Document 6RDdKKjpkjj62wZn9Y9d9n4G1

Monsanto I ROM ( fi* M -- LO C A TIO N --*HOtiC J : July 19, 1979 STURGEON OCP SPILL T O : Susan Kelly ( Glynn* Young - BIND CC: I am attaching a number of articles, copies of press queries, various position statements and the like, as we discussed this morning. There is probably more information here than you could possibly use, but better to err on the side of too much. Monsanto's visibility at Sturgeon, as well as the problem itself, developed in a series of several stages: (1) the actual derail ment on Jan. 11; (2) the controversy over the cleanup methods used by Western Environmental Services; (3) the finding of dioxin in the reserve samples of OCP in February; (4) the fish and frog kill during the spring thaw; (5) a cleanup worker complaining of health problems; and (6) the current round of lawsuits. A related problem was the OSHA investigation of the Krummrich plant, with the findings of dioxin around the OCP unit. The problem of dioxin in the manufacturing process has been solved. The suits that have been filed have been against Norfolk and Western Railroad, Monsanto, G A T X , and Dresser Industries, and to date total almost $247M. The legal department wants no comment on the lawsuits at all, but we have given information on those issues not directly involved with them. The information is yours to keep or toss. GY :smt Att Glynn Young  J J Ji- i j L COMPANY (OpUnit or Corporate): MIC SUBJECT: STURGEON DERAILMENT REPORTER &.MEDIA: Chris Conway, Columbia Tribune TIME & DATE: June 28, 1979 - 10 :30 a.m. QUESTION & RESPONSE: X J. R. Foehr X T. L. `Gossage X E. L. Head X J. C. McPhillips X J. S. Metcalf X E. Paget X R. G. Pier X F. A. Provorny X J. D. Wilson X News Bureau ____ J. T. Noian ___ J. E. McKee ___ D. R. Bishop ___ W. J. McCarvilIc ___ W. R. Mulhall ___ J. F. Hussy-Washngton, D.C. ___ _ S. Pickard-Washington, D.C. ___ New York Public Relations ___i Brussels Public Relations ___ M A P PR X MCI PR (J - Spano) _X_ MIC PR (R* Isham) ___ MPR PR ___ MTCPR ___ INT'LPR Q. How long has Monsanto manufactured OCP? A. Since the 1930s. Q. What is OCP used for? A. Primarily as a chemical intermediate in the manufacture of wood treatment chemicals. Q. Is Monsanto the only manufacturer of OCP? A. A number of companies manufacture various chlorophenols. Two are Dow Chemical and Rhodia. Q. How much OCP do you manufacture each year? A.. For competitive reasons, Monsanto does not release capacity statistics for any of its products. Q. What was the destination of the OCP that derailed at Sturgeon. Who was it being shipped to? I heard it was Washington State. A. Yes, it was going to Washington State, but it is Monsanto's policy not to release the names of any of its customers for the same reasons cited above. C0062.6 SOURCE OI" ANSWER j. c. McPhillips L HA N D L E D BY: Glynn Ltyouny 'Y V PRESS QUERY $ 5 \y COMPANY (OpUnit or Corporate): MIC SUBJECT: STURGEON TANK CAR REPORTER &. MEDIA: M ike DeMott, Columbia, Mo. (314) 882-354 7 TIME & DATE: April 20 , 1979 -- 4:00 p.m. QUESTION & RESPONSE: ___ News Bureau _____ J.T. Nolan ___ J. E. McKee ___ D. R. Bishop ___ W. J. McCarville ___ W. R. Mulhali _l_ J. F. Hussey-Washinglon. D.C. ___ S. I'icknrd-Washington, D,C. ___ New York Public Relations ___ _ Brussels Public Relations ___ _ MAP PR ___ MCI PR X Mir PR (R. Isham) ___ MPR PR ___ MTC PR ___ INTL PR X J. S; Metcalf X C. B. Sigler X R. A. Stohr X H. W. Tippee Q. W e 've seen the report by the Federal Railway Administration that the failed coupling mechanism caused the derailment at Sturgeon. Was this car ever used before, or was any other chemical ever used in it? How long had Monsanto had the car? A. The was the first time the car had ever been used, and OCP was the only product ever placed in it. We had received the car from t h e ,manufacturer at the very end of December. Q. Was this the only car you received from GATX at the time? A. The car was one of seven received at the time. After the derail ment at Sturgeon, the others were immediately checked out bv the manufacturer's engineers and no problems were found. Q. So this was the only car that had a defective coupling mechanism? A. The coupling mechanisms on the others check out fine. Q. It's a shame that the only car with a problem had to be the one at Sturgeon. SOURCE OF ANSWER C. Sigler H . Tippee C00627 HANDLED BY: G. Young Monsanto Monsanto Company 800 N. Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis. Missouri 63167 Phone: (314) 094-1000 March 23, 1983 PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT Letters to the Editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 N. