Document k616L6znrXZVDLyKLx2YQQk2b

i rr >'ifi'i>vi^" v/` '< : -1^SRpif^lt^'SWgEkLYNEWSPAPER ~T Li-, . Jhi'h'f WR* M s B THF ALTERNATIVE IN THE PIONEER VALLEY -- VOUX Np.io OCTOBER 21.1981 36 PAGES V v. mRft T;'*& aptwas^ b| ,SA`&: ft- k: ,v lB&PS'*.-*f.*. Vla'l Copyri(ihM%:?./, -t :; `--fr ^ ^`ncC !.'1 97,7V ^H&lNSnsantp CotbRagy' of. ' *v-l 5?| T,V rj-v " ."fijn-r ^v C^ppiiecticM'^i^ecl-^n^^ -.-'-W1';r-' = -' V Many of thdsb cfieinicials buried "in J. Springfield are considered "hazardous : wdsfcs?' by, state and federal authorities, who have never- tested the waters for specific ; pollutants reportedly dumped by the company. As aresult, ihefoeal'environWent 'f: has been chemically . contaipiiiatedjV- ^h^ ' hazardous chemicals may have traveled :' surface,) anp^ ground waters throughout southwestern Massachusetts and northern Connecticut. 1` _ ush and MIchaK photo T oday, fasting, corodeddrums are Research for this story was sponsored in, ,1 -breaking through the waffs of,; - part by the Fundfor in Washington, D C. Investigative JournalistnC:: .; 'ftQnsantp'ssputhwest dump.The swampy V? wetfyifjHifereaches the base, ofthe-mil.is dbdored'anfcoveredmtb'particUldfe^ '" . V' . : ' Donil.VpuntrVhotS' Monsanto is the fourth largest chemical company ip the United States, earning $2^5 million in profits last year on sales of $6.6 btllidn, The company is the largest; domestic manufacturer of aspirin, produces "Lasso," filfeStTS^llmg...: agricultural herbicide in *'$ip$Gfr$k, and is responsible , for the development of "Astroturf" synthetic lawn. Until 1976, it was the only 'domestic manufacturer of ^ polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The company also produces 2,4,S-T, an ingredient of the controversial Agent Orange defoliant. 'Monsanto. is .divided into four ."major divisions which fogether opeiate 64 plants ih the U.S..and 86 in other countries.* Two of the largest plants in its Plastics and *` Resins Division are 'located .on. the banks-of the;Chicopee River in' Springfield. The Springfield arid Birchapi Bend Plants forhr 'a , giant'v . chemical ppiuple?t of 99 buildings; storage, tanks and pther structures that sprawl over, 328: acres', (primarily in the neighborhood galled Ind,i,$i:Orchard; More live .within five miles of See Monsanto Page 6 t. S' 1 'girl group" cottifsarisoils itrili dust. By Brett Milano. Page 12 Go-Go's } Chicopee and Ludlow, i Area native Richard J, Mahoney, whd began working at the Springfield plant in (.1065, was recently appointed President of; ! the Monsanto Company. .The Springfield '.plant employs about 1,500 workers and - produces plastic resins and filmslike that used in | automobile safety glass.- Although ''Mon- ! santo has a relatively good reputation for I safety, it ,, has,^ apparently,,, routinely. ! mismanaged its hazardous byproducts in ! Springfield, with a resultant impact, on a mu,ch larger area" The company's deeds | raise serious questions; at 4 tinie when the , need for strict environmental regulation is f the subject of national debate; j ". +** ' "While not wishing to downplay the seriousness of the hazardous waste site problem dr the need to enact properly, focused tegisiatiqn, our own studies. [indicate `that the- magnitude of this problem has been greatly exaggerated, ' both as to the number of sites, and the cost of.corrective action. " . --Testimony onfRehalf of thepolemical Manufacturers A;ssoc. Given by Df %ouis Fernandez, Vice-Chairman ofMonsanto Company, Before the Senate Finance Committee on September lli 1980. ["Superfund" Hearings} .--i-M ,; E, arly maps ofMonsanto's ,k Sprihgfield property show the fuwet dump" kettiehole was originally deep 1 ' enough jb cut into the'water table. One Y expert believes the bottom of the hole Chemical plants create some products that may have been sixfee'i below the water table. over the side. We did it in tiers and I'd push it .and it would drop maybe six or eight feet. I'd get sand from the hillside and I'd bury it. And then another truck would come, and then another and another.", Sometimes barrels were dumped along with the wastes. "With `a 55-gallon drum companies never advertise. Process. waste, you've got a bunghole that big," said Duiski spent solvents and contaminated coolin'g as tie made a circle with thumb and water are disposed of as quietly and cheaply that left-over junk's been thrown in there. forefinger, "and say'the stuff has solidified, as possible: Until how the hell's it.going: to run out? The company employes'! company gave the men^u|ters but. when its were routinely 90 degrees out;Yyyfi|^ ftelfris. going to workers of tlie^,,ha, z,ards- associated With thefts2,'^yfiody't^p'tfjnij.thefe