Document QvrzRDY5OXQddYrkZKwNGk5L

GE Says PCB , PCB Biodegradable 'ges (Continued from page I) manufacture of capacitors Prior to 1671', when prjN type of more bjodegiudable The Hudson Falls OK wore not roiiMilrivd Mu , at PCB. plant depend* on PCIis for In llic cinironnuMi, IhiH -- The PCB discharge both capacitor manufacture said that Monsanto waj radahle from GE into the Hudson has been lowered and Hie company is trying to even decrease this five gnltnn per day discharge from belli Dy LEE COLEMAN warnings about eoliiig fish plants. SUfI Writer token-"from (lie Hudson -- GE technicians and ._..--"River, especially striped 1 scientists arc constantly -..IJU.DSON FALLS`'Tucns IV Marl, general mnnaget of the General Electric plants in Hudson Knits imtl Fort Edward said news stories cnncrinlng GE's discharge o'f mis into the Hudson River have failed to mention the type.of PCB. pOJs or polychlorinated biphenyls is a group of chemical compounds used In the manufacture of capacitor*. Hart - laid the PCD General Electric now uses ' and discharges at the rate of 1 about five gallons per day Into the Hudson Is described by the number tOU. He explained that PCB 1016 la 69 per cent ibmiondievgnrioaduaabmlei aPn..Vd has .n.Vo.t been the type of PCBs found fn the striped boss and other fish taken from the Hudson Hivcr. GEhps used this PCB 1016 . liner October, 1671, Hart bass od other long-hied fish. In the Sept, t issue of Sports Illustrated, the magazine's lead story by Robert 11. Hoyle, entitled "Poisoned Kish. Troubled Waters," discussed the PCBs problem noting the! General Electric has been dumping an average of 30 pounds of PCIts min the Hudson per day since 1971. Boyle claimed this was "W\t largest nonaccidental release of these poisons yet discovered in the U.S. and possibly the world." Hart, In answer to the statements noted that GE has reduced discharges from something like 30 poundsperdayearhermlhe year to less than five gallons per day now. Hart's major points were these-. ~ GE has changed to a (Firm turn to PCB, pile I) looking for an enviii'iinienlally (lOOpcrccnt) sound replacement for PCBs as it is used In the Illnesses . The state Health Department in Albany said Friday (hat health depart ment personnel are in the midst of making studies of illnesses due to PCBs in the Hudson Falls-Fort Edward area. Since the stale has issued warnings not to cat Hudson River fish, especially longlifed fisn like striped bass, the Health Department has been conducting a cancer study aimed at persons employed at the General Electric plants in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls Both of the GE plants use and sometime transformer nianulnclurc PCBs a dear, wolerlike liquid - is presently the most desirable type of compound for use in soaking capacitors because of its high stress levels and nonflamible nature In order to have capacitors that are fire proof. I'Clts arc needed, he said. using ITUs in puii'l. Iir.il exchangers and the so .called carbonless ' carbon paper, yon* i'.nln hut t'b.aiifictlili i'jj it.iijvmLWamg the chemical ,cviiipoi''jds. liuwei cr. atnl ii.m it i'_,tM-ii JJhVaI .J.'scIusife]y _in cjipaciim^ ami li .iiuluiuier nianularlmc,lie s.ml '""The" SpOrts Illustrated story noted that "when ingested in large doses. Studied PCBs or polychlorinated (I'CHs' cause miscarriages andstilibulhs Hail said that he felt the type of PCBs GE is now discharging inly the Hudson biphenyls in the wcic nol endangei mg the manufacture of capacitors. environment He added that Dr. William Burnett of the Health Department's cancer bureau.is in charge of Ihe occupational cancer study (hat is expected to be finished sometime (his week. The health department is also making a water sample Study in the Hudson River. Tests have shown that PCBs cause cancer in rats and illnesses in humans when ingested in large quantities. he admitted that it would take time for the Pt'lti residue now in the river to disappear. He soid it is the older, more nonbiodegradable PCBs that EPA anil EnCon are finding in higher than allowed levels in Hudson River fish in Ihe Fori Edward-Hudson Falls area. Hart said CE objective in the PCBs situation ts to "obtain a practical minimum'' in Ihe amount it uses I laid. Before that, when the environmental threat of PCBs was nol known, a PCR { of about 63 per centr biorfepradability was used GICHS FALLS. II J, ICST-STMt O.18.M0 Other types of PCBs -- and Hart said there were many -- have extremely large concentrations of the non-biodegradable elements In them and remain in the environment a very long SEP 6 1975 gllgIf?- : '1 time. Monsanto is the only maker of PCBs, he said. i The auto Department of 1 Environmental Con servation (EnCon), in reviewing recent findings of - the Environmental Protection Agency, noted that certain species of long* lifed Hudson River fish fit X, : the Glens Falls area showed higher than allowed levels of PCBs. EnCon Commissioner . Ogden Reid then issued w-PUAuMm Herb Beadle, of Greenwich, runs llie General Electric Company's new PCBs injector machine located In the /Veil) Hudson rolls plant. Company officials Indicate the new - Jlfst/>/>>'ns? process allows much less PCBs -- a chemical compound -- from getting into human contact. PCBs are ifiutiunt . used in the manufacture of capacitors like those in the picture. * MONS 028780