Document 3eZ0dNeJop8dpNYa9eO3LE2RJ

RALEIGH, N. C. NEWS A OBSERVER 0.127,409 -- S. 160,323 RALEIGH METROPOLITAN AREA fU)U 13 1978 Soil rem oval eyed Officials press for action on PCB SUte environmentalists say they must do some* thing soon either to remove or to stabilise chemically a toxic substance dumped along 2SQ miles of Eastern North Carolina roads. They say the chemicals -- polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) -- pose no immediate threat to human health. But environmentalists acknowledge that the chemicals already may have contaminated water and food sources and there fore may have entered the human food chain. What to do about the PCBs was Uic subject of a meeting today that in volved officials from sever* al state agencies and the federal Environmental Protection Agency <EPA). ' The officials' planned to consider proposals from four companies capable of excavating the contaminat ed roadside soil. But first, the officials were to decide whether excavation is nec essary. Cf it isn't, activated char coal may be added to the soil to permanently bind the PCBs. making excava tion unnecessary. "We have reached the point where it appears that something has to be done/* said Robert A. Carter, the state environmentalist who is directing the PCB cleanup. But Carter and other of ficials said they don't know * when a-decision is likely. PCBs. an oily liquid used as insulation in transform ers and capacitors, were dumped along the roads early this month in an ap parent attempt to circum vent new federal standards for the disposal of hazard ous industrial wastes. The standards, contained in the Toxic Substances Control Act. took effect April 18. If EPA officials determine the act was vio lated. the federal govern ment could decide the con taminated soil must be removed. Dr. Martin P. Hines, chief of the epidemiology section of the state Depart ment of Human Resources, today said the PCB has been traced toa tw>c manu factured by the Monsanto Chemical Corp. in me ate 19S0s. It was used, he said, as a heat transferring agent in cooking and in electrical transformers and capacitors. < John Dickinson, chemi cal engineer with EPA, said there have been other PCB spills around the coun try in recent years, but never one over as large an area as in North Carolina. SUte law enforcement authorities who are investi gating the case said today they have no new leads. The resulU of soil sam ples taken from the con taminated roadsides were released today, and state officials were trying to do* cide what concentration of PCD compounds in the soil is tolerable. The figure which has been mentioned as a safe upper limit for PCBs Is 808 parts per million. That number was surpassed in samples taken from most roadside dumping sites -- including several in Wake and nearby Johnston and Harnett counties. Whan humans eat food or drink water contaminated by PCBs. the compounds remain indefinitely in the body's fatty tissues. HONS 001802