CDCQ0108

Catalyst THE MAGAZINE OF CANADA’S

CHEMICAL PRODUCERS

Spring 2008 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Sustainable Development Private Members’ Legislation Transportation of Dangerous Goods

From safety in the batter’s box to safely home, chemistry is a part of everyday life.

Life is a delicate balance…

Imperial opened land on a former refinery site in Mississauga, Ontario, to help complete a public trail along the shore of Lake Ontario.

When we manufacture and sell our products, we work to avoid upsetting that balance. It’s part of the Responsible Care initiative. It includes our commitment to develop products that minimize risk to people and to educate them on their use. Energy and petrochemicals are essential to economic growth; however their production and consumption need not conflict with protecting health and safety or with safeguarding the environment.

CHEMICAL

ISO 9000/14000

Responsible Care® Beyond what’s required.

*Trademarks of Imperial Oil Limited. Imperial Oil, licensee. ®Trademark of the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association. Used under license by Imperial Oil.

CCPA Editor Michael Bourque Vice President, Public Affairs Assistant Editor Nancy Marchi Public Affairs Co-ordinator President & CEO Richard Paton Association Office Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association 805-350 Sparks Street Ottawa, ON K1R 7S8 Tel.: (613) 237-6215 Fax: (613) 237-4061 Web site: www.ccpa.ca

Contents volume 5, number 1, SPRING 2008

FEATURES 9

A look at what could be added by making a more specific commitment to sustainable development

By Richard Janda

NAYLOR Publisher Elena Langlois

11 A Competing Agenda Private Members’ Legislation in a Minority Parliament

By W. Scott Thurlow

Editor Janine Strom Project Manager Alana Place

14 Stunts with Toxins Just Poison the Debate Are the quantities of chemicals found in the blood of Ontario’s three party leaders dangerous or benign?

By Dan Gardner

Senior Sales Manager Steve Urias Sales Manager Bill McDougall Book Leader Robert Bartmanovich Sales Representatives Wayne Jury, Matt Offer, Cheryll Oland, Dawn Stokes Research Heather McCole

16 Reducing Emissions Report The CCPA’s 15th annual report embodies the spirit of Responsible Care.

By Julien Lavoie

…and the Case of the Sippy Cups

By Kris Lee

19 Storm Clouds on the Horizon CCPA’s survey shows strong exports offset Canadian decline in manufacturing for chemical producers.

By Julien Lavoie

Editorial Office

Naylor (Canada), Inc. 2 Bloor Street West, Suite 2001 Toronto, ON M4W 3E2 Tel: (416) 961-1028 Fax: (416) 924-4408 Catalyst is published four times per year by Naylor (Canada), Inc. for the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association (CCPA). The CCPA represents over 70 chemical manufacturers, which collectively produce more than 90 per cent of all chemicals in Canada. Responsible Care®, an initiative of Canada’s Chemical Producers, is an ethic for the safe and environmentally sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle. Invented in Canada, Responsible Care is now practiced in 47 countries.

Copyright by the CCPA. All rights reserved. The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or the CCPA. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior consent of the association.

Published March 2008 CDC-Q0108/7045

19

17 The NIMBI (Not in My Baby’s Inventory) Syndrome

Layout & Design Naylor, LLC Advertising Art Elaine Connell

Why Does Sustainable Development Matter?

COLUMNS 5

Edifications Shaping the Future for Sustainability

By Michael Bourque

6

Responsible Care® The Third Transportation of Dangerous Goods Congress gets a thumbs-up.

By Peter Mackay

20

DEPARTMENTS 20 Product Profile Imperial Oil’s chemical division prevents leaks with a new infrared optical imaging device.

By Peter Baltais

21 Fun Facts What’s That Stuff?

By Robin Giroux

21

23 Buyers’ Guide and Index to Advertisers Cover photo: ©iStockphoto/James Steidl

Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40064978 Postage Paid at Winnipeg

Catalyst Spring 2008 • 3

Edifications

SHAPING

THE FUTURE FOR SUSTAINABILITY

By Michael Bourque IN THIS ISSUE of Catalyst, you will find articles from two “outsiders” on the issue of sustainability. The first is from the point of view of a scholar, Richard Janda, who looks at sustainable development through the eyes of a lawyer, academic and member of CCPA’s National Advisory Panel on Responsible Care.

The second article is from Kris Lee, an active community representative from Sarnia who writes as a grandparent.

Both writers challenge us to respond to societal concerns about our ability to operate in the same ways that we have in the past. Whether it is in our approach to plant operations or in the marketing of a plastic cup, we are being asked to account for the impact on society of the decisions and actions we take as an industry.

This challenge is not unique to the chemical sector. In a modern Canadian city, for example, we see rapid growth leading to road congestion; waste and recycling problems; infrastructure issues and energy troubles, to name a few.

When you ask someone what can be done to address the multitude of pressures facing their community, you will often hear “we just can’t continue the way we have been.” In many aspects of modern life, there is a feeling that we cannot sustain the growth we have witnessed over the last half century.

Since the launching of Responsible Care 22 years ago, the Canadian chemical industry has been a leader in asking tough questions about its own ethical standards, daily practices and its longerterm commitment to improvement.

What started with concerns for safety in plant operations has extended along the value chain to transportation and

distribution. As Responsible Care has evolved and grown, new solutions have been found to maintain its relevance and address new issues, from transportation safety to population health and climate change.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the chemical industry is a leader in finding solutions to problems, because that’s what chemistry is all about.

The Canadian chemical industry produces an estimated 70,000 products.

These “products” are really solutions.

How to reduce the amount of paint used in automobile manufacturing; how to reduce energy consumption in houses; how to get greater gas mileage from a vehicle; how to transport fruit and vegetables so that they stay fresh during their journey, and the list goes on. The people who work inside the chemical industry are proud of their “solutions” approach to problems.

Sustainable development seeks to balance economic, environmental and societal concerns. This balance can often exceed the scope of a single chemical company and present a quantum leap in problem-solving. When we are faced with this type of challenge, we don’t check the “program”; we check the “ethic”. By taking an ethical approach to problem solving, we take into account the triple bottom line of sustainability.

Nevertheless, sustainable development is a moving target. As new concerns are raised and new fears identified, we are asked to find fresh solutions that go beyond the traditional boundaries of the chemical industry.

That is why dialogue continues to be the cornerstone of any successful approach to problem-solving. Dialogue

results in a greater understanding of the roles and responsibilities of every citizen, be they individuals or corporations. Dialogue motivates us to respond to concerns. Our ethic provides the guidance we need to make the right decisions, and our “solutions” approach often prevails.

