Document 2NVRYxKavqLyMMZegMra8yJ67

BCC: Mr. J. R. Eck Mr. D. J. Forrestal Mr. E. V. John , Mr. T. C. Ford Mr. J. J. Spano PERSONAL Monsanto Monsanto Company 800 N. Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis. Missouri 63166 Phone: (314) 694-1000 July 20, 1970 PUBUC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT I Mr. Richard J. Pothier Science Writer The Miami Herald 1 Herald Plaza Miami, Florida 33101 Dear Mr. Pothier: Thanks for writing and giving me your comments about my letter to the editor in advance of publishing. I don't think it's necessary for us to belabor the matter further. Things are never as black as some people think or as white as others would like to have them. In our case we thought we were getting a pretty black eye when maybe all we deserve is a gray one. For your personal information, our PCB material in transformers is required by law in many states. Since the only substitute material is so unreliable as to blow up and catch fire at times, we are obliged to continue making PCB available to the power companies. As for the list of products using PCB, we have always supplied the general types of use. We have not given specific "brand names" since this would violate confidences with customers. In addition, we have withdrawn PCB from the majority of these individual markets. Putting it another way: We are not now making the product available for any use where it is not confined in a closed system. In Monsanto's case it's not so much the matter of polishing an image as it is keeping people from panicking themselves into an untenable situation such as legislating a useful material out of existence before a reasonable substitute can be found Thanks again for your courtesy. Under separate cover, I'm sending you a copy of a report on a symposium sponsored by Monsanto this DSW 282012 STLCOPCB4063340 Mr. Richard J. Pothier 2- - July 20, 1970 spring. As a Science Editor, you might find something of interest in it. Sincerely, 'hi [James E. McKee Jr Assistant Editor / eb f.5> - tr* <x ' 7 (}!</; tiy-^y- \^ic DSW 282013 STLCOPCB4063341