Buffalo moves to go PBT-free

By CAROLYN THOMPSON

Associated Press Writer, New York

December 30, 2004

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo is moving to limit the use of products that contain dangerous pollutants known as PBTs.

The City Council has approved a resolution urging purchasers to avoid products with persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals—which can be found in anything from paper clips and copy paper to flat-panel computer monitors and lead ammunition.

The Environmental Protection Agency and several states and other cities have implemented strategies to lessen the release of the chemicals, including dioxin and mercury, which are long-lasting and accumulate in fish and up the food chain to levels that are harmful to human health. They can damage the nervous system, cause cancer and lead to reproductive and developmental problems.

The resolution, sought by environmentalists, calls for purchasing policies that favor PBT-free products as long as their prices are within 10 percent of the alternatives.

"It will save enormous amounts of money in the future by preventing health problems and the need for environmental remediation," said Ellen Neumaier, natural resources chair of the League of Women Voters of Buffalo/Niagara, one of 20 organizations that supported the resolution.

Supporters said manufacturers have begun to offer more PBT-free products as the demand has grown.

Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and Oakland, as well as the states of Washington, Oregon and New Hampshire, have established policies to reduce or eliminate certain PBTs.

"Buffalo has now become the first city in New York to take steps to prevent PBT pollution and build markets for safer products," said Mike Schade, area director of the Citizens' Environmental Coalition.

PBT pollution is of particular concern in western New York because of a number of hazardous waste sites that remain from previous industrial operations. The state Health Department has issued dozens of fish consumption advisories for waterways in the region, including Lake Erie and the Buffalo and Niagara rivers because of PBT pollution.

On the Net:

Buffalo Common Council: http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/document_6.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pbt/aboutpbt.htm