Document 37Qg7wjrjMe4Be1YoXm2y8rzy

metro-east journal 10/5/76 Monsanto to stop PCB line Mowanto Co. announced to day that it will stop manufac turing polycholorinated biphe nyl (PCB), a dielectric insulat ing fluid, which contains prop erties that have been ecoimulating in the environment. Earle H. Harbison Jr., gener al manager of Monranto's S. e* ciaity Chemicals Division, said the PCB products have been . manufactured since 1929 in the company's William G. Krumm* rich plant in Sauget. Harbison said the company will halt the manufacture of PCB, complete the distribution of ail inventor ies and withdraw from the ma rket by Oct. 31, 1977. Monsanto officials said this will mean the loss of 20 jobs ' at the Sauget plant, but there 1 will be no layoffs. Employes in those jobs will be absorbed elsewhere in the plant's 1,300 jobs. PCB products are fire-resist ant, which has made their use in the electrical business im portant over the years. Harbison said that fire resistant PCB-filled capacitors not only tail infrequently, but also fail safely. A violent failure of a device containing a flammable fluid could result in fire and explosion. "Fire resistant, PCB * filled transformers are used in cer tain Indoor installations such as high rise buildings, hospitals . and schools and in electricallypowered urban commuter trains,'' Harbison said. "PC8contaimng capacitors are used to control voltage and reduce power losses in fluorescent and mercury lights, AC motors, air eonditorong compressors and television receivers." Unfortunately, Harbison said, the properties that have made PCB products fire-resistant are the same properties that are accumulating in the environ ment. This was discovered in the early 1970s. At that time, Monsanto cut back production and made PCB products which would be con tained in dosed or sealed sys tems. This reduced production by 50 per cent. ... Since that time. Harbison sajd, PCB levels monitored \n major water basins have de creased. "Despite these positive re sults, it became apparent dtat the persistent naiure of those compounds was being perceiv ed by society as a grcjicr risk than that presented by using less fire resistant fluids in electrical apparatus. "It was at tliis point that Monsanto made the decision to eventually phase out PCB production for even those scal ed dielectric uses," Harbison said. He said the electrical Industry has been conducting studies to find a replacement for PCB products MOMS 050740