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, Missouri 63101 Dear Sir: The Post-Dispatch told half a story about Agent Orange and dioxin on its March 18 front page. The paper carried an AP story about Vietnamese research suggesting that the offspring of men exposed to dioxin run an abnormally high risk of being born with birth defects. What was the half of the story left untold? It was that recent Australian research on its Vietnam veterans found "no evidence that army service in Vietnam relates to the risk of fathering a child with an anomaly." Did the Post-Dispatch not know of this work? Other papers did. The March 18 New York Times discussed both the Vietnamese and Australian studies in the same story and correctly pointed out that "conflicting conclusions" were reached. Apparently a conflict also exists on the reaction of American scientists who reviewed the Vietnamese research. The AP story used by the Post-Dispatch said that these scientists "are impressed" by the work. But a February 27 article in the Washington Post stated that the U.S. researchers "concluded that none of the Vietnamese reports was scientifically valid." I obviously don't know why the Post-Dispatch told only half a dioxin story, but I regret that it missed the opportunity for balanced coverage of a subject so vital to our Vietnam veterans and Missourians generally. Sincerely, i Director, Environmental Communications D R B :ec Enclosures CC: Mr. Bruce Sankey City Editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch G J3056 Swtda* Fcbrmmry2?%983 THE WASHINGTON POST Dioxin Is Still a Mystery A $3 3-million decision despite scientific confusion By Pete Earley A RMY MAJ. Charlie Hubbs used to drink Agent Orange during the Vietnam War to convince report ers it was harmless. "It tasted terrible" recalls Hubbs, now a 52-year-old resident of Camp Springs, Md., "but I haven't changed my mind." He still believes the herbi cide, used to clear jungle and kill crops, hasn't damaged anyone's health, including his own. Michael Ryan never drank Agent Orange, but the Long Island police man was exposed to it in Vietnam. He believes it caused his 12-year-old daughter, Kerrie, to be boin with 18 birth defects, including missing bones, twisted limbs, a hole in her heart and no rectum. Their conflicting views are not only a t the core of the Agent Orange dis pute but central to the Environmen tal Protection Agency's $33 million political decision last week to buy out the entire town of Times Beach, Mo. The chemical th a t made Times Beach unfit for its 2,400 inhabitants is dioxin. Dioxin -- found in Agent Orange at levels more than six times greater than th at detected in Times Beach -- is what many Vietnam vets charge has caused them everything from headaches to cancer to birth de fects in their children. So far 16,102 vets have filed disability claims. Moreover, some estimates have claim th at as many as 165 million Americans may have been exposed to dioxins in the years they have been sprayed on forests, crops and road sides and home gardens. The herbi cides have been used to control weeds a t the Washington Monument and on the White House lawn. In yet another twist, EPA still lets chemical manufacturers sell dioxinridden herbicides for use on rangeland and rice -- 1.3 million gallons were sprayed on rangeland last year. In fact, EPA has moved recently to ease restrictions on the dioxin con taminated herbicide, 2,4,5-T. All these contradictions simply un derscore the key point about the gov ernment's conflicting stands on diox in: political decisions are being made more on headline appeal than on scientific evidence. The bulk of repu table science indicates simply that no one knows whether dioxin is toxic to humans and if so, how much. Strange as it may sound after a week of reports describing dioxin as a threat to humankind, scientists are deeply divided over whether expo sure to dioxin causes health problems in humans. Consider these comments by two experts on dioxin: Drs. Samuel Ep stein, a cancer researcher at the Uni versity of Illinois, and Matthew MeseLson of Havard, considered a pioneer in dioxin research. Epstein: "The evidence is over whelming that dioxin is carcinogenic [causes cancer] in humans." Meselson: "Anyone who says that it is a clear and present danger can not prove it, and anyone who asserts th at it is not a danger cannot prove that either. We simply don't know." Dioxin is formed as an unwanted byproduct when "phenoxy" herbi cides are made. Just how much dioxin is formed depends upon how well the manufactuer controls the temperature and pressure when mak ing a herbicide. In 1979, the President's Council on Environmental Quality announced that dioxin had caused cancer in test animals when 2.2 parts per billion of their normal diet consisted of dioxin. Pete Earley is a Washington Post national staff writer. It caused birth defects in monkeys at doses of 2.5 parts per trillion. The council called dioxin "one of the most toxic substances ever studied." The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta now says dioxin at levels higher than one part per