Document QkJqyma9kM36xp8eLmb13YdR4

t4#1 CNVIROMMENT REPOHTIA Chemicals HAZARDS OP PCBs CALLEO OVERBLOWN. CAUSING NCIOLISS DISPOSAL PROBLEMS TAMPA. Ha. - i By an Environment Reporter staff cor* respondent' -- The hazards of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls i are overblown. causinf needless disposal problems, according to scientists, engineers, and Environ mental Protection Agencv officials speaking at a hazardous waste management seminar. PCBs are a political pollutant" -- a substance which EPA, the Food and Drug Administration, or some other federal agency has banned, resulting in no one wanting to tooch. or dispose of the material, said John Dickinson, chief of the hazardous waste section of EPA Region IV in Atlanta. Ga. Dickinson told the October 15-19 seminar, sponsored by the Toxic Substances Control Institute. that ' political potfmams" are ones which can be safely and securely dis poned of. but ones which industry does not want to hoodie or "take the best" from society for disposal. DtdUnsen said the reason for concern about PCBs is that the substance is btoaccumulative and persistent in the en vironment and docs not break down into simpler chemicals, Dickinson said, however, that other chemicals are much more dangerous than PCBs. but just have not received the media attention that PCBs havo. He said that incineration of PCBs is the "sleeping giant*' because EPA has not yet begun evaluating emissions from burning PCBs. and EPA does not know the products of Its combustion. PCUa Coofht In Panttcol Controvoray Dickinson* views were supported by Raymond D. Harbison, director of the toxic sobstances cootrol laboratory * Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Tean. Harbison said PCBs are totally immobile and not carcinogenic to humans. According to Harbison. benzpyrene and other chemicals are far more hazardous to humans and the environment than PCBs and are proven human carcinogens. Harbison pointed to many cases of human ingestion of PCBs without resulting carcinogenic side effects. An April 1979 EPA environments! impact statement and economic impact analysis of the PCB regulations said that PCBs art carcinogenic to rats and mice and post a car cinogenic nsfc to man." -The hvseerta and money spent over PCBs art not worth the human health effects Harbison said. I see no reason why we are having problems disposing of PCB." he said in referring to industry problems in obtaining PCB disposal permits because of public opposition to disposal facilities. PCBs. the only substance specifically outlawed by Congress in the Toxic Substances Control Act. are the target of very strict federal disposal regulations. Robert Landmesser. president of Advanced Environmen tal Tcchnotugy Corp . Morrinpiains. N J . recommended that indostry get rtd of its transformers and capacitors con taining PCBs as soon as possible. Many seminar participants from industry said they had large quantities of pen* stored onsite and were looking for permanent wavs to dispose of the substance. ` Industry Must PoPee Itsatf Industry must police its own hazardous waste transporta tion and disposal activities more than it ever hosts the past, according to Landmesser Landmesser said increased federal enforcement of EPA s soowto^e released hazardous waste refutations Current Developments. October 19. p 1423) and the Deportment of Transportation s hazardous materials bandhng rules will bn an incentive for industry to police itself to avoid expensive prosecution and violations. According to Landmesser. of all the federal agencies his firm comes in contact with. DOT has the nrnngit .and largest enforcement staff to deal with the hazardous materials handling regulations He said that DOT intends to upgrade its enforcement staff for the regulations He said that, because DOT'S hazardous materials handling regulations are strong, consistent, and already on the boobs, unlike EPA s yet-to-be-released hazardous waste regulations, firms must comply with all aspects of the DOT regulations. Compliance with DOTs (hazardous materials handUngl regulations is imperative from top to bottom." Landmesser said. Landmesser recommended that industries not mis different types of their wastes into one waste stream. "Classification and separation of materials wiU be must im portant for offsite disposal.' he said. Landmesser also said that industry generally has "net had a continent moral hazardous waste policy. He said in the past Industry may have been disposing of Its wastes legally under then-existing laws, but quite often industry knew it was polluting groundwater and land and endangering the en vironment (April 13. p. 2329) He said industry baa been legally, but not morally, correct in the way it handled hazar dous wastes. Discussions at the seminar also focused on the difficultyof siting hazardous waste treatment, storage, and ibipnusl facilities. HONS 019571 1A20-79 Coevr*fftt * tSTS by TO# Bii'ttw ot NH>fil AM#** ln