Document XORn0p6XO96ELQGvK17mjOjw

3 /.1 9 /7 9 FYI J S . M etcalf R C. Ish am FROM: G ly n n Y o u n g n /' v F-9 1 7 r:72 H 9 n 07 O* 7*o o By .hn Frank ^rsuiriau s-i writer The deadly chemical "dioxin" dis covered last week in ine embolie acid spill-*.1in Sturgeon Jan. 10 is nui usually feund in such acid and may have been produced by a flaw in the nm:.via et ui in:; recess used'by the Monsanto Gtcrr.Lai Co., e. Mommo spokesman said Friday. The ccxi.n vos discovered by Mon santo after the U.S. Environment?! Protection Agency requested testable proporedo:is be made iron' u recurve sample livid by t!:c chcnrucnl manu facturer for quality control. "V/e have checked samples of ort!i> ehlorophcnol 'the ?cidt before. and v.e've never found any evidence of dioxins preent," said Bob is hum, a public relations oniciDi or 'ivr.ru.mo. "We've got some people loMiiuq into it and they ore checking to zre if something in the process, can be corrected." I. h.mn said the cre-n.ieel mant.fac- ture is complicated and it may take a while for the firm to find out how `he impurities were produced in the material that was spiiied inSlurgeon. The federal government did not know the reserve sample existed until a par.cl of medical experts suggested cnilio- the manufacturer to find more of die substance for tests. Karrv Gilmer, the on-site EPA of- fieirl, sail Monsanto made its own decision to test ilio sample for tiu.xin. Ilio firm's aciicn was not liocaiue of a request by ike 'll5.'.. Gilmer soul. Gilmer said MPA requested on r \ b. 0 tli.il Mcnsualo prepare two samples from the centre! .-.ampio atr i seno Ir.rin to ITA huoro.loi :es for tcsiii for dioxin. Tint evening, Mcnsnuto ' 'lied and said it Inni lost-ad th*suk'r.tu c and di .oviTe-'t dima: hut said tli'.v \\p;e in :, toxic, i o said. It was r.ot uulil ike samples from Sturgeon were taken to the Univomdy ci Ukneis for tc-tui;t on n sensitive piece r equipment that lire tonic L-.J-7-S fcrm (if dioxin was discovered. Gilmer raid, hovowr. tint the exact nature o* tliediv'.nia isxhl! mil Lmv.n. "Th 2-3 7-S is su-pecit-d hut ; r do not have positive preo;." he raid. " My them ' '. rays th.it it isn't t re-sent and I laive no reason to dour-i ins opinion." l 'ev. tli:.dioxin. v.k:i!ev*u'its ly.\ -.t into L! o oitlivcliuncp'iienol rema n-: a mystery. Bui I.ham sud. although Monsanto vili n.tiempi to discover ifs origin, "it is nothing Uml concerns os." "We've been making Ike product for ?0 or -!0 yenis and we've never ex perienced any problems Ivicve." he said. "The levels of the dtu ;i;i are so low that they are not a problem." Tlie ERA will continue to monitor air in .Sturgeon a.: 1t:i!:e blood sampler, of Liio.0 vtii) ne rum.ino, an), physical reni lion i.ui leaning up the spill. C00527 '.CSERLY,T'O. D..c:0 ._' JUN 1 1979 ^ From Columbia Missourian The E n viron m en tal Protection Agency office in Kansas Dty, Mo., and O-H Materials Co. are still testing for chemical conland nation in Siurgeon, four months ater the Jan. 11 train derailment that iy f M potentially dangerous chemicals. Earry Gilmer, an EPA Engineer, said the ground near the spill site is "clean and okay,*' and that Saiing Creek is also safe for humans and aquatic life. Meanwhile, O-H Materials `Co. -- a cleanup fkm hired by Norfolk and Western Railway owners of the railroad car carrying the chemical -- is using a csrgon filtration process to clean up pends and surface runeff water. EPA is suing a special well to monitor grcuiri water near trite die to determine how far the con taminated water Its5 mjved Q rZh k j Jrij_J_ from the original site. The soil surrounding the ate, contaminated by 20.000 gallons (75,708 liters) of orthochlorophenol, a type of carbolic add, has been dug up, and any dangerous con taminants, such as dioxin, have b:-en removed. Gilmer said. Saiing Creek on the west side of Sturgeon is also clean. Gilmer said. Safe levels of contamina tien are ICO cr fewer parts cf the chemical to one billion parts of water. The concentra" :n in SalLng Creek is now less than one pan of chemical to trie billion parts of water. Gilmer said, "If there is contamination, it is beiow detecticn Limits." "No action was taken to dean up Saiing Creek, because the microscopic life -- or bacteria -- destroyed any