billion may be dangerous to humans. But dioxin effects animals differ ently, making some scientists skepti cal of comparisons with humans. For instance, the dosage needed to kill a hamster is 5,000 times greater than that needed to kill a guinea pig, ac cording to Dr. Barclay M. Shepard, the VA's expert on Agent Orange. Epstein daims other chemicals have been banned after causing can cer at much lower doses than dioxin. The government is stalling to avoid paying compensation, he charges. Most of what is known about the effect of dioxin on humans is based on studies of industrial accidents, primarily one in 1949 a t a chemical plant in Nitro, W. Va., and another in 1976 in Seveso, Italy. The Nitro accident occurred when a value popped, spraying fumes in side a building. After that mishap 121 workers developed chloracne, a skin problem caused fay dioxin. Stud ies have documented numerous short-term effects after the accident, including nausea, headaches, blood disorders and impaired nerve func tion. But the symptoms diminished over a period of time and eventually disappeared. Recent studies show the death rate among the 121 men actu ally was lower than normal. There also were no signs that the men had developed higher rates of cancer. At Seveso, an explosion spewed an estimated 10 ounces of dioxin over 700 acres. Within six days, 11 chil dren had been hospitalized with skin inflammation and 175 cases of chlo racne had been diagnosed. The gov ernment evacuated 212 families from homes near the plant after the dioxin level was found to be 50 parts per million. Two months later more than 2,000 small animals had died, mostly rabbits. Another 78,000 animals had to be slaughted to prevent dioxin from entering the food chain. Officials reported a significant in crease in birth defects in Seveso and a higher rate of spontaneous abor tions. But both rates were lower than the country's national average. In January, Vietnam invited 21 na tions to send scientists there to re view 60 herbicide studies by the Viet namese. Fourteen scientists from U S. universities attended, but they concluded that none of the reports was scientifically valid. TCie only U S. study linking a her bicide with dioxin to human health problems was issued in 1979 by the EPA. It was prompted by Bonnie Hill of Alsea, Ore., after she and seven other women in the Alsea area suffered miscarriages several weeks after 2,4,5-T was sprayed near their homes. The study said the miscar riage rate "appears to be correlated to the amount of 2,4,5-T sprayed," prompting EPA to limit 2,4,5-T use to rangeland and rice. More than 18 critiques of the Alsea II study have been published in scientific journals. In 1979, the Brit ish medical journal The Lancet de scribed the sentiment among scien tists like this: "Independent statisti cians have been unable to find any evidence in the [Alsea II] data of link between abortion and 2,4,5-T." In I960, the VA hired a consulting firm to review some 1,200 scientific articles about phenoxy herbicides. The study found "no evidence" that the chemicals pose "a potent carcino genic risk" to humans. I t also found no evidence that dioxin caused repro ductive damage in humans. Last October, the American Medi cal Association issued its 2,4,5-T and dioxin studies. It said "there is still little substantive evidence for the many claims th at have been made against these compounds." Dow has even given volunteer em ployes doses of 2,4,5-T to see how long it took to go through their bodies. The VA is involved in 50 studies alone this year of Agent Orange, at a cost th at will exceed $100 million. EPA will spend another $495,000 to study residents of Times Beach and other areas exposed to dioxin. Suspicion remains, of course, about the VA's objectivity. Congress last year forced VA to surrend its most important study to the CDC because it said the VA had lost credibility with Vietnam veterans. The scientific dispute, however, may now be mute. "We're simply beyond that now," says Frank McCarthy, president of Agent Orange Victims International, a privately funded self-help group. How can the government pay $3:1 million to 2,400 residents of Times Beach and not feel responsible for "the healthy young men it sent to Vietnam who came back sick and dis ) eased?" he asks. r" TH B N E W YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, MARCH IS, 1983 Studies by Vietnam an dA u stralia C onflicton A gen t Orange 's E ffects T PHILIP tOFFKY WASHINGTON. H itch 17 -- Two aid of the Vietnameae raaulta, "T hera ' studies cm dnctiid d m d have reacted la no precedent for it In tbs Interna conflicting ctnduelcoe an whether tional literatu re." Birth defects from by A jpal Orange, the herbicide ueed In ta lc agents usually m ean the m other, Vietnam , caused birth detect for chil i--***~~t t*it fsfV tr. hai hhrn rtpnaail dren a t oon-Vletnemew troop who (ought