with; a' well;nound-a^drum^i^SfKaMjmer'and'-Phisel'to many of the most common ,chemical wastes. [ Jesus he'siiit trouble. ' , ....'open it up?; Sp;iji<l:y.'d throw it over the side Arkey Dederian - f`It>.was4hke.;a;lajte 'weSvyere dumpinglfsq ftphd Itd come around and'bury it." gang- at Monsanfb for' atd^stTourlof his' a much. THef^ve been durhping there until itHe M Monsanto also gave its workers protective 18 years with the .company.. ^cprdiiig-fb-- time. 1 got laid ,off in ;,I07|! because when I clothing. According to Dederian, some of Dederidh and other Monsanto*/;pmployeeS, was a guard I iised'To go up there and the waste handlers didn't use the equipment!' the yard gang of up to 30:":menii w|s -patrpi, aii^|l^ dumping during "but I'd Wear mine--the rubber gloves, responsible for collecting prpcess^ ;waste . the1 day. Butsf wonder hpW many barrels are rubber boots and rubber apron." from many , of the buildift&s-'iii 'the r up'there., I.beLyou/conservatively speaking, whose job also involved "pushing asl land. "That tanker^ was used to transport the bad stuff," explained Carlson. "As I understood it, it was a white and green tanker and it was kind of leaky. They had been using the thing for years for crap. It was leaking so bad they couldn'L take it up on the highway, and they had to get rid of it on their own property." Monsanto's dumps were a playground for local children, according to neighbors of the chemical plants. Duiski complained how kids would steal metal, debris, while Dederian remembered being warned as a company security guard to keep children out of the area. One neighbor, Helen Giizowski, said her children would come home after playing in the company's .liquids. "I can remember they'd get'if on their feet and I'd have to throw away their shoes," she said. Her son, Bob Guzowski, now living in New Mexico, recalled playing in "the dry stuff," dumped in what he remembered as "a slight wereYsmall white beads, operations," but-which some of its past and present employees call ` `t lie.sinkholes.'* _____ ... .... .. , , - ___r~, . . etnad: keep it covered with sand so it looks good." .Dederian. ' ``Nobody tbld "us it was ' Children still get into the swampy area on The guy on the. back of the payloader was dangerous. 'Nobody told us at the time it was company property near the Bircham Bend "There was a big goddarim hole and, we 'Cfem Duiski: Me was Monsanto's heavy- toxic. Some guys were breaking out in rashes Trailer Park. "Oh yeah," offered a trailer just kept dumping. you -knOWv oyer- the-equipment operator in Springfield from - and stuff, but thecompany covered itv I mustpark resident, "they climb under the fence .side,' said Dederiah. "Weusedto call'xt:the'-Y,.i947,; until ^the Sday?before , he retired, haveprotected,myself pretty good because at the comer.'' -A , . ir* lake. All white and green arid purple. That November 30, 1069. "Monsanto figured it I'm stili moundv^ are Clem Duiski retired 13<years ago. "They , waif our job all day long. \ye used to make - was a good place to get fid of their liquid," gone,". 'dumped barfelS-for maybe1 two or three rounds of every buiiding;fhat .had any^kind .. Dulskijrecalle^,, "There,was a deep hoi? and . Drums arid, sdlidified plaslies^were not the |yearS after1 T quit^' before '.outside - waste- of effluent..It was a'ContihuousHhjngi'they 'v'hll Lhad.tp^dofwas push jn tiie sarid- It1 was oply 'solidv:\Vastes^dHmped:'ihtb'the holes. -^disposal contraciprsYwere hired, he says, -i' kept using thedrup>sfoYer:,ahdsqyer..T^ey'd.i-nholealtundreddeetdeep,ra^^ retired >;f`When I quit they'told me to'cover it really bring them backup |tifc^iiilii5|0;'*E. ^giSodi "When they-got to the' top and there residues from the chemicals would go back - Dulski's1 e'stiiUate.'Op;^ Yjankftru^ company / wasoirily a little larid left,11' covered it with into the drumsand-thenputtathedump _-.smkhole^inay?:he:exag^efyed.:Iviaiis .jnndevv:...- - . - five' Or six feet of fill.-And that was the end again. before Monsanto's dumping in the 1030s 11S' . . .. PVC, monomers, all. kind.of junk was indicate kettlehojls on company property .30 ML eriat vriietwrv ou/f t>hf|e(, Mrot/nfiosHanllttoL' plant: of that;' going in there...bottpnv of kettles, and stuff that's already been used.iA,;cUemicai like toluene or methylvSfhyl"' ..k..e..tone from Research. BDuta^jpg^j|4iCetone,; Alc""oLh-o| l A*i1l1_; feet deep. BuU Duiski vividly remembers , : Near< the topj^fhe Ch\0pee River. filling them up| "Three trucks and a The white: arc* along the bank; Of the river dumpster would haul',aUr.day long. ;Just'ias '"'.is effluent b.ei.ng.dumped- b- y MMoojnsanto. spon as a j^ueff \)im^lit^kMiKl.iRir:p|isb>f^ 1^tfo Bin$i6&Jtet$.Trailer Park: Unfortunately that was 'not the end of that: How coufd^ Duiski, according to his . own ifigures,' spreadtope to three feet of sand - every day on the company's buried waste, .'dud 'take, 22 yearsat?:fill a hole originally 30 feet? deep? "Wlvafever they dumped in thertf" -said Harfyt Carlson, "kept' going - dowtfartd down."