Perspective: A shameful retreat on arsenic

The arrogance and greed that have come to grip the Florida Legislature were on full display Tuesday in Tallahassee. There, lawmakers siding with big-business lobbyists killed a bill to outlaw arsenic-laced wood from Florida's public playgrounds.

Of course, "We Bring You Arsenic" is not the message of their ad campaign. It's just the result. Lawmakers on the House Agriculture Committee should be ashamed for putting the $4-billion wood-treatment industry before the health of Florida's children. The Florida Chamber of Commerce blew a terrific chance. It could have improved the image of Florida business by showing that corporations were responsible enough to balance their profits with public safety. Instead the chamber threw its weight behind chemical processors and the forestry industry. Rep. Larry Crow of Palm Harbor watched the committee kill his bill 6-3.

The bill is dead, but with any justice the fallout won't be far away. Florida is on the leading edge of the treated-lumber debate. More arsenic-treated wood is sold here than anywhere else. A series of stories by the St. Petersburg Times' Julie Hauserman has prodded federal, state and local regulators to take a fresh look at the safety of arsenic-treated wood. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is testing playgrounds across the country, Congress wants some answers and two of the largest home-improvement chains face class-action lawsuits by consumers who claim the lumber leaked harmful chemicals onto their property. Lawmakers will regret their vote if claims of safety by the industry are blown apart by the courts, regulators or science.

There's nothing particularly radical about wanting safer alternatives to treated wood. What's perverse about Crow's opponents is that they want to see harm before doing the right thing.

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