Congress approves $2M
for relief at Green Tree
SAYREVILLE — In an ongoing effort to recover losses incurred by Green Tree Chemical Technologies, located in the Parlin section of the township, officials announced last week that Congress has passed a measure allocating $2 million for Green Tree as part of a 2002 Department of Defense appropriations bill.
According to a Dec. 20 press release from the office of U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli — who has been working on the issue with Sen. Jon Corzine and Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6), among other legislators — a provision in the legislation requires the defense department to purchase $2 million worth of Green Tree-manufactured nitrocellulose. President Bush was expected to sign the funding measure after it passed through Congress last week, according to the press release.
"This $2 million direct-buy of nitrocellulose will go a long way in getting Green Tree back on its feet. I am happy that these monies will help secure the jobs of 125 hard-working employees and allow Green Tree to keep its doors open," Pallone said.
The losses at Green Tree’s plant, which officials said was the result of a recent joint venture between Green Tree’s competitors, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and General Dynamics, closed production at the plant temporarily, officials at the Parlin plant said.
With the approval of the defense department, ATK and General Dynamics, jointly known as the American Powder Co., began producing military munitions propellant — the same material Green Tree produces — from a plant owned by the U.S. Army in Radford, Va. Because production was cheaper at the subsidized plant, American Powder Co. was able to charge less for its product, subsequently gaining the clientele of the Army, which was formerly Green Tree’s main customer, state and federal representatives have said.
After months of prodding from New Jersey state representatives and from Green Tree, the Department of Defense agreed to allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the possible monopoly of the smokeless gunpowder market through the combined effort of ATK and General Dynamics.
Earlier this month, Green Tree President and CEO Bruce A. Edge said the FTC found the joint venture to be anticompetitive and it is now being disbanded.
"Nevertheless, as a result of the joint venture, Green Tree suffered financially, and the grant is recognition that we must be maintained as part of the competitive domestic industrial defense base," Edge said.
Green Tree spokesman Edward McCrossin has said it would take some time for the funds to be processed through the bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. However, as a result of the FTC’s decision and the efforts of the elected representatives, Green Tree is starting to get the financial support and the contracts for the nitrocellulose products that are needed, McCrossin said.
"This gives us the breathing room we needed," he said.
Over the past several months, various state representatives, including Torricelli, Corzine, Pallone, acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, state Sen. Joseph Vitale and state Assembly members John Wisniewski and Arline Friscia, joined Green Tree in its appeal to the FTC to investigate the situation.
As the only other authorized producer of nitrocellulose in the country, state officials said they felt the behavior of the American Powder Co. and the Department of Defense was dangerous to the ability to provide adequate supplies.
"Allowing Green Tree to continue to supply nitrocellulose to the military is not only the fair business decision, but it also makes the most sense for the Department of Defense," Pallone said in October.
Nitrocellulose is used as smokeless gunpowder in military munitions and in commercial products such as furniture finishes, printing inks and fingernail polish. Although Green Tree’s commercial nitrocellulose plant has remained in operation, the munitions plant closed temporarily due to its alleged inability to compete with the American Powder Co. The jobs of more than 125 people were threatened, Green Tree officials said.
The Parlin plant accepted an offer from ATK in September to purchase approximately 400,000 pounds of nitrocellulose. The purchase allowed the plant to continue producing in October, McCrossin said. However, he said it was only a short-term solution.
Green Tree bought the Parlin plant from Hercules Inc. in 2000. Since then, representatives of the company have been working with local and state officials to appeal to the FTC to review the joint venture.
The International Chemical Workers Union had more than 100 union members march Aug. 31 at the Peter Rodino Federal Building in Newark to protest the threat to their jobs they believed was posed by the federal government.