Document M6Kkxb5o2zzzD3rmj6ooEL6k
'EPA head opposes law to control PCBs
SPRINGFIELD Api-TV director of
.he Sale CmnrwvTwrtaJ protection Agency > EPA said Tuesday he don not 'aw pus>ng a la* to control too of PCS*, chemicals wtach tninowmanial croups clann we threatvong wiMGfe ml human health
These tclasw are ry xary to me. hut oti (he other hand some drasOc
actions can become couraerproducUvc." said Richard H Bncetand. noting that
a ban an PCBs ootid force mt o(
'substitute chemicals that an even one.
"The health related data ion the effects of PCBsi is very questionable-- the impact m very quotionaMe.' he aid
Briceland'* camnents came m test!-' many before the House Committee n Dixbunment. fjwrjt- and Natural Re
sources. which is comudehng legislation to severely curtail the amom of PC8s ki commercial products_________
PCBs became a focus of world can
can) to lMl
am thm* IJH
Japanese suffered advene dhcu alter
tine ret sit oMamiaalsd by the
cheoticale OMcMl my the fttwow
partial of Laha MdWgm is heavily
notammsAed with PCBs.
But Brictimd toM the cemmiUoc that
it already is illegal to discharge PCM
ato Illinois eaterways md that control
rf the Chemicab -pcobbly ooaM be
bandied throutfi the existng tynem id
slate regulation!."
PCBs. or pelycMonnated bqrienyb.
are liquid roitpoiwdi ttm for the past
four decades haw been toed in such
products as paiiSs. inks, electric trane lormers. flouroscoa Ughu. atr candi-
tanera and other ebctraal etpapnem.
Karl C. Bremer, a irpml official of
the VS. EPA. toU the ewnmittee tim
medical records shew cases of shb
towns and trhuesn among warhers
involved in manufactory PCBs._____
In the Japantar evident victims std-
fered shin ptgmsaiwiwi problems,
festafis. eye Bscharges. ouscamagm
and stiltsrths. mtd Bremer
He said that in the Imted SUtes PCBs
have been manufachnd by a angle
producer, the Vtoneanto Otmical Co.
The firm now is EiiotaiJ
fiSU (o
use in ciesrd ebetncal systams md
pirns to phase ota da mbs depriving on
the availability of shemathe fluto. he
said
But Bremer said there ban* been
reports of PCBs being imported for rilr uses, and that they connoed to be fcual in fish from the Mississippi to the Hwbon rircrs The cheitaub end ep m the water due to tnproper Mdusinal dinhargu and vopenation. he said.
" PCB conemuatima in Lake MMagan coho salmon, lake trout and
eacoed the <l'S.i Food and On*
Adanmaration's temporary toleranca level of fie* potto per mUSai." sari Bremer. "Them caacantrabons have not decreased me ll"
James D. Griffith, representing a coalition called PCB Gone, told tlw committee tM fadma and Mchigm already have macted lapriafinn controlbng PCBs and that such laws are pending in Wisconsin and Manesau
U b. ladies and ntiemm an enterpmey." said Griffith, IBbum is a ittle behind these other states, and I hope 'the law i wiU be enacted tlm sesatm "
Ba Bricefand aid sute officials nev
er have been given a satisfactory ex
planation of why the PDA mt Its toler
ance level for PCBa at ft*e pans per
millien in fish The FDA acted "very arbitrarily.*' he said.
Bricelaad said the slate EPA tm found only ne Hun rearing a si^Mficant
comributiw to the PCS conucmmuon f Lake Mkhtgm. Outboard Mm
Corp of Waategwi NigXiaiimu are
*der way to arise that problem, he said.
Another EPA offieiri told the commit
tee that PCB content! aaiwa above fh* port* per raiUfea "arc prcmneu m
Lake Michigan wdy Oowvetete fish
samples have shown b<*b in flesh lar
below ithati "
.
One of the bib bemg oonsidemJ bv
the committee b a Waft comnettee bill,
the Other is sponsond by Rep. ABchsei L. Getty. D-Oeftoa
The bilb would barer ttmit atamdac-
turo f PCBs and caB for ffeamdhi restrictions on the pteaeact of PCBs m commercial pratfcns-
Rep. Daniel M. Fierce. D-ffighriad Park, the comnaOee chairman, ap pointed a subcomnattee to farther *ti*jv 1
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