Report: Dirty factories pumping out clean cars

The Center for Economic Priorities is asking Ford Motor Co. to increase the fuel efficiency of the Taurus

March 3, 1999
Web posted at: 12:15 PM EST

Some of the world's most fuel-efficient cars are made in the dirtiest U.S. manufacturing plants, according to a report released Wednesday by the Center for Economic Priorities.

The report ranks Honda and Mitsubishi, two manufacturers of top-rated fuel-efficient cars, as the worst overall performers in the manufacturing category.

Mitsubishi, for example, generates 21.6 pounds of toxic pollutants per vehicle produced at its Normal, Ill., plant, according to the report, "The Worst and Best Auto & Tire Companies". That figure is more than four times the emissions of the cleanest plants, which are Chrysler's eight facilities in the United States.

Paradoxically, the manufacturers of the most fuel-inefficient and polluting vehicles were ranked as having the least polluting factories in the year-long study.

"The only benchmark for environmental friendliness routinely disclosed to consumers when buying an auto is fuel efficiency," said Alice Tepper Marlin, president of the Center for Economic Priorities. "Our new study reveals some unpleasant surprises when the manufacturing process is also taken into account."

The report gathered emission and release levels of various toxic pollutants from the manufacturing facilities using Environmental Protection Agency data.

The majority of the pollutants are volatile organic compounds which are produced during the painting process. These pollutants form ground-level ozone and cause respiratory disorders, such as asthma. Ozone has also been linked to forest ecosystem damage and lower agricultural crop yields.

Other pollutants include glycol ethers, toluene, ethylbenzene and metals such as lead and copper.

The Center for Economic Priorities, along with dozens of other environmental organizations, is asking auto manufacturers to focus on source reduction of these chemicals, to seek non-toxic alternatives and to install equipment that uses these chemicals more efficiently.

As well, the center is asking the "Big Three" auto manufacturers, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford, to improve the fuel efficiency of their low-ranking vehicles, such as Chysler's Jeep Grand Cherokee, General Motors' Chevy Cavalier and Ford's Taurus.

"Consumers need to demand that auto manufacturers take more responsibility for source reduction of chemicals used in their manufacturing processes and for more efficient use and reuse of these substances and their wastes," said Romi Chin Gottfrid, the center's Environmental Research Associate and an author of the report.

The study also ranked tire manufacturers' production processes for their overall environmental quality. Michelin has the worst production process in terms of the quantity of its waste emissions and Bridgestone/Firestone the best.

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