Document 9L3DXxDY7QyrgwrOmeg8XOMOV

M Santa' Rosa, | .0 By BOB NORBERG `.5Is the'cherdical polychlorinated biphenyle --.PCB -- 1 as prevalent as the number of news accounts of spills and leaks suggest?. : ! !. - ; ' : - I -CAUTION- PCBs also have been used in paints, hydraulic fluids]- carbonless copy paper, televisions, radios, air condition ers and in oil spread on roads to control dust. . Ten million pounds enters the environment annually, |J(Sonoma]Co.)]^jgf:^ v|] Press'OemocratH^^ ':|(Cirj5xW;i62,472)||'l|a if(Cir;:S;68;109)MSf-r ^ Public officials and company executives, who,two' a ydars. agQ probably hadn't even heard of PCB, are. ' ' ' ! ' - : Lf .' . . i, CONTAINS primarily through spills. And 750 million pounds of the chemical is still in use or in storage, according to finding the chemical is jiistabout everywhere -- in, public and.private hands. - - ; Sunohio, which has developed a new system for cleaning PCBs from transformer oil. . . rM 21 '1982 S ' Concern over the toxic chemical is growing and, Trace amounts of PCB have been found in Santa U ! iI although officials, don't always, agree with claims the chemical causes cancer, efforts, are being made-to re-, move it from the environment. : . ' ; ;(Polychlorinated Biphenyls) Rosa, Healdsburg and Cloverdale sewage plant effluent] Santa Rosa effluent is used as irrigation on feed crops* , according to Bob Tancreto of the state Water Quality" : -'PCBs no longer are being produced or used in any Control Board. - new equipment, and that alone gradually will, reduce its ' Those trace amounts are 7 parts per trillion, far less presence, according to Sonoma County officials. , than the government-permitted amounts. . ... ; . But if the removal of PGBs seems agonizingly slow, County Health Officer Robert Holtzer said it will be a that's-becauserit is. Not only are many PCBs still' trie Co. is a primary user, and in ballasts for fluorescent . . long time before we live in a PCB-free environment; as-,': undetected, but removal is being hampered by the feel .light fixtures. ;. - . . - : ; long as federal law allows, existing PCB equipment to be-i-, ] ing by some officials the PCB danger is blown] out of proportion, i - .r .. : Transformers -- some With as much as 80 gallons of... . used. . '. " - ! : - `.- PCB-laden insulating fluid -- also can be found in use by ; : PCBs "will be reduced. Clearly the capacitors in the ';,: -: The most 'commonuse of PCB has been as ap insulat 'many public agencies, in private industry'and with . county will be replaced. That'll just leave the unknownyvJ : ing fluid in transformers, of which Pacific Ga.s & Elec-= large PG&E customers. . ' -i ; - ' areas of contamination we don't know about," Holtzer . -i . -! 5 ! 'Sonoma County; and says it will complete the replace : ment over the next two years. . PCB locations ; i PG&E has provided a list of PCB transformers to the According to the Holtzer report, the private and , county Office of Emergency Services, health- depart PG&E transformers which have been identified as hav ] ment and the police and fire departments. ing or suspected of having PCBs are: said.' ' ] ; The utility also was asked for information on the 13 ! Sonoma County Fairgrounds, two private and 13 Holtzer said some of the contamination, like akMOi ] PG&E-owned electrical transformers it has in private PG&E; Sonoma County Water Agency, one at 9750 Brake inTUSVeidale, will surface^uddenlv. Others will . buildings, but would only give the location of 11 of them. Wholer Road; -Sonoma County Building Mantenance turn up later. " - --------T" -1 1 - ` PG&E spokeswoman Jan Miller said the information 'Division, three at Los Guilucos and Orenda Center; - ~ '"Biit ttnrtPmd will be down, simply because they're: is proprietary and those two customers don't want the Sonoma County Public Works has six PG&E transform not. putting PCBs in new equipment," Holtzer said. - information released. ' . : . ers at the corporation yards; Sonoma County Regional "You have to make a risk assessment," said county ' ; The utility also has stood.firm on-its refusal to plainly' Parks, some PG&E transformers; Sonoma County Air Environmental Health Director Mike Vinatieri. "Is the label the poles, citing the fear of vandalism. Backing port, 400 runway and taxi apron light.ballasts and eight ^ risk we take (with PCBs) worthwhile? We can't elimi up the stance is reports two of the 11 leaks in PCB Federal Aviation Administration transformers; Petalu- ' 1 Hi nate PCBs, so how far do you go with it?" - - ' ,' A year ago, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors transformers since August 1980 have been caused by gunshots. "' ' ' . ma, two at sewage treatment plants;' Santa Rosa, three at the sewage treatment plant, Howarth Park and Doyle ' became concerned enough to ask PG&E for a list of all ] Miller said the poles will be marked designating the Park Ball Field. . . .