Canada’s Chemical Producers are actively working on the changes needed to transform Responsible Care even further to address many of the new challenges posed by sustainable development, including an examination of our ecological footprint, the extended responsibility we have for our molecules and the changing demands of society.

Our objective is to once again be leaders amongst the 53 countries in the world that practice Responsible Care by integrating sustainable development practices into our new principles and, soon after, our codes of practice.

Over the past 20 years, our approaches have been emulated by a number of other industries. By taking the lead again, we have the opportunity to shape the future for sustainability by developing tools and measures that can be taken up by other sectors.

It is true we cannot keep operating in the same ways we have in the past. To ensure we have a license from society to manufacture and market our products in the future makes good business sense. To do so in ways that ensure the sustainable development of Canada’s abundant natural resources makes sense for all Canadians. A Michael Bourque is Vice President, Public Affairs, Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association. He can be reached at mjbourque@ccpa.ca.

Catalyst Spring 2008 • 5

Responsible Care®

By Peter Mackay

THIRD TRANSPORTATION OF

THE

DANGEROUS GOODS CONGRESS GETS A

THUMBS-UP The following article is an abridged version of two stories on TDG Congress III written by Peter Mackay: “Un pour tous” ran in the November 2007 edition of Hazardous Cargo Bulletin (HCB) and “Pack it in” appeared in the December 2007 issue. Mackay is the managing editor of HCB, the internationally recognized journal for global hazardous/dangerous goods transport in all modes, published in London, England. Mackay attended the congress and was favourably impressed by it.

THE CANADIAN CHEMICAL PRODUCERS’ ASSOCIATION (CCPA) and Transport Canada held their third Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Congress this past October 15 and 16 in Ottawa, Ontario. It drew a large and surprisingly international crowd, attracting more than 240 delegates who were kept busy with two full days of plenary sessions and workshops.

Problems of (English/French) translation are nothing compared to problems chemical shippers in Canada face when exporting dangerous goods; there is a massive cross-border trade with the U.S. so they need to know their way around the US Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) as well as Transport Canada’s TDG regulations. And there is plenty of trade with Western Europe and growing business with Asian shippers. Therefore, harmonization issues are high on 6 • Catalyst Spring 2008

the agenda for shippers and carriers in Canada. The problems arising from having to deal with a variety of regulations were the main theme of TDG Congress III. Sergio Benassai, who retired at the end of last year as chairman of the UN Sub-committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, and from his day job with the Italian government, said he felt able to say a few things about which he used to have to keep quiet. Sergio “unplugged” proposed a way to deal with current disharmony: a World Convention on the transport of dangerous goods. A mandatory instrument with requirements for all modes and all countries would avoid the need for national legislation and could also reduce the need to hold international meetings. It could make more use of references to international standards and The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).

In addition, harmonization is needed to facilitate the legitimate distribution of dangerous goods for the benefit of all, to facilitate the intermodal transfer of goods and to minimize modal differences other than for justifiable safety reasons; regulators and industry should share these aims, said Jeff Hart, head of the Dangerous Goods Unit at the United Kingdom Department for Transport.

Kim Headrick, senior policy advisor at Health Canada and chair of the UN Sub-committee of Experts on GHS, gave an overview of the creation and structure of GHS. When asked what would happen in Canada if the US failed to implement GHS, Kim said it is too early to determine.

However, various agencies are working together towards NAFTA-wide implementation.

Duane Pfund, director of the Office of International Standards at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation, opened with the observation that harmonization means different things to different people but generally translates as “you do it our way.” He considered six issues

The consequences of safety and security failures are similar, but their prevention and response are different. currently being addressed internationally and where harmonization is important if new regulations are to be effective and not impede trade.

The first of these is the new entry in the Dangerous Goods List for ethanol/gasoline mixtures, UN 3475.

Another was e-freight which should

be able to be applied to improved hazard communication, emergency response, security and accuracy.

A sub-theme session on security issues was kicked off by John Read, director general of Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate at Transport Canada. The consequences of safety

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and security failures are similar, he began, but their prevention and response are different. “If you want to be confident in the people working for you or at your site,” he said, “a better system than mere background checks might be needed.”

Unlike the situation in the U.S., there is no single ‘transport security’ regulation in Canada, so security provisions have been entered here and there. However, there are plans to include a number of provisions in the Transport of Dangerous Goods Act, including: a hazardous materials ‘passport’ for drivers; requirement for security plans for transport, storage and handling; training requirements for the security plan; liability protection for Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP) holders who respond to ‘orphaned’ releases; security management systems; security equipment and systems, including tracking and tracing; a requirement to report lost or stolen dangerous goods; measures to impose limited restrictions during times of heightened security; and interim orders (“instant regulation”) in case of emergencies.

Cora di Pietro, general manager, consulting with (Halifax-based) Livingston International Consulting Group, presented data supporting claims that participation in the U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) is not only good from the point of view of improving national and corporate security, it also seems to have commercial benefits that its proponents had not anticipated.

Cora’s recommendation was that companies should participate in customs programs, even those ‘voluntary’ initiatives. “Customs security will continue to evolve and become more stringent,” she predicted.

Dave Finlayson wrapped up the session with a paper on safety in the fertilizer supply chain. Dave, vice-president of science and risk management at the Canadian Fertilizer Institute (CFI), said that fertilizer products are at risk of being targeted by criminals for illegal activities. Many can be used to make 8 • Catalyst Spring 2008

simple explosives and some products are stolen for use in the manufacture of illegal narcotics.

Fertilizer products are moved in large volumes, so it is a big job to keep all of this product secure. CFI launched a Safety & Security Council in 2003 to manage acute risks via codes of practice, guidelines and common tools, Dave explained.

A range of workshops covered European regulations, tank standards and emergency response activities.

Sergio Benassai gave delegates the low-down on RID (Regulation on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail) and ADR (Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods

by Road), the regulations that govern the transport of dangerous goods by road and rail, respectively, in Europe and, increasingly, elsewhere. If delegates were, by and large, comfortable or even confident with the way that RID and ADR work, this could not be said of the next topic: the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH). This was covered by Jeff Hart who explained that REACH is a European Commission Regulation, not a Directive.

Edgar Ladouceur, director of compliance and response at Transport Canada’s TDG Directorate looked at collaboration, cooperation, coordination and communication (“C-4”) in emergency response situations.

