Document QRY1N7kEOox53Xnkb8yqw0Zk

Monsanto rmOM lN*Mt * L alox. Mr. R_ c IahaIn _ BIND 0*7C WfcjICl et*eNct , , t June 10, 1977 PCE Disposal TO : Mr. J. K. Clark - A3NB Messrs: <3. D. J. F, RE. Barton -- BIN Bishop - C2SC McKee - A3NB Gary and X discussed Warren Easley's idea with our product and commercial management. Individual collection of capacitors from air conditioners, fluorescent lights and appliances would he a massive project. At sometime in the future the government may edict certain industries and high rise building owners must collect and dispose of capacitors. This is the purpose of the disposal regulations in Warren's attachment to get maintenance people disposing of PCBs properly. However, our people feel that home collection will never be instituted because capaci tors are hard to get to, and most folks can't identify them unless they are electrical engineers. We are still searching for responsible steps to take as we exit the business this year. One such step is supplying PCBs to a chemical supply house for future generations of research. We are also continuing PCB health studies with animals. One area that concerns me is that when we make and ship the last tankcar of PCBs, tear down and bury the PCB plant we also destroy our incinerator (one of six that can handle PCB liquid incineration). The EPA has taken the leadership by making grants to sponsor new equipment that can chew up a capacitor and then incinerate the PCB fluid. Our Sauget plant unit can't do that. While our incinerator only handles liquids and represents only 4% of the national PCB destruction capability, X worry a little bit as to how that might look to people. . I know you'll want to answer Warren's note and our comments for rejecting this idea follow ------ ' 1. For the last five years we made our customers sign absolute liability contracts for disposal of their -.products. Our effort to retrieve their materials would have legal repercussions in determining ultimate liability. 2. It's not easy for homeowners to easily retrieve capacitors from the total electrical device. 3. The EPA may not really want to collect capacitors from the general public in spite of their statements. 4 . The EPA has never asked Monsanto to l^et involved in a PCB recovery and destruction program. Most important though, keep the ideas coming our way. OiOOfefe* STLCOPCB4044636