Document LqjRDpDZ0D2jaO3Q4jZxXwkw

June 13, 1974 To: Mr. S. B. Rod! - Baton Rouge Tower cc: Mr. C. H. Zeanah - Richmond The following article appeared in today's Houston Post: EPA finds faint vinyl chloride leaks By HAROLD SCARLETT Post Environment Writer Four plants on the Houston Ship Channel are leaking in significant and barely detec table levels of cancer-causing vinyl chloride gas, the Envi ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Wednesday. Results of air samples tak en here May 21-22--and ruled secret for a time -- were re leased by the EPA regional office in Dallas. A press officer, Betty Wil liamson, said there is no sci entific evidence of any public health hazard at the levels found here. "But these are preliminary data," she said, "and we plan to do additional monitoring in Houston." The EPA said the highest level of vinyl chloride found here was .063 parts per mil lion (PPM) in a property-line sample at the Shell chemical plant A second sample at Shell showed only .032 PPM, the EPA said. Trace amounts of less than .03 PPM were found in tests outside the Tenneco, Diamond Shamrock and Ethyl plants, the EPA said. The Ship Channel levels Please see 4 vinyl/page 20A 4 vinyl chloride leaks found ( From page 1 ) were among the lowest found in a nationwide sampling by the EPA of plants making vinyl chloride, a gas used in the manufacture of polyvinyl chioride plastics. The EPA began the sampl ing program after the dis covery earlier this year of 12 deaths from angiosarcoma, a rare liver cancer, among workers in vinyl chloride plants. However, the dead workers had been exposed for many years to permitted in-plant levels of up to 500 PPM of vinyl chioride. The in-plant exposure limit has since been slashed to 50 PPM. It is expected to be re duced again to near-zero lev els. Disclosure of the Houston sampling results followed a Tuesday announcement m Washington by EPA adminislevels of 2 or 3 PPM or more found outside 11 plants around - Both the Houston and Loui trator Russell E. Train that siana samples were taken by of vinyl chloride had been the EPA's Houston laboratory . the nation. facility. It has not sampled "There is no scientific evi dence to indicate that these emissions pose an imminent hazard to people living near two other vinyl chloride plants in this area--Union I Carbide at Texas City and ; Dow in Freeport. i these plants," Train said. An EPA official In Wash- ; "However, prudence dic tates that reasonable steps should be promptly taken to reduce vinyl chloride emis sions to the lowest practical 1 n g t o n originally directed EPA field offices around the country not to release results of the vinyl chloride sampl ings. | level." This appeared to be In vio- ; Train met with executives of 29 vinyl chloride plants and urged them to reduce emis sions as much as possible. lation of the 1970 federal Clean Air Act, which declares all pollution sampling data to be public information. The regional EPA said it had found T.S1 PPM of vinyl chloride in one sampling out side a Goodyear plant at Plaquemines. La. Another However, the EPA later an nounced the test resuits were being held up only temporar ily for correlation and eval uation. vinyl chloride pianr operated Meanwhile, an EPA re by Dow Chemical Co. is right search team from Research next door, the EPA said. Triangle Park, N.C., was set The EPA said the high reading was taken with a 10miie wind blowing directly across the Good;, aar plant to ting up its gear in Houston Wednesday to do additional testing (or vinyl chloride and a numijer ot other exotic pol ward the sampling point. lutants. Bui 30 orher sample' taken The team was io have be in the same area tanged as gun sampling June 5. but was low as .003 p?;.i. :he EPA ieiased by equipment prob- ` said. lems. D. J. Kennedy 33^3