in Vietnam. A stu d y by V h m m w e ndrntlata re American caperta on Agent Orange aid they w ere withholding Judgment until they saw the full date and analysis ported an laennee In aboonnaUtiae In ior both studies. The Veterans Adminis children a t North Vietnamese women w teee tswhsnris served In South V iri o n and ttats w on potentially eipoaad lo Agent Orange. But a study of A ustralian veterans of Vietnam te n d "no evidence that arm y eervlce Is Vietnam relate to the risk ad tration said the A ustralian study ap peared w all ctmifcirted. It reported `'penuasiv evidence th at Vietnam service has not bean associated w ith , any im portant ia u aaeo la the risk of birth defects." fetterin g m child with an anom aly." The A ta tp lla a Government pi lead the etudy. It waa not clear to a c te tia f In this country why the etudtee ranched auch opporilo eenrluahw i, o r w hat tbo tede- ran ee of either m ight bo to w hether A gate Orapge reined birth defect tor Am erican -- vlcam an's children. * . U J . Shady jW egC aadnelad The natkm alC etean for Dlaaeae Con trol tn A llstes l> trying to determ ine 11 there waa any Increase in Arisefire A m erican children ofveteran. ' The Vietnam ese study waa diseased In January In Bo Chi Mlnh City a t a aympoeluzn artanded by American edeotlata. A report of th at conference, now circulating In Am erican b c ta tiflc d rclo s, says tho group was " vary much im pressed," but Hope abort of endonk d the Vietnameae findings. A rtlair H. W etting,a n ocnlngto town H am pshire College In A m terat, M ate., who helped drganlza the conference, F ri., M ar. 1 8 ,1 8 * St UlUIS POST-DISPATCH Vietnamese Link Dioxin, Birth Defects WASHINGTON (AP) -- American scientist say they are Impressed by Vietnameae research suggesting that the offspring of men who are arpntad to diaria nm an abnormalty Ugh risk of bring boro with birth defects. Kepi Thomas A. Daacfaio, U S D., chairman of Vietnam Veterans fa Qmgreaa, said that the Vlrinamma tevasUgationa atrangtten Ite earn for legislation ha tea proposed. It would award disability baneflts to veterans ritffering certain diaaasea they b tera afe n tsia d to the dkadn b Agmt O nora. - Published American resameli has yet to Hod a link betweea exposure to d ite la and b irth abnorm alities, riaceiriagMriluttiti*. Based on a survey of 40,000 fam ilies, the Vietnamese findings on the after effects of the spraying of Agent Orange Id Vietnam ware presented at a conference In Ho Chi Mink City (torm eriy Saigon) Jan. IUQ. Sctw ntoi from several countries, Indudla^tba United S u m , attm dad tbs conference. Reports from the meeting a n beginning to dreulala among srienttsts in this coreitry. Soma of the Americans who were thare said the studies struck t h u M worthy of attention. *T don't think snyaos deliberately fudged the d u e ," says one who a tte n d e d , Ifa u ra e n H atch, a reproductive pldam lologlst a t Columbia University's School of Public Health. Dr, John Constable, a -plastic surgeon from Massachusetts General Hospital who also attended, said. "I am persuaded that this Is' sufficient evidence that necessary exposure to dioxin should be rigorously avoided." Asked what could account for the coDiradlctkm between American and Vietnamese research. Samuel Epstein, in epidemiologist from the University of Illinois School at Public Health, said birth defacu occurred to rarely that many thouaanda of people muri be hw estlgsted before valid w IwIm , can marge. He said mart American See DEFECTS, Page# D efects Frompnoaorw studies Involved too sm all a grain. The Vietnamese doctors said they had fatmd that women from North Vietnam whose frnihandt stayed in the North during the war ran significantly less risk of having "unfavorable outcomes of pregnancy" than women whose husbands may have been rrpoecil to Agent Orange tn the South, the only place where It was sprayed. That suggests that tire cause of the difficulty was transm itted In the husband's sperm to his wife. Between IKS and 1171, about 12 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed In South Vietnam to expose communist sanctuaries In the Jungles. Vietnam veterans have suspected Ihst their exposure to the herbicide while they fought the war Increased their risk of having children with birth defects. i y NEWS IMMEDIATELY :O R RELEASE Monsanto D. R. Bishop (314) 694-2891 (Office (314) 432-2030 (Home) PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT Monsanto Company 8 0 0 N. L i n d b e r g h B o u l e v a r d St. Louis. M is s ou r i 6 3 1 6 6 MONSANTO ANNOUNCES DIOXIN TEST FINDINGS IN LOUISIANA LULING, L a . , Sept. 2 -- Monsanto Company said today that extensive company tests at its plant here have found dioxin in a small, localized area of the facility where the herbicide 2,4,5-T was handled in the mid-1960s. Company medical officials said that there is no indication that the