Document M0wjEZBMEGpQopRMQyeaOJ6x

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1983 incinerator By KITTY UNTHANK Star Special Correspondent Bloomington, lnd. -- Westing- house Electric Corp. announced Tuesday it will build a $13 million incinerator here to burn PCBs that have contaminated at least nine sites in Monroe County. . The agreement between the com pany -- which used polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to produce electri cal capacitors here -- and city offi cials came after six years of negotia tions. The agreement transfers responsibility for local PCB cleanup to the company. Details of the pact are expected to be worked out within two months, with ground-breaking on the inciner ator set for 1985. ' BOTH PARTIES hope to use mu nicipal solid wastes as a fuel source for the incinerator to burn the PCBs. which are suspected cancer-causing agents. They must obtain U.S. Envi ronmental Protection Agency ap proval of the process. "This is a very happy day for us," Mayor Tomilea Allison said after the announcement was made jointly by her and company officials. "The city is anxious to work with the company to bring this about." Robert Pugliese. Westinghouse vice president and general counsel, said. "We've had unfavorable publici ty toward Westinghouse in the past. We're ready to put all that behind us now." Westinghouse used PCBs in the production of electrical capacitors in Bloomington between 1958 and 1972. The PCBs were made by Monsanto Chemical Co. HEALTH OFFICIALS found that old capacitors, brought to at least nine unauthorized dump sites in Monroe County, leaked PCBs. Three of the sites are on the EPA's Super fund list of the worst hazardous waste sites in the nation. PCBs forced the closing of the Winston-Thomas sewage treatment . plant here, where sludge was found to be contaminated with the toxic chemical. In 1981, Bloomington filed a $329 .million lawsuit seeking damages against Westinghouse and Monsanto. Last year. Westinghouse and the city began looking at engineering solutions to PCB contamination. But in August talks broke down and the city prepared to go to court again. Officials declined to comment Tuesday on whether the suit will be dismissed with the new agreement. THEY SAID Monsanto will be approached to join the pact. Westing house has promised to shoulder the full incinerator costs regardless. "We'll do the job if necessary without Monsanto." Pugliese said. "We're do ing this on our own." PCB cleanup has cost Blooming ton more than $300,000. Officials feared the toxic wastes were leaking into subsurface streams and could contaminate fish and wildlife and were dangerous to nearby residents. The issue of possible reimburse ment is expected to be discussed further by the city and the compa nies. The three Superfund sites are the Lemon Lane dump. Neal's Landfill and Bennett's property, all just west of the city. PCB-ARCH-EXT0378320