- telephone poles with PCB transformers, a warning mar-] ! presence of PCB transformers, but it will be at the top Petaluma public works director Roy- Kelly said the ker on the pole and locations of any other transformers, ' of the pole, away from public view] city'has a transformer with PCBs at the sewage treat .'.in the county.. - : ' . f' i Holtzer's report says PG&E also provided a list of ment plant oxyidation ponds. It's within a concrete The board also asked for a clean-up program for PCB ! the privately owned transformers, which would be found enclosure and would present no public health problems . spills, notification of local' agencies in spill incidents `and, in private industry, but a survey by Public Health if it leaked. - -i,.,; ;,a study of - the contamination'from past spills. . ;.In a report Holtzer gave supervisors two weeks ago,', turned up very few with PCBs. Only few entities refused i The second transformer is being tested to see if it to respond. . - . i contains PCBs, Kelly said. much of the resolution has been met. . -'.. , ' PG&E also has conducted a program testing natural One of the PCB transformers at the Sonoma. County ] PG&E has replaced 72 of its 228 PCB transformers-iin-; ----------"" ---------------- - - ------- gas mains for PCBs introduced by compressors and transformers,. A small.amount was found in a. Petaluma Fairgrounds leaked last spring, said fair manager Chris Borovansky. The area was roped off and proper cleanup i catch tank. T1"7 : . I undertaken. The rest of the transformers, all in non-, public areas, were checked, Borovansky said. . . . . PCB-ARCH-EXT0376221 PCB-ARCH-EXT0376222 Santa Rosa schools has replaced 40 percent of all of j Santa Rosa Junior College lhaintenance chief Larry j its light fixtures, leaving about 60 percent still with i * m Bourdet said they're just beginning a program to find j PCBs, according to Wayne McNamee, director of | | and identify all transformers at the college. . .:i i j;|* It'll take time, he said, because they'll have to go r l*]*i over all the construction blueprints. * - * " V ;*; ; !;i '``The college has gone througfr a lot of^construction maintenance and operations. *i "We've had leakers, but they haven tjcaused any problems," McNamee said. ' Normally when the ballast leaks, it drops a black, PCB-laden waste oil was also used widely on roads to control dust, Johnson said. That's one of the major ways it has been introduced into the environment. No one had j i[! during the past few years," Bourdet said. "The.college * .' `' has been here since .1911. The older equipmcntVis now.f t! 'Nfij:t.igon`e`W, eso'l.l hlooopkefautlltyratnhsefoPrmCBesrsaaren*dgaosnkethweithcoimt..pa. nies if`?| j;?j they have PCB. The hardest part is finding all the.] f-fj transformers. They're in nooks and crannies," Bourdet r* .said. *' : ' . '.'!* '. ' . . . ' " " v * *. :`l\ . r*Hp*j At least eight of Sonoma.State University's 13 trains-,/:j : ; j|*! former banks contains PCBs, . according to plant* opera?*^ tions director Bill Nabry. The'other five they're not sure '3 tarry substance onto the light covering. It's that subst ance which carries the PCBs. .. "The amounts that are in there are.small, sam . Vinatieri. "I have fluorescent lightsabove my desk and I'm not overly concerned aboutvit." - : Nabry said they've had 50 to 60 leakers at Sonoma State University, and they were replaced with non-PCB . units as they failed. "It'd be too expensive to replace all at once, he said. "Those ballasts cost $13 apiece and it takes 20 minutes . information on specific Sonoma County incidents of PCB-laden oil being used as a dust retardant on roads. . When there are leaks and spills, police and fire de partment members are usually the first on the scene, and the first to deal with whatever hazardous material might be there. They're obviously concerned about coming upon something dangerous pnawares. "We're the ones left holding the bag," said Petaluma ` Fire Chief Robert Sharps. "We are the ones that have to 1about. : . ' ., *' ' *.v ;The transformers are all^"underground vaults- or;.* in!other areas that* are fenced and. locked, so they're to do, it. It'd take $50,000 to $70,000 to replace them all. Problem overblown?-: -u- deal with it in a safe and effective manner. The bottom line is the fire department has to deal with it" ' County emergency services director Pete Peterka not accessible to the public..',' : -`V ' ... .. "*'.. * ;Nabry was one of many officials who said they feel said there are 55 separate fire departments and obvious-; j |0ne transfo riner was noticedle aking a year ago ; the danger from fluorescent light fixtures was over ly all of them can't afford to be equipped with suits and H * blown, a feeling that contributes to the slowness with material to handle dangerous chemicals. which PCBs are replaced. during a PCB-search mission. It was in the basement of; "I think it's going slowly because that's the way Special care taken IYC/J ! ^the*library, leaked' an ounce of the substance, and has;* been cleaned and repaired, Nabry said. * *7 1 > xj'; Nabry said there are two transformers that are I';) scheduled for immediate replacement because if they*., did leak, it's possible the fluid could run into the storm ' drains, into Copeland Creek, into the Russian River, the ; Ui. water system and the food chain. ' . * ! ?rS; The state colleges and university system has a $10 j million statewide program to replace the transformers.;, Lights a problem , : : PCBs were widely used in the ballasts of fluorescent.';!: light fixtures manufactured before 1979, and these pre- -.:` sent'problems when they'leak or explode, even though*' /.v l they contain small amounts of PCB. ` : : " According to* county and city officials,-the PCB bal-'j '-;.