“Who’s in charge when there’s an incident?” he asked. “Responses are complex and dynamic, so the more we get together beforehand and talk, the better,” Edgar said. The workshop was prompted by a number of major accidents that had raised similar questions of authority and jurisdiction. Everyone involved in an incident response needs to know the responsibilities, strengths and capabilities of all the partners before the incident occurs.

Edgar was followed to the podium

by Danny Simpson, system director, dangerous goods, at Canadian National Railroad (CN).

CN is undertaking an outreach effort, ‘Project REACT’, in three

phases to enroll rural firefighters to on-line training and hands-on training. Dangerous goods officers are visiting brigades in their territories.

“Each community should get bettertrained responders,” Danny said. CN currently has a single ‘911 car’ that it tours around the country to help spread emergency response awareness and it is aiming to add another three such cars.

Josée Lamoureux, senior advisor to Transport Canada’s Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) Program, described the long and tortuous road towards the anticipated widespread application of HNS incident response programs and requirements. She noted that the ever-growing quantity of HNS being carried by sea, the wide range of products involved, the number of international incidents, and an increasing threat that Canadian waters would be subjected to such a spill all combined to encourage the government to develop federal regulation and the capacity to respond to a tanker incident involving HNS. At the Question and Answer Plenary Session, Louis Laferrière, senior manager for logistics at CCPA, was asked: Why do we have a multi-association committee on TDG? What does it do? Louis replied that MACTDG is an inter-industry body to ensure Transport Canada gets a consistent response from industry. It includes representatives from chemical producers, distributors, refiners, the compressed gases and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) sectors, rail operators, oil producers, the fertilizer industry, emergency responders, agrochemical producers, and so on. It meets two or three times a year, immediately before the Transport Canada advisory council.

“If we don’t get together and talk to regulators, we’re missing a chance to help ourselves,” Louis said.

The last word was given to John Read, who was surprised to be presented with a plaque ahead of his impending retirement and for once was rendered almost speechless.

The fourth TDG Congress will take place in Ottawa in October 2010. A

Feature

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MATTER?

WHY DOES

By Richard Janda Hydro Quebec Sustainable Development Scholar, Faculty of Law, McGill University

A look at what could be added by making a more specific commitment to sustainable development

A S A MEMBER of the National Advisory Panel on Responsible Care for the last three years, I have been called upon to reflect on the future trajectory for the Responsible Care Ethic and in particular on what, if anything, would be added by making a more specific commitment to sustainable development.

The current Responsible Care Ethic is already oriented toward the idea of sustainability, which is remarkable for an initiative that predates the Brundtland Commission Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development by two years. That 1987 report, entitled Our Common Future, provided what is acknowledged to be the classical definition of the term sustainable development: “development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The report sought to marry the idea of inter-generational justice with the idea of a just balance among competing economic, social and environmental goods. The core concept was that our current use of resources, if oriented toward immediate needs and desires, would work an injustice upon future generations. According to the report, our current challenge is to ensure that the pursuit of any particular good sustains the possibility of pursuing economic, social and environmental goods in the future. This requires a general shift from an ethic of exploitation of resources to an ethic of stewardship over resources.

It is fair to say that sustainable development was one of

the grand ideas of the end of the 20th century, emerging from the north-south clash of Capitalist and Communist ideologies and seeking in a sense to transcend both. Neither Capitalism nor Communism had truly confronted the legacy they were bequeathing to the future: Capitalism because it focused on maximizing the fulfillment of existing preferences and Communism because it affirmed

Any grand idea can be used and abused.

Sustainable development is no exception. dogmatically that taking over and exploiting the means of production, for the sake of those now oppressed, would achieve future justice. In divergent ways, both were oriented towards exploitation of resources and neither truly acknowledged the justice claims of future generations.

Sustainable development emerged not as a new ideology to substitute for the old, but rather as a standpoint from which to identify the injustices that could be perpetuated by simply reproducing any existing set of economic relations.

Any grand idea can be used and abused. Sustainable development is no exception. Precisely because it is not an ideology but rather a constellation of justice claims, it can be decried as vague. Sustainability can also be misunderstood to mean the persistence of whatever Catalyst Spring 2008 • 9

already exists and sustainable development can be bent into a simple formula for legitimating profits – after all, a business without profits cannot develop sustainably.

Furthermore, sustainable development seems ineffable because it cannot be directly implemented once and for all according to a program, nor can one become a card-carrying “sustainable developmentalist.” One can only ask oneself repeatedly, “Are my choices justified from the standpoint of sustainable development?” One becomes a trustee.

Which leads to potentially the most devastating critique of sustainable development: Is it not simply naïve to imagine that an idea centered on stewardship for future generations can possibly gain practical adherence, especially in the business world? Even socially responsible firms face the pressure to achieve quarterly returns for their investors. That is the immediate time horizon they face, not one projected indefinitely into the future. In short, the very critique of current economic relations sustainable development provides suggests that it is at odds with the economic incentives faced by real, existing economic actors.

Yet how does one explain Responsible Care and the widening range of sustainable development initiatives being launched by leading industry associations and corporations? For example, why is there now a set of Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, on which Dow Chemical is rated as a top performer, and why is there a World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), on which sits Charles Holliday, CEO of DuPont? The Economist magazine, long a sceptic about corporate social responsibility (CSR), published a special report on CSR in its January 19, 2008 issue acknowledging that “corporate responsibility [is] rising sharply in global executives’ priorities.” The magazine cites Prof. Jane Nelson of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government stating that in the next few years, CSR will be mainly about “how large corporations steer a sustainable growth strategy in a very complex environment” and it identifies climate change as “probably the biggest single driver of growth in the CSR industry of late.” Climate change has come to summarize and symbolize the injustice that our current exploitation of resources bequeaths to future generations. It instantiates unsustainable development, with the devastation it entails for the environment, the unequal social burden that will be borne by these already vulnerable and the huge economic costs passed on to the future, as calculated exhaustively by the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change.

A cynical response to the notion, proclaimed in The Economist, that corporate social responsibility aimed at sustainable development “has arrived,” would dismiss it as clever marketing and public relations. And surely there is some of that. But the WBCSD gives deeper insight when it links sustainable development to “the business licence to operate.” Corporations are trustees of that licence. Current initiatives might be motivated 10 • Catalyst Spring 2008

by the risk that the social licence might be withdrawn if corporate performance fails to match social expectations.

Yet a more likely motivation is that Milton Friedman’s old idea that “the social responsibility of the corporation is to increase its profits” is not an adequate guide to how firms can create value legitimately. A focus on sustainable development implies stewardship of the social licence to operate for present and future stakeholders and thus a way of continuing to create value legitimately.

