Document 44qkjEddyEw2Dq5aQZ6vM8oq1

^Jl> rrunnfan PORRAND, OREGON O. '09 WN '577l3 0CT 7 1976 PCB production to halt in '77 ST. LOUIS (APJ -- MonsanKUodysttlal Chemical*. . production rites, the EPA contends. Co. wtU htU production of PCB Insulating fluid* next EPA Administrator Russell E. Train praised Mon year because of the public'* fear of adverse effect# santo's decision, terming It "a significant step io deal from the chemical. ing with the total problem of PCB contamination." Monsanto will withdraw completely from the But he noted that PCBa already In the environment market no later than Oct. 31, 1977, Mid Carle H. "will be there for yenrs, moving into life systems. Harblaon Jr., |eneral manager of the Arm's specialty Including humans. The problems still need to be ad chemical* division. dressed vigorously by government and Industry." Harblaon said the target date would have been sooner, but electrical transformer and capacitor manufactum* have said they would be unable to convert to other materials any earlier. PCB has been blamed a* a major source of pollu tion In New York's Hudson River. New York State officiate and the General Electric Co. recently reached agreement for GE to contribute $3 million toward the { Monsanto Is the only manufacturer of PCB (poly cost of cleaning PCBa from the Hudsoo. chlorinated biphenyl), a stable, fire-resistant chemical. The accumulation of PCBs In waterways, Harblaon I The Environmental Protection Agency has found said, triggered the Arm's decision to cease production that PCBa build up In the environment and are thought as soon as the electrical Industry could find alternate > to cause reproductive failures, gastric disorders and fluids and convert Its equipment and components to , skin lesions In mammals. their use. About 300 million pounds of the virtually Inde Monsanto had,earlier quit making PCBs for use in structible chemical have been dumped Into landfill*, carbonless copy paper, fire-resistant hydraulic fluids, leaked into water supplies and allowed to rift into heat transfer fluid and plasticizers. HONS 050673