Document MMKm8zrmK3jpYYNOB3MK6B5x9

HEW CASTLE, PA. NEWS D. 23.500 MAR 22 1977 tfc PCB fight frustrates oil plans DES MOINES, Iowa (UP1) Efforts of Iowa officials attempting to dispose of a large quantity of crankcase oil con* taminatad by the highly toxic chemical PCB were being frustrated by legal obstacles and restrictive federal guidelines. About 10,000 gallons of PCB-Uinted oil were shipped into Iowa from St. Paul, Minn., last week. The Iowa Department of En vironmental Quality said Monday it averted a "near disaster" by identifying the shipment and seeking a court injunction barring its further movement. State officials said the chemical could have entered the food chain and endangered the health of thousands of lowans U It had been spread on roads. PCB, If consumed, can cause cancer or birth defects. Officials said Monday tbe state faces serious obstacles In dispos ing an estimated 90,010 gallons of the PCB-tajftted oil Federal regulations require that PCB be incinerated in special combustion tanks at the Monsanto Industrial Chemicals Co. plant at St. Louis, the only U S. manufacturer, or buried at a federally approved chemical landfill site at Sheffield, ID. Monsanto officials reportedly are coot to the idea of accepting the contaminated oil unless it can be proven it manufactured tbe PCB in question. And either method of disposal would cost $106,000 -- a financial burden neither the state nor the oil company involved is willing to accept. The chemical, to a concentra tion $ billion times stronger than federal drinking water standards permit, was mistaken for waste engine oil intended for use on Iowa's gravel roads and was mis takenly shipped to a Cedar Falls road oiling firm. HONS 001659