JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Greenpeace activists staged a peaceful protest outside a chemical plant Wednesday, accusing it of polluting the environment and manufacturing dangerous pesticides.

About 20 activists unfurled a banner across the entrance of the Chloorkop chemical plant north of Johannesburg, preventing trucks from entering or leaving.

Members of the environmental organization Greenpeace cordon off an open discharge pipe at a Dow Chemical plant during a protest near Johannesburg, August 29, 2002. Greenpeace activists briefly blocked the entrance to the factory and held up banners. Greenpeace are attending the World Summit for Sustainable Development currently being held in the city. REUTERS/Howard Burditt

The protest, timed to coincide with the United Nation's World Summit on Sustainable Development for maximum exposure, lasted about an hour and the activists made no attempt to enter the plant.

Later Greenpeace members wearing gas masks and brightly colored overalls, taped off an exposed pipe carrying waste water from the plant to evaporation pits and erected signs reading: "Dow — corporate criminal."

Chloorkop is owned by South African company Sentrachem, which was acquired by the Midland, Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co. in 1997.

Greenpeace said its investigations showed the plant had been blatantly pumping toxic and cancer-inducing chemicals into the environment for several years, which posed a serious health hazard to residents of nearby townships.

"The activities of this company in South Africa show that Dow is a world-class corporate criminal," said Von Hernanadez, a Greenpeace activist from the Philippines. "Its extensive abuse of the environment in this country is consistent with Dow's illegal and immoral behavior worldwide, ranging from its production of poisons to its systematic exploitation of environmental protection regimes in developing countries."

Barney Steyn, the plant's manager, denied anything or illegal or toxic was produced at Chloorkop, saying it mainly manufactured chlorine and other chemicals used in water treatment.

"We are not polluting the environment," he said, adding that Dow was a responsible company.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development currently under way in Sandton, Johannesburg, has attracted hoards of protest groups, all competing for publicity.

Thousands of delegates attending the gathering are debating ways of saving the environment and reducing poverty.

On Saturday, 12 Greenpeace activists were arrested after they scaled a building near a nuclear power plant north of Cape Town. They are due to appear in court on Friday.

© 2002 The Associated Press

###