con tamination. It was a natural cleaning process,' Gilmer said. Tested O-H Materials Co. has been using carbcn-fiitration to ac celerate the dissolution of chemicals in paids and surface runoff water. In this process, fresh water is forced into the soil to dissolve the chem icals. The water spreads out and floods to the surface. It is then tested t:r its concentration level, filtered through the carbot-iiltrauca units, deaned and recyded through tie system again. When 0*H Materials Co. finds the orthochlorcphenoj_ con tamination level is below 100 parts of chemical to one billion parts of water -- which is the safety level -- EPA will test the water. Gilmer said, "The water cannot be discharged until it .found to be acceptable. By `accep table,' we mean it will not create harm or endanger anything, including acuatic life." 8:15 a.in., Jan. 12, 1979 MCI PUBLIC RELATIONS REPORT -- STURGEON,' MO. DERAILMENT The lab at Krumnurich at about 8:00 a.m. this morning completed analyzing the last of eight air samples from the area of the Sturgeon, M o . , derailment. The results, by converting milli grams per cubic foot to parts per million, were that the samples show "less than .05 ppm." That is one-sixth of 3 ppm governmental TLV standard cn phenol exposure. The information has been transmitted to the EPA's Region Seven Office in Kansas City - Harry Gilmer (816) 374-4461 . Monsanto will not release this information to the press. The decision on whether to announce an end to the evacuation is to be made by the ERA. and local authorities. From scores of press calls handled in connection with the incident and initial news media reporting it appears that publicity is heavy and extensive, regionally. I am not aware of any network TV coverage although it is difficult to conclude that there was none. It also appears that reports generally zeroed in on how people were bearing up in the sub-zero evacuation rather than on the scare-type coverage. Larry Conners of KMOX-TV reported incor rectly from the scene that the damaged car was owned by Monsanto. It is a car leased from GATX and efforts are being made to correct the record. Five representatives of Monsanto are still on the scene to advise local authorities and assist in any way they can. A decision has yer to be made on how the cleanup will be accomplished. John J. Spano DISTRIBUTION -------------------------------- I .F. E. Reese W. A. Blase E. N. Brasfield H. C. Carder M. Dmytryszyn C. P.-Parley R. W. Flint C. P. Fullerton G. J. Levinskas -- A2SA J. E. McKee -- A3NE J. T. Nolan -- DlA V?. B. Papaceorge M. A. Pierle J. R. Thurrott J. M. Wagner i i J. R. Foehr -- B2SA -r-->- --0-0I -=-=-M Z-Ow- J. C. McPhillips -- B3SC J. S. Metcalf --- B2NK R. S. Nelson --- B3NJ E. M. Potter --- B2NK H. W. Tiopee --- B2NK R. C. Isham -- BIND C00S21 To: R. C. Isham -- BIND J. E. McKee -- A3NB J. T. Nolan -- D1A STATUS REPORT ON STURGEON, MO. DERAILMENT -- 2:00 p.m., 1/11/79 A chartered plane with air monitoring equipment from the Krummrich Plant was enroute to Columbia, Mo. to help analyze the air at the site of a chemical derailment at Sturgeon, .Mo. Joe Wolfsberger, an Industrial hygienist, and Frank Basile, an environmental specialist, were on the plane. The team will offer to take air samples and to fly the samples back to our laboratory at Krummrich for analysis They will join Phil Kirk and Joe Starzak, also from the Krummrich Plant, and Bob Neunreiter, MCI-PR, who arrived at the scene earlier today. < The report from the scene is that the tankcar which is believed to be practically empty, has been moved away. The chlorophenol leaked out on the road bed of the railroad. It is thought that the frozen ground probably would inhibit the liquid from seeping deeply into the ground. The Norfolk and Western railroad has environmental consultants on the scene to direct the cleanup. The Monsanto people are on hand to act in an advisory capacity. It is thought that at this point it would be best to neutralize the chemical with caustic acid, to excavate the affected area, to put the earth in drums and then transport the drummed mate rial to an appropriate disposal site. The evacuation' of the entire town of some 800 people is still in effect. The people are being directed to churches, schools, and other public buildings as a precautionary measure. John J. Spano -- MCI-PR cc: F. E. Reese W. A. Blase E. N. Brasfield M. Dmytryszyn R. W. Flint C. P- Farley M. A- Pierle J. R. Thurrott * C00S22 . _ , v ^ ^ 1 ^ :; v C ' T?