Document RQoNeZJozLEpo231x3wqejvk

HIGHHHflr.rcj tlTE(W>l?r 0.30163 AU81 5 1978 N.C. 42 Near Sanford Fresh PCB Spill Found RAUEIGH (AP) -- A trwk strip of ofly li quid. believed to be the latest in eeriee ai PCB spills on the state's randwayt, was die covered Monday afternoon along a six-mile stretch el N.C. 4t near Buford. According to state Ifigbwsy Patrol Capt 0. R. McKinney, the new spill eras discovered along a section ot road already posted with chemical contamination wandap. He said the new spill is about two faetpride. McKinney said officials siupect the ipUl is related to the previous spills. He said the strip has not been chemically tented, A tanher traveling the state's Mtfnmyi at night is suspected of polluting more than SO miles of the state's roadsides with task: PCBs. or polychlorinated bipheaob. Officials said that until Monday, no new spills bad boon reputed in nearly e week. Monday's nil was discovered just as state environmental officials were meeting to try decide hew dispnee of the contaminated sail m in the spills. The officials, along with 9 representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, met in public and then held n private aeeaton, but faitad to come op with a final proposal for dipnetag of the the--Ms of pOom el PCBs. Robert Carter, head ef the water qsattty division of the state Dept, of Natural Resources and Com--ity Devslopment, said officials wars comidering digging cm to three iaches into the sell in areas where PCB contamination is above the tolerable level of MO parts per million. "Wo have reached the point where something needs to be done," Carter said at the meeting Carter said if the sod is removed, a larp area of ststoowood lead would be needed for storage. He said ao storage sites have bean selected yet But officials said they were also coneldarlag piecing activated chareoel an the spills instead ef digging up tbs totes. Carter said the charcoal would "fix" or Wad the PCBs, beep ing it on the surface md preventing It hem being washed away. Carter said the charcoal treatment would slow the migration of PCB pertides but would not docontaminate them. "We are dealing with a problem that does not pose aa immediate medical rite," said Martin P. Hines, head of epidwniotogy for the Dept of Reman Resources. "We don't even thirfc walking oa the grass, and exposure two or three times, would pose a risk." However, Hines said Us department is con sidering taking blood and arise samples from people in the area of the spills as a precautionary measure. Hines said researchers have foute that the PCBs are e type manufactured ia the late lfdOe by Monsanto Qmmlcal Corn. They were used as a beat-transmitting safest in cookii* substances such as fish meal, and ia electrical transformers sad capacitors, he said. Hines said state officials are attempting to contact Monsanto for information on who might have boon using the chemical.