The link I am drawing between sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, stewardship of the social licence to operate, and legitimacy of the corporation gives rise to a final possible objection, articulated by Robert Reich in his recent book, Supercapitalism. Aren’t corporations’ self-styled efforts to pursue sustainable development an arrogation to themselves of public authority and a subversion of democracy? To put it closer to home, shouldn’t Responsible Care be the business of government rather than industry? If Responsible Care can serve to legitimate the chemical industry’s social licence to operate, isn’t this a sleight of hand whereby the industry clothes itself in the mantle of a public purpose without ceding to public authority?

The answer to this objection lies in thinking more carefully about the role of trustees and fiduciaries. A trustee can be asked – indeed required – to make decisions and manage resources on behalf of others and thus be delegated considerable authority for that purpose.

Think of parents, doctors, lawyers – and corporations.

In fulfilling that fiduciary role, the trustee can and typically will elaborate its own code of ethics and conduct.

However, at the same time, the trustee can and should be held accountable for failure to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities. Oversight of the fiduciary redounds to public authority. A trustee will monitor its own compliance with its code, and public authority will monitor the monitor. That is why the Responsible Care Ethic can only be legitimate if, as it states, it involves working for effective laws and standards and then seeking to meet and exceed them in letter and spirit.

Sustainable development is now more than a slogan or watchword. It has become a principle of international law, a focus of domestic legislation (for example, Quebec’s ambitious Sustainable Development Act) and the centerpiece of corporate social responsibility. Responsible Care is already a leading example of the practical significance of the concept, and, as Responsible Care evolves, it should continue to articulate, with increased ambition, what sustainable development means for the chemical industry. A renewed and deepened commitment to sustainable development entails confronting whether the products now being produced should be produced at all, what methods of production can eliminate potential harm, to whom and how products can be sold responsibly, and how chemistry can be used to alleviate existing environmental degradation and to foreclose it in the future. A

Feature

By W. Scott Thurlow

A COMPETING AGENDA Private Members’ Legislation in a Minority Parliament

WHEN A GOVERNMENT rolls out its legislative agenda, the focus is generally on the key pieces of legislation that it introduces – as a government – to provide the legal underpinning for the policy changes that it wants to make.

Those proposed bills are a small part of the daily business of the House of Commons, which dedicates an hour a day to what is commonly referred to as Private Members’ Business (PMB). Private members’ bills are limited in their scope. For example, there is a constitutional requirement that any bill proposing the expenditure of public funds receive a royal recommendation – meaning that a minister must endorse it. Similarly, a member cannot propose a bill that would raise taxes. However, speakers’ rulings have expanded the definition of what is defined as a public expenditure.

The vast majority of these bills do not pass. In the current political environment, opposition parties are using the PMB process to push forward their own, often competing, legislative agenda – which has led to significant uncertainty and “random violence” from various members of Parliament. This trend was best exemplified by the swift passage of the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act without any economic or scientific analysis of the impacts of the legislation. During its submission, CCPA warned Parliamentarians of the severe economic impacts of the bill’s passage – a sentiment echoed by Minister of the Environment. The message fell on deaf ears as Parliament and the Senate voted straight down party lines to pass the bill. CCPA has found that there are a growing number of private members’ bills that, if passed, would adversely affect production and the operation of plants in Canada. In creating value Catalyst Spring 2008 • 11

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The opposition parties are using the private members’ process to try to make the government look bad with no regard to intelligent public policy. for members, CCPA is often required to address these legislative initiatives to protect our industry from “random violence”, often on very short notice.

Problematic Process The private members’ process can be very problematic for both the government and stakeholders like CCPA. For example, in rejecting the government’s approach to dealing with climate change, the opposition introduced a flurry of internally inconsistent laws affectionately dubbed the Children of C-30. In the last session of Parliament, C-30, then known as the Clean Air Act, was rewritten by opposition MPs at Committee, leaving it in a state that the government could not support. There are currently four different bills that echo C-30 in some way, with the most obvious example being C-468 (Canada’s Clean Air and Climate Change Act), introduced by Nathan Cullen, which differs from the amended version of C-30 in number only. If it is passed, the government would have no choice but to respect the will of Parliament.

The bottom line is that the opposition parties are using the private members’ process to try to make the government look bad with no regard to intelligent public policy. The opposition has always done this, but in the current minority Parliament they are much more able – and willing – to see their votes used as bargaining chips as they make arrangements with one another to seek unanimity in the opposition on diverse issues.

This trend is not limited to climate change. Some MPs have taken it upon themselves to circumvent the scientific process, the Chemical Management Plan and other risk-based government programs, by proposing to add substances to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act without further consultation. The implications of

these bills have not been studied by the government – and are driven by incomplete scientific analysis. While these bills may not have a direct impact on all CCPA member companies, they are important in that they seek to impose restrictions on the use of substances without thorough scientific justification. These bills attempt to limit what goes into hard plastic plates and cups, or ban the use of phosphates in dish detergent. If passed, these bills would create restrictions on substances that Canadians use every day without the benefit of any type of cost-benefit analysis. What’s worse is that they are slowly moving forward: the NDP environment critic Nathan Cullen introduced a bill to limit the use of phthalates that has been passed by the House of Commons and is now before the Senate.

Public Positions CCPA has taken more public positions on other pieces of Private Members’ Legislation. For example, Bill C-415, an Act to Amend the Canada Labour Code (Replacement Workers) was introduced by former Liberal Labour Critic Mario Silva.

In the previous Parliamentary session, only at the final hour did the Liberals come out against a similar bill backed by the NDP and BQ that would have banned the use of replacement workers during strikes.

The Liberal bill is equally controversial, and it is unclear how it will unravel as Parliament considers it in the coming months. CCPA communicated directly with the Minister of Labour to help ensure the defeat of C-415’s predecessor, and has indicated to the government that the association is not in favour of the current legislation. CCPA continues to work with the government and opposition MPs who are involved with the bill in question to ensure

that all MPs are aware of the potential consequences to industry should the bill become law.

The random violence touches every aspect of CCPA member company operations. CCPA recently testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice on a private member’s bill that would alter the current drug precursor legislation. As it stands, CCPA works very closely with Health Canada and with law enforcement officers who monitor the sale of the substances that have a potential criminal application, but also have many legitimate uses. For political purposes, the MP who introduced the bill is trying to respond to a community desire to deal with a growing drug problem – through legislation which would ban all uses of precursors, several solvents and acids, not just the controlled substances. The net effect is that this bill would disrupt a very thorough partnership between CCPA members and law enforcement agencies, and introduce more problems to the economy without necessarily any societal benefits.

