Document bax74dmJb2knZaNgrrYZyYjQ1

By Ccrof*! A;;-3 V.'iu.c ti.o Pr-oticUc.-. but we r'^Jrc* transformers that ennu'.ia llxy're the Lest f..r the ini-.'' th? .-roLesman said. Uiiiia.-.i FIa.::i ih-;` pollution by ii.r.; t u ...nr- uf FFil- .*h ody a .-m.''; jiir: . f r:aliv:r.. ' T.-s.-n U an to to lor.. d.e agency can only regulate or.ior toxic v-;<u;ucaia u^od in our.ufae'.uring. S A.:er.cy n-t- .t.uv There are more than 20''' variations ci;'. w\'.n Pl'lii, U\? of PCBs. They went into production ir. (linora! Services AdmmiMTalion anJ t' o Defence Department reportedly rci; ; ; r f i`v ii'i* of P(. B? Jfi ihiir ov.n the U.S. in 1929 aa an electrical ir. :ulatir.g fluid for transformers a.-vl c ;-v;hors. replacing mineral ci!--wr.ich did cyr.'.ract specifications. r.o: the iiro-resistar.t properties of I'CB?, or polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs. PCBs are also used in the man arc the chemicals that General Electric ufacture of carbonless "carbon" paper, h. > dumped into the Hudson River in priming inks and special adhesives. such volume ihai the Stale Department At a conference on PCBs in of Environmental Conservation just p a u g e yesterday organized by Rep. U>t month banned nearly a!i fishing in Thomas Downey (D-West Isiip , the tne river. The problem is that PCBs--a EPA's chief of water enforcement, chemical similar to DDT in its persist i- :: J i>j c;.ili,.r. of ti'.o `iu;: in .nil,'./' he Soli. add.r.g that JvCBs leach ir.io underground waier- V. 5 v- - . IL.v.'.i'v cal!id h'r meeting la urge .<:.;:p'r;o; :ha toxic suberar.ee.? can!rot l-.iii, which has been pending for five year-. The bill wou'd give the EPA the power to screen potentially toxic sub stance-, i.-.-tr-ad of acting or.ly auer tire damage has been core, a.? is now the situation. Unlike rodanticides and in- seeiicid-cs, which the EPA has ;he pow- As of r.o.v, the federal gu.i-rr.mer.t has set a tolerance level for PCBs in fish and in th? waterways at five parte nidior.. u hich is higher than m Carjda, where only two pa::* are tol erated, or Japan, where the tolerance ;i three. GSA officials said yesterday Ihev in tend to motj using PUB? but could not say when. Defense Department offi cials said they have no intention of changing their requirements tor ill usage. o I 9 A/ ence in remaining in the environment end in accumulating in human fatty tissues--also accumulate in fish, espe EPA Rule on Lead Upheldcially fattyones like striped bass. The EPA is now in administrative hearings to try to slop General Electric from discharging ail PCBs. It i expect Washington CAP)--The U.S. Court ed ;o act within a month against other of Appeals ruled 5-* yesterday that the companies polluting with PCBs, whose Environmental Protection Agency can sole producer is the Monsanto Co. of order reductions of lead in gasoUro to Si. Louis. head off potential--but not fully prov But white these actions are going on a*. EPA, the Defense Department spe cifically requires the use of PCBs when i; lets contrncK "PCBs are the only acceptable sub>t;mce which complies en--public health hazards. The ruling appeared to uphold EPA authority to regulate a broad range of environmental isuee where danger to human health seems likely, even with existing fire codes and rcgula- though r.o; scientifically proven. i. oRs," said a defense department The decision cited as similar exam spokesman. Lr. James Britt, yesterday. ples such recent environmental contro `"Therefore cur specifications to the versies as the discharge of asbestos fi manufacturers obviously include that bers into water, occupational exposures substance." to vinyl chloride and the ban of pesti ETA utileid- say that the GSA simi cides DDT, aldrin and dieidrin. sion agreed with EPA that lead emit ted by auto exhaust is absorbed by human beings from the air they breathe and, added to lead from other sources, can build up poisonous levels of body lead. In small amounts, suffi cient lead can cau*e brain damage; In large enough amounts it can cause illnc-s or death. Tim EPA re^ulaticrs were chal lenged in court by gaao'j.lfe refiners and by manufacturers of lead additives, who claimed that EPA bad to demon strate a direct cause-and-effect connec tion between gasoline lead and harm to human health before it could restrict lead additive*, ar.d that EPA had not may have to make decisions early, be fore full scientific evidence of health damage is available. With regulators required lo head off potential dangers without awaiting the fjnal, perhaps disastrous, proof, the court said, "e'eculal;.on, conflicts in evidcnce and theoretical extrapolation typify their every action. How else can they act. . .?" thq court asked. Lead ha* been added to gasoline for years, as an "antiknock" feature that promotes smoother engine opera tion. A division of the appeals court over turned the F.PA regulations in 1 9 74. Then F.PA asked nil nine judges of the larly requires the use ol PCBs. A GSA The decision authorized EPA to en <!osv ij. But the court said EPA was appeals court to reconsider the case as spokesman vc-:crd.> confirmed that force regulations first issued in 1972 re aligned by Congress to prevent dam a full court. Yesterday* decision re the chemical "appears in the products quiring the staged reduction of lead in age to public health, not to wait until versed the earlier ruling and upheld that we h;:v." but deried it is a specifi gaialirre starting this year and ineva*- ti'.o damage was done. And it added the EPA ruins. A further appeal to the cation. "It is not in our spedficalons ing uuuign 1979. The majority deci that, to do this preventive job, EPA Supreme Court was con>LJ*ffcd HUIy. //s-usn/ < r -a m *> \