Greenpeace threatens to disrupt construction of London's Millennium Dome calling it a "poisonous project" because polyvinyl chloride was specified for the roof. Lord Melchett, executive director of Greenpeace, wrote to Peter Mandelson, UK minister in charge of the project, warning him that "very, very determined efforts will be made to stop its construction".

Readers may recall that Lord Melchett also played a key role in stopping the Shell oil storage rig Brent Spar from being dumped deep into the North Atlantic. Later, the noble lord had to apologize, saying the measurements Greenpeace had made aboard the rig had been taken from a blocked pipe. Naturally, this led to a gross exaggeration of the oil remaining in the Brent Spar.

St. Paul's Cathedral, Wren's masterpiece. The area is rich in history. James Boswell, Oliver Goldsmith, Charles Dickens and G.K. Chesterton are only a few of the literary giants who knew the area; Dr. Johnson wrote his famous dictionary nearby.

In spite of this, the Greenpeace action was successful. After dramatic TV clips of activists' helicopters being fended off the Brent Spar with water cannon ­ the scene redolent of James Bond movies ­ a media blitz of global proportions erupted. Europe was in uproar with heated words between the then British Prime Minister John Major and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Mass protests followed until Shell capitulated and the disposal project for the rig was abandoned. John Major called Shell a wimp for giving in to Greenpeace. But the environmental problem remained unsolved.

Forgotten was the fact that more oil was burned by tugs hauling the huge oil rig hundreds of miles to a Norwegian fiord than the residual oil in the rig. Consider the high energy use and subsequent air pollution involved in towing an ungainly oil rig which is more than twice the height of the clockface on Big Ben and twice as bulky as the famed clock tower. Hardly an environmentally benign solution. But that was over three years ago.

The British Government took the Greenpeace "Dome" threats seriously. Peter Mandelson, dubbed the Dome Secretary, met with Greenpeace to try to head off confrontation. Tony Blair, Britain's highly popular Prime Minister, intervened to save the Dome.

Lord Melchett wrote to Prime Minister Blair that the Dome was a "toxic, plastic, throwaway monster". He warned Chris Smith, the National Heritage Secretary, that PVC is "one of the most environmentally damaging building materials it is possible to find". Greenpeace claims that the material ­ 40 tonnes of which were designed to coat the Dome's 150,000 square metre roof ­ would give off highly poisonous dioxins and furans, both during manufacture and on disposal as waste. In fact dioxins from North America's total annual PVC production are somewhat less than five grams. As for disposal, PVC is largely inert and certainly less toxic than many materials we routinely dispose of in landfills.

Moreover, in this heated war of words, dioxin was mentioned as a single entity but the indisputable fact is that there are some 200 types of dioxins, of which only 12 isomers are considered to be toxic.

The government was desperate to have the Dome completed on time so was politically vulnerable. Greenpeace reminded Alastair Campbell, the PM's press chief, that any disruption would be in full view of seven national newspapers with offices in Canary Wharf. Was this a little hint of greenmail by E-mail?

We must flash back three centuries to 1672 when Sir Christopher Wren was building St. Paul's Cathedral after the Great Fire of London, so vividly reported in the Diary of Samuel Pepys. Sir Christopher had been a precocious child with remarkable talents in mathematics and science. He invented several scientific devices as a teenager, which amazingly included pioneering anatomical and blood transfusion work, before being admitted to Oxford. After graduation, he later became a professor of astronomy at Oxford. He was a founding member and President of the Royal Society and his scientific work was highly regarded by Pascal and Newton.

Until he was 29, this brilliant polymath had displayed little interest in architecture until he became an assistant surveyor. He did design work for several structures in Oxford and Cambridge before visiting Paris to study French architecture. Influenced by the great Italian architect Giovanni Bernini, he in turn, influenced others, probably Thomas Jefferson, where Virginia's College of William and Mary has its own "Wren Building."

Within days of the Great Fire, Wren submitted a brilliant rebuilding plan, which included 53 churches, and urban planning which anticipated many features now in vogue. Property disputes probably prevented implementation of his planning schemes. St. Paul's, for example, lacks a spacious square which so enhances St. Peter's in Rome. Wren took 35 years to build St. Paul's, finishing it in 1711 when it was topped off by one of the largest domes in the world and covered, very effectively and artistically, with sheet lead. Indisputably, it remains one of the finest structures in Christendom.

Looking at St. Paul's Dome mere weeks ago, I wondered if there were activists in the 1670s protesting against the use of lead on Wren's masterpiece. Was there a group, Pax Verdis, a Greenpeace of the 1700s, chanting slogans that, in the event of fire, molten lead could pour down on the congregation and surrounding population? Remember, this was a cathedral born of fire so this issue, if raised, could have been terrifying to survivors of the Great Fire.

But the Cathedral survived both the centuries and the later firebombing of London in World War II. Appropriately, Sir Christopher was buried inside his creation where portals proclaim this message: "Lector: Si monumentum requiris circumspice. Reader: if you seek his monument look about you." It might also be said of activists: "When seeking advice accompanied by veiled threats, first ask for some credentials."

Since my return from England, the British Government has abandoned the PVC Dome covering, opting instead to use glass fibre and Teflon. Activists are reportedly jubilant with the results of their protests. The German company, which was to make the Dome covering, is sueing for over $4 million in compensation for the cancellation of a $16 million deal signed less than 12 weeks earlier.

That Greenpeace has twice overturned the wishes of two British Prime Ministers, the most recent with a majority of some 178 seats, says much about the combined power of Greenpeace and the media.

But is Teflon really environmentally benign? When exposed to extremely high temperatures as in major fires, it may give off flourine fumes which are extremely toxic.

The incident reminds me of King Pyrrhus, who won a great battle against the Romans but sustained such heavy losses he sorrowfully noted that another such 'victory' would finish him. The phrase pyrrhic victory entered the lexicon while the King is largely forgotten. Perhaps the Greenpeace victory was pyrrhic also. The taxpayers have already lost $4 million not to have a PVC Dome. Perhaps, like King Pyrrhus, the British public cannot afford any more such battles being 'won' on their behalf.

Incidently, there is a set of two records ­ Greenpeace, The Rainbow Warrior ­ available in Toronto for $16.99. They are, ironically, 33 1/3 RPM 'vinyl' records; is this vinyl as in poly vinyl chloride? If so, it would be ironic, eh?