dioxin poses any danger to employees, the public or the environment. Vincent E. Boyen, Luling plant manager, said that as a result of the tests, the company has begun further sampling of the localized area where the dioxin was found. To assure that no exposure will result from disturbing the soil, the company also will cover the area with plastic sheeting and a layer of shells. Mr. Boyen said tests found measurable dioxin in only two of- 26 soil samples. "These two positive findings were found in a 10 by 20 foot area along a railroad siding inside the 1,555-acre plant. The site is more than one-half mile inside the- plant boundary. Results from the remaining 24 soil samples taken in other areas of more C02601 -2 - the plant, including four on the plant perimeter, showed no dioxin," he said. "In the two positive samples," he continued, "soil from the top two inches of the test cores contained 49 and 125 parts per billion (ppb) respectively. Further analysis of the latter core sample, however, found subsurface contamination about four to six inches below ground in the low parts per million (ppm), range,. This single -finding is inconsistent with the pattern of test results seen elsewhere in the plant and is believed to be a consequence of inadvertent spillage that likely occurred as 2,4,5-T was loaded into railcars during brief periods of time some 16 years ago," Mr. Boyen said. Commenting on the test results, George Roush, M.D. , Director of Monsanto* s Department of Medicine and Environmental Health, said that all available evidence indicates that once dioxin becomes bound to soil, it represents no hazard to man. "Indeed, the substantial amount of medical information available to date, including the results of three separate health studies of Monsanto employees exposed to relatively high levels during the manufacture of 2,4,5-T at the company*s Nitro, W .Va., plant, clearly shows that, other than the skin condition chloracne, no long-term health effects have ever been associated with exposure to d i o x i n h e said. "This conclusion," he continued, "is further supported by the American Medical Association. The AMA reported in October of 1982 that 'Thus far, long-term effects (from exposure to dioxin) other than persistent chloracne have not been seen.'" more -3 - According to Mr. Boyen, no dioxin was found in any of five water samples or in products currently made at the plant. "Three air samples taken in the area of the rail siding showed virtually undetectable levels in the 0.01 parts per quadrillion range. That's 300 times below the level which EPA has projected as 'ultra safe* for long-term human exposure and is well below background levels typically found in air-monitoring tests in major U.S. cities. Five additional air samples from other areas of the plant contained no dioxin. "These test results strongly suggest that the contamination is localized within a small area of the plant," he said. Monsanto has discussed the test results with state and federal officials and has informed the plant work force of the findings. "The herbicide 2,4,5-T was handled in the area along the railroad tracks during two intervals within a 24-month period from 1965 to 1967," Mr. Boyen said. "The product was never manufactured here and only was handled for a relatively short time.. It is known, however, that 2,4,5-T can contain dioxin as a c o n t a m i n a n t ." Mr. Boyen explained that the Luling plant received a few shipments of the solid form of 2,4,5-T from a company plant in West Virginia and converted it to its liquid form for shipment and further processing. -more- -4 - "No dioxin would have been generated during the conversion process. However, any dioxin already present in the solid product received from West Virginia would have remained in the converted liquid form," he said. Test sampling at the plant was done in mid-August following a meeting with officials from EPA Region VI in Dallas held to discuss the plant*s participation in EPA*s national dioxin surveillance program. The Luling plant is one of more than 200 industrial sites around the country listed in a 1980 EPA report as operating processes that potentially could generate dioxin. "The company testing has shown that the processes listed in the EPA report as requiring investigation at the Luling plant -- the manufacture of propanil, a herbicide, and 3,4-dichloroaniline, a chemical intermediate -- did not generate any byproduct dioxin," Mr. Boyen said. "That's yet another indication that the dioxin stems from the limited handling of 2,4,5-T back in the 1960s." Monsanto's Luling, plant has been in operation since 1954. Approximately 830 employees work at the facility which is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River 15 miles west of New Orleans. oOo- 090283 . jnsanto Backgrounder I8jS i EPA/NITRO DIOXIN TESTING MONSANTO COMPANY/ST. LOUIS, MO. Juiie 