Document LbZ5m8VV52OmLNkyQayEjNJ3

SAN GABRIEL. CALIF. SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE D, 68,500 s. 66,000 [PCB Imports Soar: As Ban Gets Close :..... .. By STAN BENJAMIN Associated Pmi Writer , ' WASHINGTON (APf - RepLes Aspin, D-Wh. add Sudsy that with U S. production of tnc totic chemical PCB la end in 1677, imports of the substance have risen sharply -- apparently ki in effort to prolong Its uee. ' Under the new hate Suhatanoet Ad; all uee of PCB hi the , United Stales must end by June 1,1671, but Aspin said the sole production hr October, ilff. : "Unless knporte are quickly ended," Aspin said In a state ment issued by his office "PCBs will continue to threaten the | environment -- aid at an accelerating rate, judging from this [.year's imports," . II He said he will ask the Envlromnenlal Protection Agency to f ban further PCB Imports hefore. fhe 1671 legal deadline, once the [ incoming administration of President-elect Carter has taken oftieu. . . f , Asked about AspH's statemSit, an EPA spokesman said the Va--g--e--n--c--y-Imhacsmnoi--p--r-e--s--e--n-`t iWntaeunrtfiUoant orJf nerekmedmirntirgiii uinp tfhlwe bKamn omn PWCTBI ., 6 He said Congress slimed the two-year delay tojdve indue . fries time to obtain suitable replacements for PCB. and the ' agency still considered that a valid approach to the problem . p PCB, a group of related chemicals called "polyehlorbated ' biphenyls." is used In industrial and mechanical applications, r including use as a coolant sealed inside electric transformers r and capacitors./ ' I 1- ji It often escapes to me ehvirainent through industrial waste discharges, accidental release, and the juiinng of equipment containmgit. ' PCB has nol been directly proven to harm human beings, but I, has been shown to esuse serious iDness In laboratory animals [and was found by the EPA in samples of human mothers' mint, F Indicating that if is reaching and being absorbed by human be gin**- ' . :' f ' Aspin said data from the U S. Custom Service showed that .the United Stiles imported 316.515 pounds of PCB during the first eight monthe of 1675. far more than the 275.451 poanb imported during the entire year of I6h: - "Thy customs figures indicate dal manufacturers nay he budding up slocks a me PCB'i atoll after domestic manufactur ing has stopped." said Aspin - The EPA spokesman said, however, that stockpiled PCB could not be used, in arfr case, after the 1676 ban on further me tabes effect.' ' r Aspin said all of the 1675 reports of PCB so far lave come {bum Tranee. entering the United Stoteo through New York, Ttttshrgh end Lea Angeles. e.-4 , .. ... ***,, V - ' ' .