Document QgD7BdGjg3jdjGV7N0V9jjmL

SEP 1 5 1375 ^ i j In New Bedford High level [ John A. S. McGlennon. ; EPA administrator in Bos ton, said PCB levels 1 ranged from 21 to 53 parts ;per million in three soft shell clam samples -- the nigh figure the greatest |discovered in any shellfish J amiufjit in me nation. of PCB's in river ' Maximum PCB tolerj isnca allowed by the US '.Food and Drug Adminis* tration in food for human consumption is five parts per million. v * McGlennon said sedi- By Jerry Ackerman r menl from the Acushnet j Globe Staff | River also showed high 1 [ PCB levels, reaching up- , / Cancer-causing chemi- 1 ward of 600 parts per mil- cals at levels from 4 to 10 ( times above wh^t is al- ! ' lowed in rood have been ( lion. The PCB levels at the ; bottom of New Bedford ' Harbor measured up to 140 parts per million. found in dams dug from ! the Acushnet River in New Bedford, Federal au- * Semples of fish from the ! river and harbor have i ! been sent to EPA labora- , thoritles disclosed yester- \ tories in Duluth, Minn., ! ' day in Boston. ; for separate analysis. Offi. cials at the Massachusetts | While extent of the con- ( Department of Marine lamination is not yet fully '< known, Massachusetts of- i 1 flclals aaid the clam flats 1 where the high concentre- ' tions were found were al ready closed to shellfish , ing because of high bacte rial pollution. Fisheries said that until i those results are learned I they would take no actio* 1 concerning fishing there. Genera) Electric, which last week agreed to pay I New Vork 34 million for i polluting the Hudson River, has said it will stop The chemicals, poly chlorinated biphenyls ; (PCBs), are used as a 1 fire-resistant insulator in > electrical equipment. They ' ` apparently got into the i river and New Bedford Harbor from operations by ; using PCBs nationwide by , ; the end of 1977. Monsanto Corp., the only maker of ` 1 the compounds, also plans to end production by 1978. > | Monsanto, Dow Chemical I i and GE are now market| ing a substitute product. I two capacitor manufacture ! era in the city. "Simultaneous with the EPA disclosures about i Officials of the manu- . farturers, Aerovox Corp. and Cornell-Dublier Co., ( which together employ ! ! about 800 persons, de- | dined comment on the re port yesterday by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office in New Bedford, state Envi- ronmental Affairs Secre- 1 tary Evelyn F. Murphy I said a task force would be | established to determine | I the economic and environ- j I mental impact on the city. ! I Its first meeting will be I V tomorrow. ' Boston. They said they ; had not seen the report. 1 Aerovox employs about 1 $00 persons in its river- . t front plant and Cornell- J Dublier about 300 at a site 1 inland. The Cornell-Dub- l liter plant discharges its | s pretreated industrial j ^ wastes into the New Bed ! ford sewer system, where . J some evidence of PCBs ( jalso has been found. j McGlennon and Murphy j 5said in a joint press re- 1 Ilease that 500,000 pounds ' of PCBs that accumulated in New Bedford landfill I 1the 30 years that the com- Ipanies have been in busiInexa also presents a poten tial problem. While no has been found so far that the comonnn''s h*'-? drinkinc water suo'die*' "we have to determine .. what stecu should be tatren to control or e'^'i nate this damaee poten tial,'' McGlennon said. . HONS 037253