The private members’ process can be very problematic for both the government and stakeholders like CCPA. try for licenses and programs. But, Mr. Cullen recalls how important other stakeholders were to the process. “You can’t get there without help,� he noted. “CCPA and the rest of the Business Coalition on Cost Recovery provided me with a lot of support as I lobbied other MPs and the government about the merits of the bill. Their efforts were essential to the eventual passage of the legislation.�

As part of CCPA’s commitment to providing added value to members, association staff remain vigilant in providing information to parliamentarians who are looking for opportunities to introduce positive legislation.

CCPA staff also work hard to ensure that proposed legislation which directly challenges competitiveness is met with strong opposition,

and that MPs are made aware of the direct, and indirect, challenges that new bills will create for maintaining competitiveness and attracting new investment. Ultimately, Parliament is supreme and it can legislate in any constitutionally permissible domain its membership elects to pursue. Working with parliamentarians is key to ensuring that when they discuss these private members’ bills within their caucuses, the CCPA position resonates loudly. A Scott Thurlow first joined CCPA as a Parliamentary Affairs consultant in 1998. In the 10 years he has been associated with CCPA, Thurlow has monitored legislation and regulations that affect the competitiveness of member operations in Canada.

Effective Advocacy Admittedly, this article has taken a very cynical view to the private members’ process. There are several instances of how the private members’ process has been an effective advocacy instrument for achieving CCPA goals. In the previous Parliament, CCPA worked very closely with Roy Cullen (Liberal – Etobicoke North) to force the government to re-examine its own regulatory policy pertaining to cost-recovery. Mr. Cullen notes that “private members’ legislation is one of the ways that individual members can leave their mark on the laws of Canada. Issues that are important to them and their constituents, but don’t necessarily attract the full attention of the government of the day, are often debated as a direct result of the private members’ process.� CCPA worked with Mr. Cullen to ensure that the government would be held accountable for the fees it charges private indus-

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Catalyst Spring 2008 â&#x20AC;˘ 13 2/8/08 11:04:48 AM

Feature

By Dan Gardner ©The Ottawa Citizen

STUNTS WITH TOXINS JUST POISONTHE DEBATE Are the quantities of chemicals found in the blood of Ontario’s three party leaders dangerous or benign?

DALTON MCGUINTY IS polluted. So are John Tory and Howard Hampton.

All three provincial political leaders allowed a group called Environmental Defence to analyze their blood for the presence of 70 chemicals. More than 40 were found in each man. And most of those chemicals are “associated with cancer, developmental problems, respiratory illnesses, damage to the nervous system and hormone disruption,” Environmental Defence noted in a press release issued last week.

“Harmful pollutants surround us every day in the air we breathe, food we eat and products we use,” warned Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence. “Not even the premier is immune.”

All of this is indisputably true. Chemical contamination is everywhere. Look at the vein on the back of the hand holding this newspaper. There is blood inside and within that blood is a witches’ brew of synthetic chemicals.

Most people find this discovery deeply unsettling. “Finding out what toxics are in your body is a humbling experience,” Dalton McGuinty said in a prepared response to the analysis. “It brings home that the environment is a health issue.

Keeping toxic substances out of our environment – and out of our bodies – is important to Ontarians.”

John Tory agreed. “This is a very stark lesson to everyone that no matter who you are, where you live or what you do, toxins are in all of us.”

“I’m alarmed at how many environmental pollutants are in my body,” said 14 • Catalyst Spring 2008

Even the most toxic, nasty, awful substance can be harmless — if the dose is small enough. and other diseases – and it counts on reporters and the public to conclude, as the three party leaders did, that the presence of the chemicals in any amount puts people at risk.

This is a standard scare tactic in environmental circles. In the United Kingdom two years ago, the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace and other environmental groups conducted major publicity campaigns about “contaminated blood” using the same techniques as Environmental Defence. At first, scientists quietly seethed. Finally, they went to the media.

“This is irresponsible, hysterical scaremongering,” Alan Boobis, a toxicologist with the faculty of medicine in Imperial College, London, told The Guardian newspaper.

“Most chemicals were found at a fraction of a part per billion. There is no evidence such concentrations pose any threat to people’s health.” David Coggon, a specialist in occupational and environmental causes of cancer and other diseases at the University of Southampton, told the BBC that

“the message they are putting across is misleading, and deliberately so.”

(I should note that one chemical may be an exception to Paracelsus’s rule: Some scientists believe that “Bisphenol A” – a chemical found in common consumer products, including some plastic baby bottles – poses a greater threat in tiny quantities than in larger amounts. The science is far from settled but in the meantime regulatory agencies in Europe, the U.S. and Japan have concluded there’s no reason to ban the chemical. It’s under review in Canada.)

I don’t want to suggest that biomonitoring is not important and valuable. It is. In fact, it’s essential. But it should be conducted according to proper, scientific protocols. And the public should be told the full truth about the results.

Testing politicians and omitting the most important information is not science. It’s a contemptible stunt. A Material reprinted with the express permission of: “Ottawa Citizen Group Inc.,” a CanWest Partnership.

www.rohmhaas.com ©ROHM AND HAAS COMPANY, 2006

Howard Hampton. “I want to commend Environmental Defence for educating us about the dangerous pollutants in our environment.”

Mr. Hampton might want to hang onto that commendation until he speaks with some toxicologists.

“All substances are poisons; there is none that is not a poison,” wrote the chemist Paracelsus in the 16th century. “The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy.” This is the first principle of toxicology: Whether a substance is harmful or not depends entirely on how much of it is present.

Literally any substance can be harmful at some quantity. Take drinking water. Nothing is safer. And yet, if we consume very large quantities of water very quickly, the body’s salt levels will plummet – leading to a coma or even death. That’s not a theoretical risk. Every now and then, plain old drinking water sends someone – usually an inexperienced runner – to the hospital or the morgue.

Conversely, even the most toxic, nasty, awful substance can be harmless – if the dose is small enough.

High up on the list of scary substances is radioactive uranium. And guess what? At this very moment, I am contaminated with it. So are you, and your children, and everyone else.

Should we be alarmed? Certainly not.

There are trillions of uranium atoms in the average human body but that is still far too little to make the slightest difference to health. (In case you were wondering, uranium occurs naturally in water and soil. We ingest it when we drink and eat.) So discovering that a “harmful chemical” is present in our blood may be intuitively disturbing but it actually tells us very little. What’s essential to know is how much is present, and whether that amount of that substance can inflict harm.

