The sustainabilitv of the tre ated J wood industrv

By Dr. Kenneth M. Brooks J Aquatic Environmental Sciences

answer from within industry is likely that you want to sustain your business and that is a reasonable answer-but it is not the answer that the Sustainability Industry wants to hear. In today's world, to sustain your business, you need to consider the following:

II/HAT is

sustainability?

The V Y simplest definition is maintaining what you have into the future.

Although sustainability is an important and worthy goal for insuring that future generations enjoy the same quality and quantity of resources that have been available to us, there is no history of actually achieving sustainable use of resources. We have a history of depleting resources and then looking for alternatives. Sustainability, however, has become a key word in the lexicon of the politically correct.

Many environmental groups emphasize their programs - ostensibly designed to achieve sustainable resources-as mechanisms for funding their activities and paying their salaries. Yet, until we reach steadylevel human population, we cannot even begin to cogently define the term sustainability.

As for the sustainability of the pressure treated wood industry, the first question to be asked is, "What is it that you are trying to sustain?" The

Sustainable over what period of time? Like all industries, the treated wood industry is evolving. Current preservatives will be replaced by new preservatives at some point in the future. The sustainability of those new preservatives will require evaluation of a different set of considerations. Are the supplies of commodities used by the industry sustainable? In part, the sustainability of the supply of commodities used to preserve wood depends on competition for those commodities from other users. The development of a middle class infrastructure in China and India will require more copper, leading to increased competition for the metal (higher prices and reduced supply).

Another important commodity for the industry is wood. Will there be the high quality wood necessary to satisfy consumers' demands for residential decking? The quality of the wood sold into the marketplace is as important as the preservative.

. Is the use of pressure treated wood ecologically sustainable? This question could be reformed to ask, "Is the use of pressure treated wood sustainable from a regulatory point of view?" The biocides used in pressure treated wood do leach or migrate from the wood into the environment, where they disperse, degrade and/or accumulate in sediments. At low concentrations, copper is an essential micronutrient supporting life. However, as the concentration of copper increases in sediment or water, the metal becomes toxic to many forms of life. In other words, copper-based preservatives need to be managed in sensitive environments.

I have spent a portion of the last l7 years studying the environmental response to pressure treated wood and developing models that help manage all of the currently available preservatives. Projects studied included creosote pilings at a wharf on Bainbridge Island. Wa.: CCA and ACZA structures in marine environments in Sequim Bay, Wa.; CCA, ACZA and ACQ viewing platforms in the Wildwood Wetlands on Oregon's Mount Hood, and ACQ- and CCA-treated floats in a pond near Port Townsend, Wa.

In 14 of 15 risk assessments, no significant adverse effects to the environments were documented. In fact, invertebrate communities were more diverse and abundanl near these structures than at nearby reference locations.

In one case, Darcy Goyette from Environment Canada and I spent 10 years studying the Sooke Basin on the southern end of Vancouver Island in southwestern British Columbia. When we started the project in 1995, Darcy was concerned that creosote-treated structures would likely harm the environment. After the fifth year, he commented that the government should pay people to build with creosote because of the wonderful habitat it creates. We have repeatedly seen higher diversity and abundance of aquatic life on and around treated wood structures than we see at reference locations-not because of the biocides used to preserve the wood, but because the structures diversify the habitat.

So, lacking evidence of significant adverse biological effects associated with pressure treated wood projects located in open aquatic environments, why are some regulatory agencies opposed to the use of such products? As the world's population increases, the size of the "environmental footprint" of each individual or community has to diminish so that the total footprint remains sustainable. Those in government are demanding that each industry's effect be reduced. For the treated wood industry, that means that there is pressure to reduce the loss of preservative active ingredients, and that is one of the challenges facing this industry if it is to remain regulatorily sustainable.

So. too. we should all be economically sustainable. Since the Second World War, America has built an expanding economy based on borrowed money, relying on other countries to provide the resources and cheap labor to manufacture the goods we crave. My sense is that it is time for America to take responsibility for our own future. Putting America back on track means that we must harvest our own timber and other resources in a responsible way. Manufacture our own goods. Demand excellence from students. And slay the political correctness dragon that prevents real problem solving.

Rather that burdening future generations with huge debts, I believe that this approach will revitalize the middle class by creating new jobs in natural resources and manufacturing.

How does the pressure treated wood industry meet these challenges?

It is a technology-based industry that must continue to evolve. The first generation of alternative preservatives following industries' abandonment of CCA didn't decrease the size of the environmental footprint of treated wood; it significantly increased the contribution of copper from each structure to sensitive environments. However, newer preservatives dissolve the copper, reducing the impact back to that associated with CCA, making them more environmentally sustainable.

What is the ideal preservative?

From my perspective. it is a preservative that prevents decay and insect attack for at least 50 years. That means the preservative must stay in the wood. When this ideal preservative does leach from the wood. it is quickly transformed to non-toxic endpoints that have little or no potential to adversely affect plants or animals. Some smart wood scientist will eventually develop such a preservative.

In the meantime, pressure treaters cunently have tools to help minimize the size of the environmental footprints associated with treated wood structures. They can avoid building structures that will harm the environment. They can employ best management practices in production, designed to minimize the loss of preservative to the environment.

Sustainability is a constantly moving target. Currently available technologies may not be sustainable over the next several hundred years. Yet properly managed forests are infinitely renewable, and pressure treated wood further increases the sustainable use of that precious resource.