor emeritus and former head of MUSC’s division of general pediatrics. Nationally, he has served on the EPA’s pesticide advisory committee, providing scientific recommendations on pesticide health and safety issues.
There aren’t many complaints about pentachlorophenol’s ability to kill insects that chew up utility poles, but its use has sparked lawsuits in parts of the country. Communities in the northeastern U.S. have been particularly vocal about utility poles coated with pentachlorophenol, saying they threaten to pollute groundwater and make people sick who touch the poles.
The town of North Hempstead, N.Y., was so worried about pentachlorophenol five years ago that it required a local utility to put warning signs on utility poles treated with the substance. The utility then sued the town, eventually winning the case on a free speech question.
But town officials remain concerned.
“Penta is a probable carcinogen and has long been recognized as a public health threat,” North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth said in a statement emailed to The State newspaper. “We have repeatedly called on the EPA to investigate this toxic carcinogen.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, who estimates there are 95,000 wooden poles on Long Island treated with the chemical, has questioned the use of pentachlorophenol because of concerns that the coating on utility poles could pollute groundwater and expose children to hazards.
Many nations have similar worries.
Beyond Pesticides says it has found only 16 countries that have not signed the Stockholm Convention’s call to ban pentachlorophenol. The Stockholm Convention is an international treaty that focuses on protecting human health and the environment from persistent and toxic chemicals. International support for the ban applies to the manufacture and use of the material.
The United States, India and Guatemala are among countries that have not agreed to support the ban, according to the Stockholm Convention website. In addition to Mexico, those supporting the ban include France, Germany and Denmark, the website shows.
In the U.S., pentachlorophenol pollution is a substantial problem in many communities. It has been found on hundreds of federal Superfund sites, areas prioritized for cleanup because of their threats to the environment, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Residents of Tuscaloosa, Ala., learned last year about the potential hazards of pentachlorophenol.
In May 2019, a fire broke out at a pentachlorophenol processing plant, sending smoke billowing into the sky and prompting a temporary warning from fire officials for neighbors to stay inside.
The Tuscaloosa plant, which also is owned by Cabot, now receives pentachlorophenol in bulk from Cabot’s Mexican manufacturing facility. The plant then processes the material and ships it to customers. Like the Mexican production plant, the Alabama processing facility also is closing.
State records in Alabama, provided by the Black Warrior Riverkeeper organization, also show groundwater near the processing plant in Tuscaloosa has been tainted by pentachlorophenol.
“This chemical is definitely not something to turn your head at,’’ said Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke.. “It’s a nasty chemical. People should be very concerned about it coming to their community.’’
While the plant in Mexico is today the only manufacturer of pentachlorophenol in North America, it was not known if any other chemical companies might seek to make the material when the Matamoros facility closes.
Cabot officials told The Tuscaloosa News last year that they were considering opening new manufacturing and processing plants in Alabama or Louisiana. But in November, company executives said in a conference call that they had chosen not to pursue the manufacturing and processing plants.
“After a careful review of our long-term strategy and capital allocation plans, we concluded that we will focus on opportunities that have higher potential for future growth and shareholder value creation,’’ Cabot vice president Scott Beamer said.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 7:23 AM.