23, 1983 EPA Region III (Philadelphia) has announced that it plans to test for dioxin at 12 sites -- four each in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland. One of these sites is Monsanto's Nitro, West Virginia, plant. Monsanto and EPA have been discussing this proposal since early April, and it is our intention to cooperate with EPA in carrying out this program. The Nitro plant is a target of the EPA testing program because this facility manufactured the herbicide 2,4,5-T from 1948 to 1969. Dioxin was formed in trace amounts as an unwanted, unavoidable contaminant in this production process. The 2,4,5-T equipment was dismantled, decontaminated and buried on the plant site over 10 years ago. Except for filter cloths, dust bags and floor sweepings, the 2,4,5-T process was fairly "clean"... solid waste did not normally result from the manufacturing process. The filters, dust bags and floor sweepings were burned in the plant incinerator -- a standard, acceptable practice during the 1950s and 1960s. Any liquid waste generated from this process was sent to the plant sewer system, the same as any other plant effluent in those days. G036Q3 Vj -2 - The Nitro plant's dioxin monitoring program has always focused on assuring that any. residual dioxin contamination that might exist from past manufacturing operations is being contained on the plant property and that the employees are not being exposed to it. Thus we have sampled for this compound in monitoring wells at the disposal site, in the plant's waste water and in the water from the Kanawha River. The EPA was advised of this testing program in advance and invited to participate in its implementation. While we've never found any dioxin down to the limit of detection (10 p p t ) , this is not to say it isn't present somewhere on the plant site in some harmless, miniscule amount beneath the surface. Indeed, based on published reports of recent research, scientists have established that dioxin is ubiquitous in the environment and stems from most combustion processes. In addition to manufacturing sources, these include power plants, municipal trash incinerators, automobile engines, cigarette smoke and woodburning fireplaces. Dioxin has even been found in the background air in cities throughout the United States in the parts per billion range. The point of all of this is that dioxin can be found in the environment almost anywhere if one looks for it and has the technical ability to detect it. The question then becomes not whether dioxin can be found but, rather, does its presence constitute a potential health or environmental hazard. -3 - With respect to Monsanto's Nitro plant, the answer is an emphatic "no." We've assured ourselves that no dioxin problems exist at this site. This particular workforce is probably the most medically studied employee group in the world. Three separate health studies have been conducted on employees at this location including those who worked in the 2,4,5-T unit. Other than a residual skin disease, known as chloracne, no long term health problems that could be associated with exposure to dioxin have ever been found. Furthermore, we've tested our waste water effluent, the river water and monitoring wells installed to check the integrity of the plant's old disposal site. No environmental problems exist from any dioxin that might be present below the surface stemming from former operations. So we don't understand this sudden interest in testing for dioxin at a location where no problems exist. This, notwithstanding, Monsanto has always shared information and cooperated with both state and federal agencies at all of our manufacturing locations. We intend to continue with this policy and thus we are cooperating with the EFA on this new request. Suffice it to say, Monsanto is fully committed to protecting the health and safety of its employees and its plant communities and we'll do whatever we have to do to maintain their trust and confidence. We view this clearly as our responsibility. -4 - At the same time, the EPA, the Centers for Disease Control and the news media have a responsibility to keep the subject of dioxin in perspective. To this point, we agree with the sense of a resolution issued recently by the American Medical Association's House of Delegates which said* in effect, that dioxin has been made the focus of a "witch hunt" through the dissemination of rumors, hearsay, unfounded hysterical pronouncements and doomsday forecasts. The AMA resolution stated that there is no scientific evidence that dioxin poses an imminent danger to people. The AMA further committed itself to a campaign aimed at countering what it called "hysterical malreporting" about the chemical. We applaud their stand and join them in this effort and would urge o t h e r s e s p e c i a l l y those empowered with the public trust, to do likewise. -0 O0