So, are the quantities of chemicals found in the blood of the three party leaders dangerous or benign?

Environmental Defence doesn’t say.

The group simply reveals the shocking presence of “harmful chemicals” that are “associated with” cancer

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Catalyst Spring 2008 • 15 4/11/06 11:15:09 AM

Feature

REDUCING EMISSIONS REPORT The CCPA’s 15th annual report embodies the spirit of Responsible Care.

By Julien Lavoie Editors Note: This is the last “Reducing Emissions” report for CCPA’s Bruce Caswell, who has shepherded the report for the last 15 years. As Bruce takes on his next challenge of infinite leisure during his retirement, he will be able to look back at a tremendous legacy of emission reductions in Canada. Bruce enjoys an excellent reputation as a specialist in the chemical industry: with government, environmentalists and industry personnel alike.

Bruce is responsible for changing the culture within CCPA and its member-companies and fostering a commitment to a better environment for the communities where they operate by ensuring greater vigilance in safety and raising awareness of human health impacts.

THE TRANSPARENCY AND continuous improvement creed of Responsible Care are embodied in CCPA’s 15th annual Reducing Emissions Report. The report, which summarizes the overall environmental performance of manufacturing operations, is a crucial component of CCPA members’ commitment to the ethic of Responsible Care.

This report, available in English and French on CCPA’s website, invites comments from the community and encourages Canadians to contact companies directly to dialogue about their environmental performance. Reducing Emissions provides an opportunity for chemical producers to directly engage in discussions with plant communities regarding the emissions of substances and the continuous improvements made. This dialogue ensures that there is an opportunity for chemical producers and Canadians to address concerns about total national and site-specific emissions, as well as emission-reduction projections.

Bruce Caswell, CCPA’s Senior Manager, Environment, Health and Safety, believes this is the right approach.

“Public accountability and member-company pride in their reduction achievements, combined with a little dose of peer pressure, yields a stronger environmental performance on the part of members – more effectively than strict regulations ever could,” he says.

“The progress made since the first emissions report in 1992 speaks to the effectiveness of Responsible Care, which really empowers our members to work in partnership with governments, communities and other stakeholders. Public dialogue helps companies set and meet environmental goals, while at the same time retaining business and operational flexibility,” Caswell adds.

However, more than just an exercise in transparency, the process of determining emission levels, taking action, monitoring progress and consulting with Canadians is at the 16 • Catalyst Spring 2008

heart of CCPA’s emission-reduction initiative. And the continuous improvements are showing results.

By the Numbers In Reducing Emissions 15, member-companies reported a total reduction of 85% since 1992 – the first year of Responsible Care emissions reporting. Since 1992, the rate of CCPA emissionsreduction has outpaced the increase in chemical production. In short, today, a unit of chemical product is manufactured with 86% less chemical emissions than in 1992. CCPA members have essentially eliminated emissions to water. Emissions of known and probable carcinogens have declined by 95%, and ozonedepleting emissions have declined by 66% from 1992 volumes.

The report shows that members find themselves increasingly challenged to reduce emissions of large-volume substances that are related mainly to combustion processes, and account for 77% of all emissions, excluding carbon dioxide. These largevolume substances include oxides of sulphur, oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide. Emissions of these substances have decreased by 46% since 1992 but are expected to increase by 7% by 2011.

The most news-making of emissions – greenhouse gases – are projected to decline by 63% by 2011, based on 1992 amounts, in terms of each unit of product manufactured.

CCPA members’ emissions of carbon dioxide have decreased by 21% since 1992, a 2% decrease from the previous year.

Public Accountability Responsible Care members understand that they are accountable to the public. Reducing Emissions goes beyond listing substances and emissions. It discusses the issues and areas for development that are of highest concern to the public, including environmental health, endocrine modulators, children’s health, biomonitoring and, this year, the industry’s participation in the federal government’s Chemicals Management Plan.

“Responsible Care acts as a guide to encourage CCPA members to reduce unacceptable risks to the environment and to human health,” says Caswell. “The verification programs that are used to measure member compliance with the requirements of Responsible Care have a role to play in identifying priorities for action and to issue reduction challenges to industry – and ultimately to meet and exceed the letter and spirit of the law.” A Julien Lavoie is Manager, Communications & Parliamentary Relations, CCPA.

Feature

THE NIMBI

By Kris Lee

(NOT IN MY BABY’S INVENTORY) SYNDROME

©istockphoto.com/Ashok Rodriguez

…AND THE CASE OF THE SIPPY CUPS

Three events converged that precipitated the story of the Sippy Cups. Firstly, the media reported trace amounts of lead in plastic baby toys, resulting in a recall of products from China and, subsequently, the Environmental Defense Fund reported on leaching of Bisphenol A in baby bottles.

Secondly, I received the Wal-Mart Sustainability Policy, with targets which would be the envy of any CCPA member company. And lastly, my grandson had progressed to a Sippy Cup. With the above events in mind, I chose two cups from the Wal-Mart aisle for infants, one made by Playtex and the other by Gerber. My choice of these products was swayed by the 800 customer service numbers displayed on the labels.

The rationale: any company that places an 800 phone number for consumer questions is interested in public input and concerns.

With what I determined to be very simple questions, I was ready to talk to Playtex and Gerber. My scratch pad in front of the telephone had the following questions: Where was the original feedstock manufactured and by whom?

Where was the resin and extrusion of the cups produced and by whom? How was it tested for quality? Where can I find a list of the chemical compounds (without the proprietary information)?

The conversation with the 800 Playtex number was a dismal failure. The Playtex cup was made in China. This revelation rather disturbed me since the package did not indicate this information. The response regarding chemical compounds was that it was made of “pure polypropylene.”

How can I receive documentation that the product is safe?

The response: I cannot, since that is proprietary. I would have to trust the 800 operator’s declaration that since it is sold in North America, the U.S. government would have taken care of the safety issues.

The conversation with Gerber fared a little better. The Gerber cup was made in the U.S.A. Gerber was unable to send me information by a phone request and suggested that I would have to write to head office. A letter from head office of Gerber Resource Centre in Fremont, Michigan, stated that the use of Bisphenol A in food contact products has been determined by the company to be safe, based on information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European regulatory authorities. As well, Gerber continuously reviews current scientific research. They invited letters and/or phone calls through their 800 number.