- . Monsahto's' ,produb' lines have generated huge arhouhts of chbmical waste during.the company's' 43 years of operationv;in - Springfield: In , documents submitted to a , .congressipnaj Y committee, the company . admitted disppsing'108,500 tons of chemical "process waste""on its Springfield plant grounds, and 1,000 tons at Bircham Bend. These,figures by, no jneans include all of the process Waste' g'enferaftd by the complex, nor do they include ordinary plant garbage. In fact, Monsanto Officials apparently dp' not . know the'total amount of xhemical waste ?!!,produced since the co.mpany purchased tile ^'Fibefloid and Shawinigan Resins facilities in 1038. In1'its; report-'-'to the committee, Monsanto left blank spaces where it was asked to provide details going back to 1040. The Congressional' questionnaire came from' the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, formerly chaired, .by ,Rep.w;ob, Eckhardt (D-Texas). The If' Eckhafdt'tCofnmitteeYbqOeSted information I from;,ir4onsauto and:i(-52-: othet; . chemical qo^prfpics' about how much chemical '-process waste they had produced, and how | and .Where it'was disposed of..;The survey i sought information" on - ,44 separate categories .of, metals; organic, and inorganic j materials, but it. covered only "some of ithe - chertiieals llkely fo be .;used b'y a major 1 ' ! - OCTOBER 21.1 ^T VAt l EV AdV.OCA# 6S rse r. iy>i3sotdo 3ta30vqa y-i.ijaV' RSV0024476' V- . r -v . 4 v ., -, ,,......... organic plastics operation. Monsanto ad mitted generating and disposing'pf-every category of waste listed by the question naire, but did not volunteer information about unidentified waste streams.- Monsanto told the Eckhardt'Committee the'waste generated at- its Springfield plant had been disposed of on'company-property by "mixed industrial landfill, drummed waste landfill, pits, ponds and lagoons, incineration, and otherruncaiegorized methods." The wastes included heavy metals, PCBs, PBBs; asbestos, solvents like trichloroethylene, and other chemicals.^ Much of the material the company described has been identified by EPA as "priority toxic pollutants." Their toxic effects range from central nervous system damage to cancer. Heavy metals, for example, produce a wide range of health effects. Arsenic causes abnormalities in human chromosomes `and birth defects in animals. Antimony adversely affects reproduction and child development, as well as specific body sites like the lungs, skin and the cardiovascular system. Lead alters blood chemistry and can cause; neurological -disorders. Cadmium damages the liver and ..kidneys and softens the bones. The metals also bio-accumulate, or build up in humans and freshwater fish. Most of the waste Monsanto reported is recognized as "hazardous waste" under federal law. "Hazardous waste"- is any waste which can "cause, or significantly' contribute to, an increase-in.death, or an ^crease in serious irreversible or in capacitating illness, or pose a substantial hazard tQ .human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, trans ported or disposed of, or otherwise - managed,'' Company spokesman Paul Bureau of the Springfield plant was interviewed last year for a reiated'story ("Poisons in the Valley," June 25, 1980). "I can't tell yon specifically what'sin there," Bureau said in response to a question about what chemicals may have been buried on company land. Bureau said Monsanto probably buried wastes like "scrap plastic--the hard type, pellets, sheet stock, and fabricated materials from tests, like refrigerator door liner." Monsanto workers, however, tell a dif ferent ' story. Employees,, like;; Pgderian, Duisgi^and . CarIsop /reinember^ ywastf^. BLAUPUNKT THE BLUE CHIP OF CAR AUDIO 60-Watt Digital DQ[iS.sriiEM|* AM/FM Auto-reverse cassette 12 station electronic memory 6 digital display Dolby noise reduction *Tape equalization Separate boss, treble & fader controls Seek & scan -Sendust Tape head CR-3001 $499.95 CR-2010 30-Watt anipaBVOT^r Auto reverse stereo cassette AM/FM pushbutton stereo 5endu$t alloy tope head Separate boss treble, balance 6 fader controls Tape Eq. swicch^Dolby *5l/Mooo switch A$U FM noise circuit Night illumination. Lowest Prices Ever Highest Quaiity! 