Air date: Feb. 9, 1999

...Continued

A look at their pipes reveals cracks which could have started as small pinhole leaks that ruptured. They have water marks on their ceiling and to fix that problem, plumbers have to cut holes in the ceiling.

And the Atkinsons, too, note the CSA stamp on the pipes.

MARKETPLACE EXTRAS • Plastic Pipes: Pg 1 | Pg 2 • How to tell whether you have PolyB pipes • Some Key Dates in the PolyB Saga • Chlorine & PolyB: A Bad Mix • Municipal Concerns About PolyB • A Plumbing Engineer's Dissenting View • Confidential Documents: Shell, April 1979: "Admit our product stinks..." Shell March 1982: Push into Canada as "problems abound" Shell, July 1982: More Quality Concerns • Links • e-mail us your thoughts • Watch this item

The Atkinsons probably aren't on the CSA list either, but it's not for lack of trying. Don Atkinson sent CSA a piece of defective pipe in 1996 and called the agency a dozen times. "I did try contacting them but they didn't return my calls," he says.

CSA was no help, so next the Atkinsons called a lawyer. Jim Poyner is the Vancouver lawyer leading the Canadian class action suit.

"We made inquiries of different plumbers, and one thing led to another and we determined that there were a number of people with the same kind of problem," says Poyner.

He is collecting samples of defective pipe and the names of consumers who have PolyB systems. He says there's no shortage of either, noting "our studies indicate that there are some 700,000 homes across Canada that have been affected."

What exactly is wrong with polybutylene plumbing systems? We asked Vancouver plumber Kirk Snowden who's making a good living fixing PolyB plumbing. He says there are three distinct problems.

The most expensive problem happens when PolyB pipe is connected to a home heating system. Strangely, it's oxygen getting into the water through the walls of the pipe that causes the damage, not water leaking out.

Snowden says the oxygenated water circulates through the system and can rust out the boiler, the heat exchanger and the pump in just two or three years. Normally such components can last up to 40 years.

The raw material for PolyB pipe is made by Shell in the US. Snowden says that newer pipes are coated to stop oxygen from getting in. But that only solves one problem. The second problem is the joints. Simply put, they can leak.

Snowden knows from experience that the joints can leak. To find out why they leak we talked to Steve Reiber, an engineer and water quality specialist in Bellevue, Washington.

"Well, it's fairly well understood now that there was in fact a problem with the polybutylene piping system, at least in terms of a drinking water application," says Reiber. "Not specifically the polybutylene pipe but rather some of the fittings that were used in the polybutylene system."

Reiber wrote the book on plastic pipe failures in 1993. He found that the acetal fittings are attacked by the chlorine in water. That means that the T connectors and elbows in a PolyB system can crack and flake after several years. And when that happens, the joints leak. The raw material for those joints was made by DuPont and Hoechst Celanese Corporation in the US.

Given that chlorine is widely used in the United States and Canada to disinfect water, how is it the manufacturers of this system didn't anticipate that this problem would arise?

According to Reiber, "clearly something may have been lacking in their test protocol."

Reiber's six-year-old report is available to anyone who cares to ask for it, including the experts here at CSA. Jim Poyner has a copy in his files.

And so did the lawyers representing the thousands of US consumers who had problems with the product. They have successfully sued several times, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

In one settlement in Tennessee in 1995 Hoechst-Celanese and Shell agreed to set aside US$950 million for American consumers. There's even a hotline for consumer complaints. That's because a third PB problem is now evident -- poor quality control.

The manufacturer of the polybutylene was shipping bad product and what's more, Poyner says, company officials knew it was bad.

An interoffice memo on the Shell Chemical letterhead date 1982, from a person named R.F. Schimbor, addressed to several different people, obviously in the Shell organization, is revealing.

In the memo, Schimbor says "... either we immediately improve our quality... or be prepared to throw in the towel... "

And there's another memo, from 1979, this one addressed to R.F. Shimbor. The writer states "I think Keith wants us to level with him. Admit our product stinks."

And again in March 1982, a letter written by the same person, R.F. Shimbor on Shell letterhead to a Mr. Sullivan which deals with the problems they are having with the product. He says "serious product complaints from customers -- both foreign and domestic -- continue at high levels... problems abound..." And on the same page further down he says, "our consultant in Canada is beginning to achieve success." So on the same page they have got "problems abound" and then right underneath it is written "Market Development." They are focusing on Canada.

But the makers of PolyB aren't talking to Poyner, and they wouldn't talk to us either, at least not on camera. They said they couldn't comment in detail while the issue is before the courts. They did say that Canadians can call the complaint hotline and in certain cases can get their plumbing repaired. But Canadians aren't really covered by the US settlements and that's why Canadian consumers have launched their own class action suit to get compensation for damages caused by a product which, remember, is CSA certified.

The involvement of the standards organization leaves Poyner mystified. "It amazes me," he says. "It absolutely astounds me that the CSA would approve this type of product... I don't know the answer to that one."

Links:

Legal:

Poyner Baxter Blaxland
B.C. law firm handling the Canadian class action lawsuit concerning PolyB. The firm can also be reached at:
Poyner Baxter Blaxland
Class Action Processing Centre
Box 304
5158 48th Ave.
Delta, BC V4K 9Z9
(604) 873-1981

Class action contacts for Ontario residents:
Paroian Raphael Courey Cohen & Houston
1812-181 University Ave.,
Toronto, Ont. M5H 3M7
(416) 594-1812
Contact: Vincent Genova or Joel Rochon

Siskind Cromarty Ivey & Dowler
680 Waterloo St.,
London, Ont. N6A 3V8
1 800 461-6166 x.385
fax: (519) 672-3093
Contact: Charles Wright

Class action contact for Quebec residents:
Borgia, Desmeules Jacques
Avocats
Les Promenades du Vieux-Quebec
43 Rue Baude, bureau 320
Quebec, PQ
G1R 4A2
(418) 694-2009
Telecopieur: (418) 694-0281
Contact: Denis Borgia or Claude Desmeules

The Cox v Shell Settlement
Site containing information about the landmark Cox v Shell settlement in the US that saw an historic $950 million payout to thousands of homeowners.

Consumer Plumbing Recovery Center
An administration facility for PolyB plumbing claims in the United States. No web site, but the centre can be reached at:
PO Box 940744
Plano, TX 75086-9006
1-800-356-3496

Plumbing:

Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating National trade association of plumbers and plumbing-related businesses. The site features news on plumbing issues, tips for homeowners, and Pipeline, the institute's newsletter

American Water Works Association Research Foundation The American Water Works Association's research arm, which sponsors practical, applied and future-need based research for the drinking water community. The foundation funded a study into the corrosive effects of chlorinated water on PolyB

Corporate:

The Shell Group Home site for Shell, the manufacturer of polybutylene resin used in making PolyB pipes. The site has access to individual country pages for Shell, as well as the company's chemical division.

DuPont Web site for chemical giant DuPont, manufacturer of Delrin, the company's acetal material for PolyB plumbing joints

The CBC and Marketplace do not endorse and are not responsible for the content of any linked documents.