Catalyst Spring 2008 • 17

Neither company was able to answer my original questions that would trace the manufacturing history of their product from feedstock to distribution. The lack of disclosure and/or information makes me think that the value chain is broken.

Stainless steel cups with polypropylene plastic nipples are promoted by the environmental sectors as being one of the safer alternatives to plastic cups.

These have a strict warning that they are not to be heated. It remains to be seen how popular these will become

among mainstream consumers, considering the fivefold cost to plastic cups.

Historically, CCPA has not identified with the consumer’s plight of navigating through the corporate matrix, using the argument that the manufacturer of the feedstock is too far removed from the end of the value chain. However, I would argue that the ‘value chain’ is only as strong as its weakest link. Amidst the NIMBI (Not In My Baby’s Inventory) China Syndrome and access to scientific information (both peer-reviewed or junk), CCPA (the primary industry

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sector) can no longer declare immunity.

Success is not based on what you have but what you do with what you have.

What does CCPA have?

1. The Responsible Care logo is a globally established icon. Consumers relate to icons.

2. There are many infrastructures already in place which have the most to gain in partnering with Responsible Care and CCPA, such as unions, universities, industry associations, the Canadian Plastics Industry Association, large retail chains such as WalMart, Canadian Tire, Toys “R” Us... to name a few.

3. Wal-Mart’s sustainability policy, which introduces third-party verification of suppliers in China and huge reductions in waste and energy, is very much in harmony with the Responsible Care ethic of product stewardship.

4. CCPA’s Responsible Care verifications provide a distinct edge over non-members and other sectors. There is buy-in from unions because it promotes the health and safety of workers, and from communities because it promotes a uniform structure for dialogue; ENGOs like it because it promotes transparency, and governments because it promotes accountability.

5. CCPA’ s archives of third-party Responsible Care verifications (of more than 15 years) are a hidden treasure of benchmarking and best practices unrivalled by any other sector.

Cost of tracing origin of Sippy Cup: toll free 800 number Cost of plastic Sippy Cup: $3.99 Cost of stainless steel Sippy Cup: $20 Responsible Care “made in Canada”: priceless. A Kris Lee is a CCPA Responsible Care verifier-member of Responsible Care Verification Steering Committee. She is a high school science teacher in Wallaceburg, Ontario, and working hard to bridge the gap between industry and community, with a major goal of reducing harmful effects to the environment. For more than 20 years, Kris has been an active member of several national industry and government advisory panels.

Feature

STORM CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON CCPA’s survey shows strong exports offset Canadian decline in manufacturing for chemical producers.

By Julien Lavoie CCPA’S 2007 year-end business survey of its members is showing that strong export sales are offsetting a diminishing domestic demand for basic chemicals and resins.

A dramatic 50% decline in sales to Canadian customers may signal fundamental changes to North American manufacturing, with production shifting to offshore locations, primarily Asia.

In contrast to the Canadian market, export sales were up by 13% in 2007 to $20 billion, and now represent over

80% of total industry sales. Sales to U.S. markets were down by 3% and now account for only about two-thirds of the industry’s business outside Canada, while exports to offshore markets were up 66%.

Despite weaker sales, operating profits before interest, taxes and special write-offs in 2007 were $2 billion, up 18% from 2006 and virtually at the peak set in 2005. Profits have been particularly strong in Canada’s gas-based petrochemical sector. Canada’s chemical producers continue to be profitable; their operating profit ratio remains significantly higher than their American counterparts, averaging 7.3% since 1999 (versus 4.6% in the U.S. over that period).

Richard Paton, CCPA President and CEO, kept a positive outlook on the survey results, despite these dramatic shifts. “The Canadian manufacturing sector seems to continue to weather a perfect storm – so far,” he said.

“The high dollar and its rapid appreciation in value, impacted on Canadian chemical production costs and on the costs for key chemical industry customers in Canada. High energy costs – including electricity in Ontario and high oil prices – have also had a negative impact on Canadian manufacturing, particularly to the segment of the chemical industry that upgrades fossil fuels into valueadded products.”

“Greater harmonization of energy, environmental and tax policies between the federal and provincial governments would help Canadian manufacturers’ competitiveness and help attract new investments to Canada,” Paton concluded.

Looking ahead, survey respondents expect sales value to decline by a further 1% in 2008, with volume forecast to decrease by 2%. Exports are predicted to remain unchanged overall, whereas exports to the U.S. are expected to increase by 5%. Operating profit is expected to decrease by 9% to $1.8 billion in 2008 and fi xed capital investment is forecast to increase by 16% to $1.2 billion.

The complete 2007 year-end survey and outlook for 2008 are available on CCPA’s website at www.ccpa.ca. A Ju l i e n L a v o i e i s M a n a g e r, C o m m u n i c a t i o n s & Parliamentary Relations, CCPA. Catalyst Spring 2008 • 19

Profile

IMPERIAL OIL’S CHEMICAL DIVISION PREVENTS LEAKS WITH A NEW INFRARED OPTICAL IMAGING DEVICE

By Peter Baltais Environmental Public Policy, Imperial Oil, Products & Chemicals Division, Calgary IMPERIAL OIL’S SARNIA (Ontario) operation is the most integrated of its kind in Canada, bringing together refinery, chemical manufacturing and petroleum research facilities.

The chemical operations annually produce more than one million tonnes of polyethylene, specialized solvents, aromatics and plasticizer feedstocks. These are the building blocks of many products we use every day, such as containers (pails, bulk goods and household storage), crates, housewares, lawn furniture, recreational goods, toys and medical products.

Identifying Fugitive Emissions Fugitive emissions from processing equipment such as valves, pumps, compressors and flanges can contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone and smog. Emissions can also be exposure hazards due to their chemical properties. Consequently, Imperial Oil has had a leak detection and repair program at its chemical operation in Sarnia since 1993.

Imperial Oil’s majority shareholder ExxonMobil has been working for more than a decade with other members of the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to seek ways to reduce fugitive emissions and related costs. They found that 92% of reducible emissions come from a tiny fraction (0.1%) of processing equipment, that leaks occur randomly, and that there are few significant sources. This led to a strategy of finding the larger leaks and repairing them sooner. Detector technology has progressed from experimental minivan-based equipment in the 1990s, to the first commercially available, handheld infrared optical imaging device in 2005.

About the size of a video camera, the tool detects vapours, allowing the user to quickly scan many pieces of equipment.

(The tool relies on leaking vapours absorbing infrared light, allowing them to show up as a dark cloud on the unit’s video display.)

