PBB at 50 Conference Summary & Follow-Up

From May 18-20 a coalition of local, regional and national organizations hosted a conference reviewing the history and lessons for the future of the Michigan PBB Crisis.    They selected May 2023 for the conference because it is the likely 50th Anniversary of the mistake that caused the crisis.  Sometime in mid-spring 1973, the old Michigan Chemical-Velsicol Chemical company in St. Louis, made a catastrophic shipping error, sending a large quantity of a flame retardant composed of polybrominated biphenyls to an animal feed facility near Battle Creek instead of an animal feed supplement.  Without knowledge to anyone for a year, animal feed from the Farm Bureau facility was delivered to farmers introducing the PBB into the diet of cattle, chickens and other farm animals and in-turn consumed by at least 8 million consumers across the state. 

The conference brought together over 200 attendees and over 600 on-line viewers with an interdisciplinary team of presenters ranging from human health and environmental experts to philosophers, economists, historians and artists.   While Alma College hosted most events on-campus, the college was only one of many co-sponsors.  In alphabetical order, in addition to the college, the sponsors were Central Michigan University, the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, the Mid-Michigan District Health Department, the PBB Citizens Advisory Board, the Pine River Superfund Task Force, the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.     

Politically, the conference began with a welcoming message from Senator Gary Peters, who had been a student at Alma College when Velsicol shut-down operations in St. Louis as a result of the crisis.  During field trips by bus to the Superfund sites in St. Louis where contaminants dumped by Velsicol still are being contained, destroyed and made harmless, participants learned how a much need accelerated clean-up has resulted from President Biden’s Bi-partisan Infrastructure Act.  Not only did that law provide direct funding for EPA clean-ups, it also reinstated the Superfund tax that assures continuing resources for clean-ups at sites with no surviving company responsible for contamination.  That tax foolishly was repealed in 1995 by the Newt Gingrich Republicans elected to control the Congress in 1995. 

The conference brought much regional media attention to the importance of the conference teaching lessons about public policy to protect human health and the environment and even general lessons about effective policy making in any field.  Before the conference, Channels 9 and 10 in northern Michigan reported on multiple evenings on the coming conference.  Public radio did a major story on the event.  Even before these stories, the New York Times, CNN and NPRs Morning Edition covered the lessons for the country in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio train wreck and contamination.  Since the conference’s end, Channel 8 in Grand Rapids launched a multi-week review during June 2023 of the conference’ lessons.    

In addition to the welcome by Senator Peters, among the presenters was University of California professor Elena Conis, author of How to Sell a Poison reviewing how the local community’s resistance to business as usual provides lessons for more recent and future threats to community health and the environment.  On Friday evening there was a screening of the 1997 BBC documentary about the crisis, The Poisoning of Michigan.  Following the film, we had a panel discussion by two of the leaders in the 1970s attempting to respond to the human health consequences.  Former state house member, “Buz” Spaniola, who fought for aid to farmers and state funding for a human health study.  He was joined by Dr. Tom Corbett, featured as a young physician in the film, who discussed the continuing need for human health follow-up.  Joining these two pioneers, was Dr. Michele Marcus who leads the on-going human health research team from Emory University in Atlanta. 

Highlights of Saturday included celebrating what conference organizers called “PBB Heroes.”   In addition, the day ended when the team from Emory conducted an actual orientation for those interested in participating in their on-going PBB research.  Saturday morning also included multiple panels including perspectives from philosophy, art, history and law.  There was also a discussion of the PBB Oral History Project led by Professor Brittney Fremion from Central Michigan University. 

While much attention in the past has been given to the PBB mistake’s impact on farm families, the conference did not ignore the wider population impacted by the accident.  There was a session focused on new findings related to the high exposures of women in Detroit to PBB, apparently coming from some use of PBB contaminated surplus dairy products in food programs for the poor.  Also, the conference included a presentation by the Saginaw Chippewa tribe on indigenous traditions of intergenerational responsibility.

In general presenters raised different perspectives on three lessons the Pine River Task Force has raised repeatedly.  First, there is the need to observe the “precautionary principle,” checking thoroughly the safety of new products and practices before damage is done to human health or the environment.  Second to reject short-run foolish economics.  Erik Nordman’s presentation on Saturday morning related to the lessons for us of the work of Elinor Ostrom is especially in need of future attention.  [The Pine River Task Force and the PBB Citizens Advisory Board are good examples of Ostrom’s recommendations.] Repeatedly, related to Michigan Chemical we have been reminded that the former plant site has been in remediation longer than the company operated, with clean-up and human health costs far greater than the profits, wages and taxes the company ever contributed to the community.  Third, we urgently need to begin demanding people be ‘good ancestors,’ committed to leaving the world in better condition than they found it. 

As the conference ended, the community began to learn the good news that a grant for follow-up of the conference has been approved by U.S EPA.  Over the next few months there will be an opportunity to plan future projects to correct the mistakes of the past.  All are welcomed to join in this planning process.