By Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune –
CHICAGO — Facing criticism from federal and state lawmakers, the world’s leading manufacturers of flame retardants say they are reviewing their advocacy efforts, including their involvement with an industry front group that waged a deceptive campaign to fuel demand for the chemicals.
But Albemarle Corp., Chemtura Corp. and ICL Industrial Products so far have shown no public signs of severing financial and organizational ties with the Citizens for Fire Safety Institute, a group the companies helped create, appointed top executives to lead and supported with funding.
In a letter to the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia-based Chemtura said it has suspended its involvement in the group during an internal review prompted by the newspaper’s “Playing With Fire” series. The stories documented Citizens for Fire Safety’s role in a decades-long effort by the tobacco and chemical industries to promote the use of flame retardants in couches and other household furniture.
“We have a very high ethical standard and take these allegations seriously,” wrote Marshall Moore, director of technology, advocacy and marketing for Chemtura. “We are reviewing all of our flame retardant advocacy activities, including those involving CFFSI and other third-party groups and consultants.”
An Albemarle official declined to provide details about his company’s response but said in an email it “may choose to make changes to our relationship with CFFSI or to CFFSI’s operations.”
“Over the past few months, the Tribune’s series of articles has made allegations about the Citizens for Fire Safety Institute’s activities in this area, which we believe are unfounded,” wrote David Clary, chief sustainability officer for the company, based in Baton Rouge, La. “Unfortunately, regardless of the merit of the Tribune’s assertions, the resulting negative publicity has diverted CFFSI’s focus and reduced its effectiveness.”
A spokesman for ICL, based in Israel, said company officials are “evaluating the effectiveness of our advocacy programs and how CFFSI fits into our future plans.”
None of the industry representatives would outline specific problems with the Tribune’s investigation or comment further about Citizens for Fire Safety. Nor would they say whether the companies were withholding financial support from the group.
Promoted as lifesavers, flame retardants added to furniture cushions actually provide no meaningful protection from household fires, according to federal researchers and independent scientists. Some of the most widely used chemicals are linked to cancer, neurological deficiencies, developmental problems and impaired fertility.
Citizens for Fire Safety has played an active role in states where legislators have proposed banning certain flame retardants. Its tactics include distributing videos featuring ominous music, footage of burning houses and narrators warning that restrictions on the chemicals would endanger children.
The group has billed itself as “a coalition of fire professionals, educators, community activists, burn centers, doctors, fire departments and industry leaders, united to ensure that our country is protected by the highest standards of fire safety.” After the Tribune series was published in May, the group altered its website to clarify that it is a trade association.
Its board of directors is composed of executives from the three chemical companies, and tax records show the group’s efforts to influence fire-safety policies are guided by a mission to “promote common business interests of members involved with the chemical manufacturing industry.”
The organization’s executive director, Grant Gillham, and a spokesman did not immediately return calls.
Albemarle, Chemtura and ICL contributed $17 million to the group between 2008 and 2010, most of which was spent on lobbying and political expenses, according to tax records.
Citizens for Fire Safety has sponsored witnesses who testified before state legislators in favor of flame retardants. Among them was a now-retired surgery professor at the University of Washington who told lawmakers stories about burned babies, though the Tribune investigation found that the infants as he described them didn’t exist.
The organization was active in the California Legislature as recently as June, when a lobbyist for the group testified that flame-retardant furniture saves lives. At issue was the state’s flammability standard for residential furniture, which manufacturers typically meet by adding chemicals to foam cushions. Gov. Jerry Brown has vowed to replace the standard with one that could be met without the use of flame retardants.
The lobbyist’s firm was paid $457,500 by Citizens for Fire Safety between Jan. 1, 2011, and June 30 of this year, according to state disclosure forms.
During a hearing last month in Washington, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., questioned Moore of Chemtura about the company’s involvement with Citizens for Fire Safety.
“You make these products and yet you don’t see an ethical problem with being on a group that says you are for fire safety?” Boxer asked.
“Respectfully, senator, I do not see a conflict,” Moore replied.
“Well, you ought to take a little lesson in ethics if you don’t see it,” Boxer said.
After the hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Moore sent a letter to the Tribune stating that his comments should not be seen as a defense of the industry’s efforts to influence policy.
“If anyone on the committee had asked, I would have said we at Chemtura were surprised by the allegations the Chicago Tribune leveled against the Citizens for Fire Safety Institute,” Moore wrote. “If there is any truth to the allegations, we will take decisive, appropriate action.”
