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CDS CHEMICAL REGULATION REPORTER
tXch*mtcnl spills, lie also said more frequent monitoring of
Indwtflal effluents and stricter enforcement of Notional
Itollutant Discharge Elimination System permits atV"*adly
necdcoJC
/
ArnoloH'Cff, Cincinnati, Ohio, commlssioncr/of health,
said EPA lias not dealt with the problem of vv^tcr pollution
that occur* In river valleys located in more than one ICPA
region, as is the case with the Ohio Rivci /alley. He said
three seporato'.regions ore responsible /jr enforcing an*
tlpollulion laws in that one river valley and added It would be
"quite easy" to designate one region asihe lead agency for
ylaw enforcement. \
/'
Jackson L. Higgins, mayor o Mt. Vernon, Ind.,
recommended morc\cfficient monitoring and on-the-spot
sampling of IndustriaKcfflucnls. He said all 150 industries
located on the Ohio River should' be required to list all the
chemicals they have on \)ieir/ites, so EPA "will not be
troubled looking for an unltpgwn chemical."
Hazardous Materiel*
MTD LISTS APPLICATIONS | R EXEMPTIONS PROM MATEHIAL^4RAfJSPC iRTATtON RULES
Applications for renewal of exemptions from hazardous
materials transportation regulations, applications to
become party tysm exemption, and applications for exemp
tions were published by the Matehials Transportation
Bureau July J4 (42 FR 56337).
\
Comments in triplicate, Including application numbers,
should be sent to the Section of Dockets, Office of Hazardous Materials Operations, Department of transportation,
n, D.C. 20590. Comments on the applications for
i and for becoming party to an exemption are due
July/&1 and comments on new applications arcV^ue August
ftode indicators for new applications are: 1 -- mbtor vehl-
, 2 -- rail freight, 3 -- cargo vessel, 4 -- cargo-o^ly air-
ft, 6 -- passenger carrying aircraft.
i
Tho applications appear in the Full Text section nftXJs
report.
Polychlorlnatod Biphenyl*
NO TYPE OP EXPOCURE TO PCBa It INSIGNIFICANT, EOF TELLS EPA
Because of their persistence in the environment and highly
toxic effects, no type of exposure to polychlorinated
blphonyl* can be termed as insignificant, according to
Joseph Hyland of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Al an Environmental Protection Agency hearing July 15 in
Washington, Hyland told an agency panel that the use of
PCBa in a "totally enclosed manner" Is impossible.
SPA held the hearing to receive comments from the public
Klor to proposal of regulations for carrying out the phased n on PCBs, the second phase of action against the
chemicals under (he Toxic Substances Control Act. Section
6(e) of TSCA provides that after January 1, 2979, PCBs
may not be manufactured, processed, distributed in com
merce, or used in other than a "totally enclosed manner."
After July 1. 1979, no PCBs may be manufactured, process
ed, or distributed in commerce.
.
EPA currently is considering comments on Us proposed
- regulations for the labeling and disposal of PCBs -- the first
phase of action Against the chemicals under TSCA (Current
Report, July J, p. 603).
Reside Provisions Herbert T. Gllky, director of public affairs. Air Con-
diliumng and Kcfvigcrntion Institute, said his industry is co<t* cerned with the resale provisions of TSCA -- when docs one stop selling PCBs as such and start selling something that contains PCBs?
Cilky rai l that capacitors weighing three pounds or lers. which contain l*CBs as a dielectric, are a small, but impor tant part of air-conditioning units.
ilylaml commented. however, that even exposure to sealed capacitors is significant through the production and disposal of the capacitors.
Hyland said that EDF is opposed to the further sale of ex isting stockpiles of PCBs and believes that such stockpiles should be incinerated. EDF also advocates slricl restric tions on the disposal of PCB-contaminated sludge on land, he said.
PCB use should be restricted only to the servicing of ex isting equipment. Hyland said, and no further production of the chemicals should be permitted.
Government Stockpiles
Although the paper manufacturing process does not use PCBs, contamination from PCBs in recycled paperboard Is posing a problem for the paper industry, accoroing to an in dustry official.
Richard Wicchmann, director of environmental affairs for the American Paper Institute, told the EPA panel that PCBs were used as an encapsulating agent in ink at a concentra tion of about 3 percent. Although the practice was stopped in 1971, he said, the ink was used mainly on business forms used primarily by the Government for such uses as Internal Revenue Service W-2 forms. A problem now exists with the Government stockpiling the old forms and then recycling them, he said.
The contaminated business forms, which have a PCB con tent of about 30,000 parts per million (ppm), are iccycled Into pui>erbonrd, Wiecbmann said. The Food ami Drug Ad ministration has sot a tolerance of 10 ppin for PCBs in recycled foodboard, he saidnind the paper industry has set up a quality control program to prevent contamination of the foodboard. No such program exists to prevent contamination of other forms of paperboard, however, he said.
Contaminated Waate Oil
Robert Magruder, Continental Forests industries, Hopewell, Va.. told the EPA panel that his company is con cerned about its future use of PCB-contaminated waste oil.
Magruder said his company uses used crankcase oil, collected mainly from service stations in Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia, in the operation of about one-half of their steam generating units. Although the company has In formed their collectors that they do not want the con taminated oil, he said, they have no way of assuring that the used waste oil will be free of contamination.
Magruder said that the impact of burning the con taminated waste oil is "minimal" and the process "almost qualifies as a PCB incinerator." Reprocessing the con taminated oil does not remove the PCBs, he said.
If the use of PCB-contaminated waste oil is banned after 1979 or 1979, Magruder said, the company will be forced to turn to more expensive oil, thereby increasing energy im ports and eliminating a means of disposing of the PCB-contaminatod oil at low cost.
Mining Operations
James Petrie, health specialist for the Interior Department's Mining Enforcement and Safety Administra tion, queflioned wlictbei the use of PCB-cnoted oneiric motors in mining operations would be considered a "totally enclosed manner."
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