Thanks for the Mercury

Share this

It isn't every day that a state's largest polluter is honored. It helps when the polluter -- and its buddies -- helped found and advise the group giving the award. The Maryland-based Wildlife Habitat Council gave biodiversity conservation awards to 21 companies, including the Lafarge cement plant in Ravena, New York. The award was for Lafarge's 150-acre Deer Mountain Nature Preserve. The honor was not publicized until the company came under fire for mercury contamination near a local high school. Federal reports show that the plant in question was New York state's largest mercury emitter for three years running. Environmentalists smell a case of greenwashing [8]. "At first I thought it was a joke. Then I was astonished and horrified," said an analyst with the New York Public Interest Research Group. Joining Lafarge on the Wildlife Habitat Council's board of directors are representatives from Monsanto [9], Exxon Mobil [10], DuPont [11], ConocoPhillips [12] and Waste Management [13]. The conservation group Ducks Unlimited [14], which is funded by Exxon Mobil and Anheuser-Busch [15], also holds a seat. The Council gave "Signatures of Sustainability" awards to DuPont and Anheuser-Busch [15], both of which had a role in founding the group.