Chlorine company targets Greenpeace

September 4, 1991
Issue 

By Jonathan Nack

OAKLAND, California — Clorox Corporation had plans to counteract consumer worries about the environmental impact of its household chlorine products — but ended up giving the public a rare look behind the facade of corporate environmentalism when a draft memo describing the plans was leaked to Greenpeace.

The memo, prepared by Ketchum Public Relations, one of the country's largest public relations firms, outlined ways to deal with several "worst case" scenarios in which Clorox products became the target of protest or criticism. It recommended labelling environmentalists as "terrorists" and suing "unalterably green" journalists for slander.

Greenpeace released the memo, which was apparently leaked by someone in Ketchum's San Francisco office, on May 13. A portion of the 60-page document, annotated with handwritten comments, appears to have been faxed from the company's Washington, DC, office to San Francisco, which handles the Clorox account. Clorox confirmed that it hired Ketchum to produce a crisis management proposal.

The document explored in detail a number of hypothetical "crisis" situations and suggested a complete plan of action for Clorox for each one. One "worst case" scenario imagined a Greenpeace action at a Clorox facility in which environmentalists hang a banner reading "Chlorine free by '93", organise pickets, call for a boycott of Clorox and receive extensive press coverage.

Among the recommended responses were: portraying Greenpeace as a violent organisation whose scientific research is suspect; launching a "Stop Environmental Terrorism" public relations campaign that urges Greenpeace and "unalterably green journalists" to be less irrational; suing journalists for slander if they advocate the use of non-toxic bleaches and cleaners; enlisting the support of national union leadership to defend Clorox in the name of saving jobs; dispatching teams of "independent" scientists to serve as "ambassadors" to the media and government officials; and conducting daily opinion surveys to measure the impact of the crisis and public reaction to the counter-measures.

Other "worst case" scenarios outlined in the memo included: consumers turning toward natural cleaning products such as vinegar and borax; US Environmental Protection Agency studies now under way concluding that chlorine causes cancer in animals (a preliminary study for the agency found that chlorinated drinking water caused cancer in at least one animal species); the EPA

tightening regulations on chlorine manufacturing; and editorials appearing nationally that discourage the use of Clorox products.

Greenpeace's name comes up in all these projections and in "moderate" and "low level" scenarios explored in the memo. The spectre of the organisation's grassroots, high publicity campaigns seems to haunt Clorox. The memo warns, "In Europe ... public response has begun to show up in lower use of household chlorine in some areas".

Ironically, Greenpeace did not call for a ban on chlorine household bleach until after the memo was leaked. The group's "Chlorine free by '93" campaign had bypassed household chlorine products, which constitute less than one half of one per cent of chlorine production, to concentrate on the pulp and paper industry, whose use of chlorine releases dioxin on a much larger scale.

At a press conference in Buffalo, NY, on July 25, Greenpeace called for a phase-out of all production and use of toxic chlorine compounds, accompanied by a program to compensate all workers affected by the ban. The conference kicked off a 10-week tour of the Great Lakes by the Greenpeace ship Moby Dick.

Greenpeace also released a report, "The Product is Poison", written by Joe Thornton, a San Francisco-based toxics researcher for the organisation, that examines the hazards of organic chlorine compounds such as dioxin and PCBs.

"They failed to anticipate the worst of worst-case scenarios — that some conscientious person would get hold of the plan and leak it so that the world can see what goes on behind the scenes of a corporate greenwashing campaign", says Shelly Stewart, a Greenpeace toxins expert in Seattle. "Greenwashing — lying about your company's environmental commitment — has become a growth industry."

The memo also proposed preparing for a crisis by developing close ties with the media, including recruiting journalists who would function as an "early warning system", indicating that a crisis was imminent. It suggested lining up the support of "third party" scientists and scientific organisations ahead of time and described how to use them in a crisis.

Clorox has tried to distance itself from the memo while using some of the strategies it recommended. "Clorox management was not involved in its preparation and is not acting on its recommendations", said Sandy Sullivan, the company's manager of consumer information and education. The corporation's official statement says that sodium hypochlorite, the active ingredient in Clorox bleach, is "not chlorine, just as table salt, sodium chloride, is not chlorine". The statement goes on the explain that sodium hypochlorite dissolves into salt and water during the cleaning process.

"This is a whitewash of the truth", said Joe Thornton. He explained that a portion will dissolve harmlessly, but some will mix with other substances to form organochlorines.

While the memo relates to Clorox's specific situation, it is likely that most corporations have similar plans on how to handle public relations in the case of an environmental crisis. "It shouldn't be surprising that any company has such a plan", says David Drobis, president of Ketchum. "In fact, it would be more surprising to find out that a major company didn't."
{From the US Guardian.]

You need Green Left, and we need you!

Green Left is funded by contributions from readers and supporters. Help us reach our funding target.

Make a One-off Donation or choose from one of our Monthly Donation options.

Become a supporter to get the digital edition for $5 per month or the print edition for $10 per month. One-time payment options are available.

You can also call 1800 634 206 to make a donation or to become a supporter. Thank you.