**. *. 1 San-, June 10, lSm ifS SM SIiiJU lS POST-niSPATHH- '-- , f; - F- J'.-A. . ^ -t Monsente Col bas taken precautions to protect a dozen dioxin contaminant would produce a certain type of workers in a chemical manufacturing unit at its W.GL skin acne to those exposed and there have been no Knimznrxh Plant in Sauget, following a report from - ' reports of this. * -r . - _ federal specters that a contaminant 'harmful to the skin was en d at the uniL i: Still, the company decided to follow OSHA. r The m it makes chlorophenol, an intermediate ^suggestions for precautions for workers. These include chemical used by manufacturers of such products as limiting access to the unit, having workers change their fJK...... yes, agricultural chemicals and wood preservatives. clothing and shower after working in the unit, and not cr: - Inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health allowing the workers to drink or eat at the location. ^Administration said they detected the highly toxic Monsanto said its own testsRecently did not indicate S u b sta n c e dioxin on the ground outside the the presence of dioxin. OSHA,:in an oral report to the ;; manufacaring unit in a sample taken last February. |>- OSHA also reported finding dioxin in surface company, said'300 parts per billion of dioxin were found in a product sample taken last February outside the isk{::: samples a sid e a chlorophenol unit that had been closed ' manufacturing unit and that more than 50 percent of for lVs years. . , the dioxin detected was classified as 2,3,7,8 . "Neither of the OSHA samples are indicative of tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, a highly toxic chemical current worker exposure,'* Monsanto said. A substance. . spokesman added: "We don't feel there are any-health Monsanto said the contaminant detected outside the ' hazards posed to the people" involved in manufacture manufacturing unit was in an area where tank cars are of chlonhenol, which is a corrosive liquid. He said the loaded and might have been the result of a small spill. m" * ` ' 4"* Chemical Spl Worker Has Complaints HA.LLSVILLE. Mo. (AP) -- A worker hired to help dean up the chemical spell of a train derailment near Sturgeon. Mo., says he wants straight answers about a toxic substance i found in n s body. "I'm sitting at home i right nov, can't even jiwork," Valter Kidwell, [ `21, told an interviewer j;_Fridav. " Something's sVwrong wth the nerves in Kmy bach, and I can't {"work fer the mental t- strain of not knowing. I want some facts." Kidwell and another workman, who has not been identified, were employed by the Western Environmental Services of Portland, Ore., for the cleanup. A Norfolk & Western freight train* derailed Jan. 10, spilling 20,000 gallons of the toxic chemical orthochlorophenal. Monsanto Chemical Co., the manufacturer, later said tne tank car also contained traces of dioxin, a highly toxic chemical. About 1,000 residents of the area near Sturgeon left their homes for a few days because of the chemical fumes. Kidwell said he is dissatisfied with the answers he has been getting . from the EnvironmentalProtection Agency. - "They tell me not to worry about nothing. They can't guarantee me 30 days to live. I'd like to have another kid, and .1 don't know if I can have any more right now with all this dioxin in my blood. I just can't handle it anymore.'' Dr. Joseph Seifter, senior medical adviser of the EnvironnentalProtection Ageccy in Washington, noted that liver and blood tests on Kidwell and the other cleanup worker have been concluded and said: "In my opinion, nobody has been exposed to a significant degree to orthochlorophenal, phenal and to dioxin." Phenal is a chemical ingredient found with orthochlorophenal Kidwell said, `TU go to Washington if I have to, to get the answers I need. I'm just tired of it. I'm going to raise some hell with these people now." One rural Sturgeon family living near the site of the spill has filed a $7.65 million lawsuit; other litigation is threatened. V- J ' = 7.^