Document N8ypg0omXLXNkJQ5xm75LmRy

DRAFT/DRB/Oct. 14, 1975- Ijetters to the Editor The Wall Street Journal 22 Cortlandt Street New York, New York 10007 Editor, The Wall Street Journal: We wish to correct a misleading and false impression created in the article by Jeffrey A. Tannenbaum on "Persistent PCBs." (Oct. 8) In discussing the chronological sequence of actions taken to reduce PCB pollution levels in the environment, Mr. Tannenbaum inferred that Monsanto Company>--feinysTrlg--U. 3-.--preduce1*7. took no action tp-xcnvlrcri PGBa1 until 1972 and then only "in the wake of a report by a federal government task force." We can only assume that Mr. Tannenbaum was misled by inaccurate information contained in a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental News Release, dated Oct. 8, 1975, which discusses the 1972 federal government report recommending a ban on all PCB uses except closed electrical systems and goes on to say that Monsanto agreed in 1972 to limit its PCB sales to only those applications. 0477834 PCB-ARCH0744695 DRAFT Page 2 The documented facts, as presented by Monsanto to Mr. Tannenbaum last August, clearly establish that Monsanto began its program of withdrawing, voluntarily and unilaterally, from "open system" markets in 1970 and that by December 31, 1971, (well in advance of the formation of the federal task force) Monsanto was selling PCBs only to the electrical industry where they were (and still are) used as dielectric fluids in "closed systems" such as transformers and capacitors where there are no known, acceptable alternate fluids available. We submit that, until now, Monsanto's voluntary and unilateral PCB program has always been regarded as highly responsible (if not, indeed, unprecedented) and suggest that, at the very least, it merits accurate treatment in the news media. We trust you will agree. Sincerely yours, D. R. Bishop Director, Public Relations Monsanto Industrial Chemical Co. 0^7835 PCB-ARCH0744696