* 'lasts; a re replaced as they fail, since the cost of replac- j (ing all in a single program ;would be-prohibitive. pi;*.*i*.*':,: ` "I think the danger in fluorescent fixtures is greatly ;K|; .overrated," Holtzer said. ``They should be replaced Il-p; when they leak. The stuff that comes out of the-ballast is ';?!-] black and gooey and it's easy to avoid. No one I know of, *!*; j is recommending wholesale replacement." . Santa Rosa City Manager,Ken,Blackman said they!'' ;4s|;',ibok-advantage of a state-funded energy program, two . |;, jiH'fyears ago to-replace "all fluorescent-lights in the city : `slrwith newer, more efficient light fixtures. The result was j .to .get rid.of all PCBs. V; ** ;.*' - 'V.' __bureaucracy moves,''Nabry said. "Everybody I vd con tacted that's] deeply involved in the program -- like engineers -- they're really-moving fast and they feel it's, important. . "But some of us in the field -- electricians and myself . -- we probably demean it. Maybe because we've worked with it for so long. Five, 10 .years ago, we'd probably : even had eaten the stuff' without thinking about it. We ' didn't know about.it. It looked so innocent lying there on . the concrete. ' . . "What else is there around that we don't know about? ; You hear about something new every day," Nabry said.' ' When the ballasts do leak, custodians wearing gloves use solvents to wipe up the tars. The gloves, rags and leaking capacitor are then bagged and taken to thecounty dump. Holtzer said there isn't much fear the dump is being contaminated by the capacitors, but they do monitor dumping to make sure it isn't contaminated by other: ' PCB-bearing materials, Jere Johnson of the Environmental Protection Agen- ! cy, which has banned all production and uses of PCB, said the compound was also used in paints, adhesives, caulking compounds and some hydraulic fluids, but mostly for industrial purposes. It was used rh carbonless copy paper manufactured until 1971 by NRC Corp., she saidr While manufacturing * of the paper has stopped, the use of the carbonless copy * paper hasn't been banned because of the large amount "Special care is taken to make sure no one goes in and begins cleaning up without thb proper equipment," Peterka said. "We're forming two specialist teams -- specially trained and specially equipped". to deal with all chemical spills, not just PCBs. When there is a transformer spill, it's the responsibil ity of the owner to clean it up. ' PG&E workers have been trained for the cleanup, wear protective clothing, will remove any contaminated dirt or grass, as necessary, and dispose of the trans formers through proper channels, Miller said. * Miller said they treat all transformer leaks as if they contain PCBs, until the oil is analyzed and is,proved otherwise. ' The transformers are drained and the oil sent to . incinerators in either Eldorado, Ark., or Deer Park Texas. * . . . If the oil is laden with 500 parts per million of PCB, the transformer is then flushed with kerosene for 18 hours, the kerosene also incinerated and the transform er buried at a Casmalia, Calif., dump site. * , : If the oil has less than 500 parts per millionj the transformer is sold for'scrap metal, Miller said.-. contained in private and public files. *; - .* ,'j"i i- : i* * .*' " in hi S r: -* " -V^V-' * f O ss' figsjs&SSj; O / ' - <*'-'! if** j ; x A |?*:g / kP' " jHB ' / Q W *"u * rav j|d |Sp ,f`Hi*?fif-lS t-Zy' - 1 \ "p : - , ***** f *HVvUiy S ?jj ILj|jI ! .i Mn?#- j : -> : - >* >-' WM&Mj -' < 1 i , f' < ,,,,.sJil.ss/w.ssTM. :'flW:.:; "S ' t5si$ ' Vl^fP*'J n 4 'Vf'l * *-#***& J i v#U IvMI n \y4 ' '* L, -'>44 -!*.' ''*<* `*n*','' '"i^n i' \. 1 Ji:-fI %*-0\ , V \ > 'W-'/ '' -'"X -Sl - % s ''-' v;.; s-^"1 '\,s-\ *v ,J - ' v ;.vm 28 jBHtaf ,' **'^4 '.' .......... . ; ' MI:: ; : = . Power pole ; K :/ ^ ":"' \ 'pi ygMP^ Sll4 L*'/iS,S".fe5, 1 a' \ iSiiSs ll<,| ?'yv4f4\' . v , \| ^ transformers are one' of the more common! places where the j toxic chemical PCB j can be found'. Spills C >' ! %i'r `w\ i.,',i-^lW:-\ BliHIl % from transformers first brought the #u \ is ;:# BiM ; problem to public attention, but new . . ~\J . jv equipment no longer contains the . . chemical. | PCB-ARCH-EXT0376223 :l.: ] !.s'l- ! I