Document J3qBj5ooKNvmrKX81xvopxa7Z

San Jose, CA (Santa Clara Co.) Mercury (Cir. D. 149,544) FEB 11 1981 , Men's P. c. B. Est. 1888 iiPailcleiisPmIcPvyi? .>3'll*- ..-V ;/. -`V;- tvoes" \ WASHINGTON (AP) The Environmental Pro lection Agency reported Tuesday it! had approved; ; operation of high-temperature incinerators in Dew Park; Texas,;,^ahd El Dorado, Ark.,; after tests showed both i were capable of destroying more than 99.99 percent of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PQBs);found in waste oils. ; ,, A; T Government approval for the incinerators de- ` signed to destroy PCBs should finally break the logjam that has blocked efforts to get rid of; the ;; highly toxic chemicals, EPA offidals aid. ' ^ PCBs for years."were used as insulators in electric transformers and other electrical equip ment The manufacture and many uses of the ;* chemical were banned by Congress in 1976. : } However, disposal of millions of pounds of PCB ^ w ^ ^ ^ ^ ap provai sehts amajoitep 'forward ^dealujg; with;qnebf|| mental The?' , __,,,wr_iWi,,,,=,, ronmehtal Services; and the Arkansas unit, owned ^ by Energy Systems Co.; cOuld begin:operating in;il> '' March, the officials said.., / About 20 million pounds of PCB waste .oils,? from equipment taken out of service; have been ' in storage since 1978 waiting for approved ind- nerators to be buUt PCBs, manufactured since 1929,: have; been shown: to cause. dancer, reproductive failures; gastric disorders, skin lesions and other serious ailments in laboratory animals. EPA officials said that a person exposed to the maximuih level of emissions from the approved incinerators over a period of 70 years would have a one-in-2.5-million chance of increased cancer. PCB-ARCH-EXT0376243