LOOKING BACKWARD

Headlines in the Thunder Bay Newspaper , TIMES NEWS of January 29, 1992

GREENPEACE "PROPAGANDA" KILLING FOREST INDUSTRY, SAYS EXECUTIVE

MONTREAL, (CP) - The head of one of Canada's leading forest companies said Tuesday that Greenpeace is spreading lies to hurt his industry.

"There's environmental thuggery going on here," declared Ian Donald, chief executive of Vancouver-based Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd., at a news conference.

Greenpeace officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Donald accused the worldwide Greenpeace organization of employing "propaganda and fear tactics" that threaten Canadian pulp and paper markets, particularly for chlorine-bleached pulp and the white paper made from it.

Donald said that as a result of lobbying by the environmentalists, Germany will likely ban pulp bleached with elemental chlorine within a few months and the ban would probably be adopted by other European states.

He said Greenpeace has an 80 per-cent rate of public support in Germany, which buys more than 1 million tonnes of Canadian bleached pulp annually.

Canada is the world's largest supplier of pulp.  It sells $6 billion worth of bleached pulp abroad, of which 85% is bleached with chlorine.

Tests show the process releases dioxins and furans which, if injected into rats, gives them cancer.

Donald said Greenpeace is picking on the high-profile pulp and paper industry to create alarm and help Greenpeace raise funds for its annual budget of $180 million.

COME CLEAN

"It's time Greenpeace came clean" on its true objective, said Donald in a speech to the annual convention of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association.

Earlier this month a new attack front formed when Time magazine announced it was going to start using chlorine-free pulp, if available, after getting 20,000 letters from readers demanding it.

Donald, whose company supplies Time with 20,000 tonnes of bleached paper a year from a plant in Minnesota, said he met with Time executives who told him they were embarrassed by the decision " taken at a junior level."

'Unfortunately Time blinked instead of saying "prove your case."

"It's just not proven that chlorine bleaching is bad for the environment," said Donald, calling the contention one of the untruths spread by Greenpeace.

He also said Greenpeace claims falsely that dioxin, released in chlorine bleaching, is the most deadly chemical known to man.

"This is untrue. Nobody has ever died from dioxin," said Donald. The worst effect known is skin rash from direct contact", he said.

The federal government has imposed limits on emissions of dioxins and furans from pulp mills.

Donald snorted that humans can be made sick if they are injected with table salt, which is found naturally in the body.

He added that the Canadian industry has spent in the past three years $2 billion out of  $5 billion committed to reducing emissions of dioxins.