Imperial Oil is a founding member of the Sarnia-Lambton Environmental Association, an internationally renowned industrial co-operative devoted to environmental protection.

20 • Catalyst Spring 2008

Numerous lab and plant tests, some multi-week, have been conducted with comparisons against traditional methodologies (sniffing and bagging) to establish instrument detection limits. Emission quantification methods were also developed.

Action In 2006, Imperial Oil conducted a pilot demonstration at its chemical plant in Sarnia to assess the technology. Criteria such as ease of use, sensitivity to distance, ability to detect leaks from different emissions sources (vents, storage tanks, difficult-to-reach and -see locations) and potential interferences were considered.

The conclusions were favorable for all criteria, while limitations were identified. The camera was found to be very portable, appeared to be very sensitive and was able to detect leaks from different emission sources. A trained operator is critical for proper camera operation and detection of smaller leaks.

Imperial Oil concluded that handheld optical imaging can make current fugitive emission-management programs better, and help achieve reductions by monitoring hard-to-reach components, thereby confirming the completeness of emission inventories. Use of the camera also reduces the risk of fire or explosion associated with flammable materials.

Imperial Oil has started to use this technology, taking a phased approach to build operator capability. A central support program will eventually be expanded to major sites.

Imperial Oil also benefits from ExxonMobil’s continued support of application and further development of handheld infrared optical imaging directly, and in cooperation with API and EPA. A

funfacts

WHAT’S THAT STUFF?

By Robin Giroux THERE HASN’T BEEN anything new or different about the baseballs used by Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1974, when the league changed the outside cover to cowhide; it had been horsehide, which was becoming in short supply.

MLB leaves no room for creativity in the manufacture of the balls it uses. Its official rules state: “The ball should be a sphere formed by yarn wound around a small sphere of cork, or rubber, or similar material covered with two stripes of white horsehide or cowhide, tightly stitched together. It shall weigh not less than 5 nor more than 51/4 oz avoirdupois and measure no less than 9 nor more than 91/4 inches in circumference.”

The game of baseball, however, was not always such a bastion of uniformity.

Early baseballs were made from the materials at hand and varied widely. As you can imagine, wrapping a walnut with string resulted in a ball very different in size and weight than one made by wrapping a stone with cloth, or even socks.

Today, instructions to the manufacturer call for the cork nucleus of prescribed weight (0.5 oz) and diameter (2.86 to 2.94 inches) to be encased in two thin rubber layers – one black, one red – weighing a total of 7/8 oz. The “pill,” as it’s called, is machine-wound under high, consistent tension with 121 yards of four-ply blue-gray wool yarn, 45 yards of three-ply white wool yarn, 53 more yards of three-ply wool yarn – this time blue-grey in color to denote the stage of manufacture, according to Rawlings – and 150 yards of fine white polyester-cotton blend yarn. This “centre” is coated with rubber cement before the cover is put on.

The cover – two pieces of elongated figure-eight-shaped white cowhide – is dampened to permit stretching and hand-stitched together with exactly 216 raised stitches, using 88 inches of red

Catalyst Spring 2008 • 21

Early baseballs were made from the materials at hand and varied widely. As you can imagine, wrapping a walnut with string resulted in a ball very different in size and weight than one made by wrapping a stone with cloth, or even socks. cotton thread. The last step in the process is rolling the balls for 15 seconds while still slightly damp so the seams are even and reasonably flat.

But these balls aren’t ready for the big leagues yet – they have to pass muster before they can take the field.

The balls must meet the obvious physical standards – size, shape, and weight – as well as cosmetic appeal and something called liveliness, which is measured by a coefficient of restitution.

To ensure that balls used by MLB are uniformly lively, balls are selected at random from each shipment to be tested. They are shot from an air cannon at 85 feet per second at a wall made of northern white ash – the wood used to make bats. Each tested ball must bounce back at between 0.514 and 0.578 of its original speed to be suitably lively for MLB. The tested balls must also prove their mettle in another way. They must retain their shape under pressure – distorting less than 0.08 inch after being subjected to a 6.5-lb force.

Manufacturing tolerances for baseballs were first set in the 1860s, when baseballs began to be made commercially, but a measure of variability remained. A ball made with a looser wrap played much differently than did a tightly wrapped ball. The size of the rubber pit used also made a difference in the liveliness of the ball.

These differences played a key strategic role in early professional baseball because the home team provided the game balls. A team with strong hitters would go for the tightly wound “lively” balls and might rack up more than 100 runs in a game. A strong defensive club opted for looser, softer – “dead” – balls that wouldn’t sail so far when slugged.

The introduction of rubber-coated cork as the core of baseballs in the early 1910s resulted in an even livelier ball.

An earlier experiment with a plain cork center was not successful because the wool yarn swelled after the ball was made.

Wily pitchers found ways around the benefits to batters of these lively balls. They increased their use of so-called freak deliveries, including spitballs and scuffballs, until the league outlawed the use of such doctored deliveries in 1920.

That ban on applying substances to, or otherwise changing the surface of, balls coincided with a seemingly inadvertent change in the baseballs themselves.

22 • Catalyst Spring 2008

The availability of finer, more resilient wool yarns, which had been going to the war effort, and improvements in the machinery used to manufacture the balls resulted in a tighter-wound, still livelier ball.

During the 1921 season, pitchers complained that they couldn’t get a good grip on the shiny, slick, undoctored surface. Umpires began rubbing the balls before games, a practice that continues today. MLB’s official game-ball preparation calls for umpires to rub the balls with Lena Blackburne’s Rubbing Mud, which one representative of the Major League Umpire’s Association describes as smooth and creamy, but with a fine grit. The composition of the mud is a closely held proprietary secret, but the base ingredient is known to be mud from a specific site in a tributary of the Delaware River.

It may seem that pitchers have traditionally gotten the worst end of the innovation stick, but this year Rawlings introduced a baseball just for them – one with a built-in speedometer. It even comes with a warranty that’s invalidated if the ball is hit with a bat. The company’s Radar Ball measures the speed with which the ball is thrown at a calibrated distance. It has speed-sensing technology that involves a microchip processor and a liquid-crystal display to give the pitcher immediate feedback.

New and different is fine for the training of pitchers, but Rawlings is equally proud of the “same-old, same-old” aspect of the baseballs it manufactures for MLB. It seems ironic to me, though, that so much effort goes into leveling the playing field in a game where the pitcher stands on a mound. A Reprinted with permission from Chem. Eng. News, March 29, 1999, 77(13), p 29. Copyright 1999 American Chemical Society.

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