unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/06/89)
PFIZER PLANT LISTED AMONG "TERRIBLE TEN" Via GreenLink: ================================================================= October 2, 1989 By MARK A. DUPUIS HARTFORD, Conn. (UPI) -- A coalition of citizen groups Thursday listed a Groton pharmaceutical plant among the worst polluters of coastal waters in New England. Pfizer Inc. was the third target of the New England Coastal Campaign's "terrible ten" listing of the companies and government agencies whose actions the group claims damage the region's coastal waters. The citizen groups said Pfizer has a chronic problem with chemical spills and is the state's largest discharger of chemicals, sending 7 million pounds into the Thames River in 1987 alone. "Pfizer is a prime example of a company whose actions have threatened our coastal waters," James Leahy, executive director of the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group, said at a news conference. He said ConnPIRG representatives were scheduled to meet Wednesday with officials from Pfizer, which manufactures pharmaceuticals and "fine" chemicals used in food production. Pfizer spokesman Brian McGlynn said the company had initiated the meeting and had wished ConnPIRG would have waited until after the session to hold the news conference. "We are well within our permit levels, there's no violation of the law here," McGlynn said, adding that discharges from the Groton plant are highly biodegradable. Chemicals released from the plant are diluted by a factor of 100-to-1 at the edge of the Pfizer property, McGlynn said, adding the water would meet standards for drinking if it were not salt water. McGlynn said Pfizer had reduced discharges from 7 million pounds in 1987 to slightly more than 5 million pounds last year, a reduction of about 30 percent. Leahy said ConnPIRG also planned to meet with the state attorney general's office to urge action to enforce a Department of Environmental pollution abatement order issued against Pfizer earlier this year. McGlynn, however, said the company had developed the required engineering plan in response to the DEP order and the state agency had accepted that plan. Pfizer was the third target of the New England Coastal Campaign's "terrible ten" program. Named earlier were the Scituate, Mass., wastewater treatment plant and town of Seabrook, N.H. The group will continue adding names to the list in coming months, said Kevin Brubaker, spokesman for the campaign and water quality coordinator of the Save the Bay group in Rhode Island. * Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501) --- Patt Haring | United Nations | FAX: 212-787-1726 patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | BBS: 201-795-0733 patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange | (3/12/24/9600 Baud) -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-