Document Rp7pojZ8K0k3YBgwOQqJxwdXn

GREENWOOD,'$. C. INOEX-JOUmt B. 13,000 SEP 3 0 1976 I ToJlonvert After1"Nov. 1 McGraw-Edison To Stop PCB Use By VAN VANUCH Associated PrnsWrltor COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)-A company that produces highvoltage power capacitors Tor electric ulimiea sold today II will slop ualn| PCB Inaulating fluid Nov. 1, and will convert to a more environmentally apfa fluid named Edteoi. Officials of the McGiwwEdleon Co. made the an nouncement al ilmullanaous newa conferencea In Columbia and at company headquarter* In Pittsburgh, Pa. The com pany hat a South Carolina planl in Greenwood. B it. Keith, general manager of the Greenwood plant, said In Columbia that Edlaol, developed by the Dow Chemical Co., coats about 25 per cent men than PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), but has a longer Hla and is leas hasardous to the environment. Some are In use now, be said. There have been reports In bouth Carolina, Georgia amf other areas of high levels of PCBs In waterways. There have been warnings from health officials that eating fish taken from Lake Hartwell, located on the South Carolina- Georgia line, may be hasardous to the health of humans. Keith said PCBs began to be seriously suspected of having undeairable characteriatics In 1170. leading to reaearch Into safer fluids. Some persons who have been exposed to PCBs have developed a skin rash, but more than that, there Is some con cern they may cause birth defects and cancer, he said. McGraw-Edtson's customers are utility companies such as Duke Power Co., based In Charlotte. N.C., but serving a large portion of upper Smith Carolina, and South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. ' Earlierthis month a II billion suit was filed against the MonsantoOe. of St Louis, Mo.,' and the Kangaroo Electric Co. of Pickens on behalf of Lake Hartwell property owners it Georgia and South Carolina ; Monsanto was accused In the suit of negligence and "strict liability" in Its production of PCBs, according to Rortnih Cole, a member of an Anderson law firm which filed the complaint. Cole said Monsanto produces PCBs used by Sangamo In Up manufacture of electrical capacitors. Sangamo has been Identified as a source of PCBS found In Lake Hartwell. ] The suit says the PCB con tamination has caused p towering of property valuta and a loss in profits to bustnaeaog along the lake. J. Keith said the Initial reacticn to Edisol among McGrowEdison's utility company customers has beat good, but there is still widsuso of PCBs. Alto, he uld, the federal Environmental Protection E-... (SeePCBvPteeS) A * PC6s a ' .. JiMllMMl.fnm Pit* . Agefcdy teems to like the dm rinsuleting fluid. He said the EPA doei not have the aulhotity to approve Editors production, but could ban Ha 1 use If It were deemed harmful. Keith said the EPA regulate* the amount of PCBt that may be discharged by electric plants. He said the Greenwood plant has never been accused of discharging hamful amounts of PCBs. HONS 05117*