Document 2JZpbomR36nLM9qx0DmaygoRr

Giifwiur, s.c. piFPMorn n. n >u SEP 3 0 Wfi McGraw-Edison switches --PCBs to Edisol COLUMBIA (AP) - A company that produces high-voltage power capaci tor* for electric utilities tald today it wtu stop Uflng PCB insulating fluid Nov. I, and will convert to' a more environmentally ale fluid named Edisol. Officials of the McOrawEdison Co. made the an nouncement at simultane ous news conferences In Columbia and at company headquarters in Pitts burgh, Pa. The company has a South Carolina plant in Greenwood. R.H. Keith, general manager of the Greenwood plant, said in Columbia that Edisol, developed by the Dow Chemical Co., costs about 29 per cent more than PCBs (polychlo rinated biphenyls), but has a longer life and is less hazardous to the envi ronment. Cost of conver sion will be "several hund reds of thousands of dol lars,'* he said. "We are firmly convinced Edisol can do a better Job than PCBs" Some are in use now, he said. There have been reports in South Carolina. Georgia and other areas or high levels of PCBs in water ways. There have been warnings from health offi cials that eating fish taken from Lake Hartwell, lo cated on the South Carolina-Georgia line, may be hazardous to the health of humans. Keith said PCBs began to be seriously suspected of having undesirable cha racteristics in 1970, lead ing to research into safer fluids. Some persons who have been exposed to PCBs have developed a skin rash, but more than that, there is some concern they may cause birth defects and cancer, he said. McGraw-Edison's cus tomers are utility compa nies such as Duke Power Co., based In charlotte. N.C., but serving a large portion of upper South Ca rolina, and South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. Earlier this month a SI billion suit was filed against the Monsanto _Co7 of St. Louis, Mo,, and the Swttamq. Electric Cp. of Pickens oh behalf of Lake Hartwell property owners In Georgia and South Ca rolina. Monsanto was accused in the suit of negligence and "strict liability" in Its production of PCBs, ac cording to Ronnie Cole, a member of an Anderson law firm which filed the complaint. . Cole said Monsanto pro duces PCBs used by Sang- amo In its manufacture of electrical capacitors. Sangamo has been identi fied as a source of PCBs found in Lake Hartwell. The suit says the PCB contamination has caused a lowering of property values and a loss in profits to businesses along the lake. - Keith said the Initial reaction to Edisol among McGraw-Edison's utility company customers has been good, but there is still wide use of PCBs. Also, he said. Jhe fed eral EnvironmentAL^Pro tection Agency seems to like the new insulating fluid. He said the EPA does not have the authority to approve Edisol's pro duction, but could ban its use if U were deemed harmful. Keith said the EPA regulates the amount of PCBs that may be dischar ged by electric plants. He said the Greenwood plant has never been accused of discharging harmful amounts of PCBs. Keith said there are some economic risks invol ved in the changeover if Customers continue to ask for PCB power capacitors, which also are manufac tured by Sangamo, Gen eral Electric and Westing- house. The motivation for the change "was the recogni tion in 1970 that this (PCBs) would become an increasing problem-- which it has," Keith said. Rather stringent meas ures were taken to mini mize the discharge of PCBs when the GrecnwoiKl plant was built in 1973. MON$ 051173