Document G5v27YnZqjygM3X3KnQ7n3XnN

-- . - , .- ,, T. V" '-'"' . * * * , & . - -........._ , . , , , .........................._ ..........................................- ____________ , Jae io, I 9 7 ^ ^ ; a - stLOUIS PDST-D1SPATCH l!>v-y : : t m ^ m S ^ S Monsanto Takes Precaiitic For-Snget Plant Employees i Monsanto Ccl te s calcen precautions to protect a dozen dioxin contaminant would produce a certain type of workers in a chemical manufacturing unit at its W.G. skin acne to those exposed and there have been no - Knimmixh Plant in Sauget, following a report from- reports of th is .' y . ; y f . - federal inspectors that a contaminant harmful to the skin wasixEsdar the unit. ~ rv;~ ^ The tin t makes chloropbenol, an intermediate - i ' Still, the company decided to follow OSHA suggestions for precautions for workers. These include chemical used, by manufacturers of such products as limiting access to the unit, having workers change their dyes, agricultural chemicals and wood preservatives. clothing and shower after working in the unit, and not v Inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health allowing the workers to drink or eat at the location. f.jdminisuatkQ said they detected the highly toxic Monsanto said its own testsRecently did not indicate S u b sta n c e dioxin on the ground outside the the presence of dioxin. OSHA,; in an oral report to the 7` manufaea r in g unit in a sample taken last February. company, said 300 parts per billion of dioxin were found \y- 0S3A also reported finding dioxin in surface in a product sample taken last February outside the " samples nsioe a cfclorophenol unit that had been dosed ' manufacturing unit and that more than 50 percent of for IV2 years. "Neither of the OSHA samples are indicative o the dioxin detected was classified as 2,3,7,8 tetrachi0rodibenzo-para-dioxin, a highly toxic chemical current worker exposure," Monsanto said. A substance. \ . spokesman added: " We don't feel there are any health Monsanto said the contaminant detected outside the ' hazards cosed to the people" involved in manufacture manufacturing unit was in an area where tank cars are of chlortchenol, which is a corrosive liquid. He said the loaded and might have been the result of a small spill. .* ' t Chemical Spill Worker Has Complaints HALLSVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- A worker hired to help dean up the ychemical spQl of a train " derailment near Sturgeon. Mo., says he * .wants sraight answers, about a toxic substance l found iniisbody. `T m sitting at home | right nov, I can't even \ -work," Vainer Kidwell, | "21, told an imetviewer j ^Friday. " Something's i wrong wrh the nerves in Rmy back, and I can't "work far the mental strain of not knowing. I want some facts." Kidwell and another workman, who has not been identified, were employed by the Western Environmental Services of Portland, Ore., for the cleanup. A Norfolk & Western freight train* derailed Jan. 10, spilling 20,000 gallons of the toxic chemical orthochlorophenal. Monsanto Chemical Co., the manufacturer, later said the tank car also contained tra c e s of dioxin, a highly toxic chemical. About 1,000 residents of the area near Sturgeon left their homes for a few days because of the chemical fumes. Kidwell said he is dissatisfied with the answers he has been getting . from the Environmental- Protection Agency. * "They tell me not to worry about nothing. They can't guarantee me 30 days to live. I'd like to have another kid, and .1 don't know if I can have any more right now with all this dioxin in my blood. I just can't handle it anymore." Dr. Joseph Seifier, senior medical amiser of the Environmental- Protection Ageccy in Washington, noted that liver and blood tests on Kidwell and the other cleanup worker have been concluded and said: " In my opinion, nobody has been exposed to a significant degree to orthochlorophenal, phenal and to dioxin." Phenal is a chemical ingredient found with orthochlorophenal Kidwell said, "I'll go to Washington if I have to, to get the answers I need. I'm just tired of it. I'm going to raise some hell with these people now." One rural Sturgeon family living near the site of the spill h=5 filed a $7.65 million iiwsuit; other litigation is threatened. l-r !tif:V