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Vinyl chloride monomer (or VCM) causes cancer in humans, including a very rare form of livbr cancer, called angiosarcoma. EPA has shown the level of VCM .in polyvinyl chloride sludge can reach 3,000 parts per million. Some VCM is also routinely "entrapped" by PVC resin pellets. Government studies have shown that, when disposed of in the presence of other agents (Continued on n&ft page) COMPLETE...with clear glass or plastic single vision lenses in your prescription Our entire collection of OscardelaRenta designer styles NURSES NEEDED iRNs, LPNs apd Nurses Aides needed immediately for staff tit private duty assignments in hospitals, _ nursing homes or private homes. Full or part-time. One year experience necessary. Nursing students welcome. 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Holyoke Mall 536-6854 hi' AN IPCO COMFANV 1B81 Starling Optical Company 7S VALLEY ADVOCATE OCTOBER 21,1981 RSV0024477 identified in the southwest area, In 1970 ``Some'groundwater will go into the in 1976 inadvertently confirmed the spread pictures, 99 Building appears next to 97 river," explained Amherst College geologist of Contamination. In results submitted to building,.: apd by 1978, all traces of the . Dr. Richard Foose, "and some will go the company, Haley and Aldrich, Inc. '.'**r (Continuedfrom previouspage) southwest dump are gone. The kettleholes v under, it." "Under normal circumstances," become indistinguishable from the air. adds Dr. Edward Kaynor of . the .One particular company document Massachusetts Water Resource Center (at reported "a strong chemical odor" and "a strong oily odor" from two holes dug in the lowest' part of plant property, the swampy verifies the location and size of the dumps. UMass, Amherst),, "it would be a* fair bet ground adjoining the trailer park, in the suyh as salts, vinyl., chloride may become Prepared by a surveyor for Monsanto in ' that anything as close as ,Monsanto in terms more water-soluble. When disposed of with ` April, 1961, it's titled "Plan Showing certain other chemicals, the effective cbncentration of VCM may also be in Present and Propose Waste Disposal Areas (sic)." The map was discovered in a of groundwater would be getting into the ; Chicopee--One can say almost automatically that groundwater within a, few creased. EPA has. concluded the con centration of VCM in water, should be zero--or none--based on. the assumption Springfield City document vault, and it is hundred yards of a stream invariably gets unknown how it got there and unlikely even . 'into (he stream. Obviously,-any pollution in Monsanto was aware it exists. Under the the: Chicopee is affecting-the mainstream." that there is no safe exposure level to carcinogens. Occupational Safety and heading "Present Waste Disposal Areas," the kettleholes are separately marked "wet" The Chicopee, according to Kaynor, "is the .largest contributor to the Connecticut, it's a health Administration regulations allow no more than one part per million in the work and "dry."-The southwest dump is described as a five-and-a-half acre "Propose major tributary." The Chicopee drains into the Connecticut place atmosphere. In a material safety data sheet distributed by Monsanto, PVC is termed "a suspected carcinogen," but the company recommends- Dry Waste Disposal Area (sic)." At a corner is a small rectangle labeled "Burning Pit." The Monsanto complex in Indian Orchard is built on soil technically classified as River eight miles west of the Monsanto complex. Chemical wastes dumped by the company into the Chicopee have been linked to Connecticut River pollution before. In southwest section. In Janjiary, 1980, orange leachate was found oozing from an embankment where a stream that passes through Monsanto land empties into the Chicopee River. City of ficials described the leachate as typical of landfills but could not say for certain whether it originated at Monsanto. No other dumps have been reported in the immediate area. > Today, rusting and corroded drums are breaking through the walls of Monsanto's southwest dump. Crushed and broken barrels--some labeled "Monsanto Com pany"--are partially visible, along with rolls `-`incineration or landfill" as acceptable methods of waste disposal. VCM and PVC wastes buried in landfills have caused chemical contamination problems. Last year an elementary school near the Islip Town Landfill on Long Island- was closed after traces, iof VCM were found in air samples taken at the school. Earlier, VCM was discovered in six gas vents drilled in the New Children have always made playgrounds out of the Monsanto dumps. "Oh yeah/7 said a neighbor, 'they climb under the fence at the corner/7 of hard, discolored plastic and miscellaneous plant garbage. The swampy wetland that reaches the base of the wall is stained, and particulates have accumulated among clumps of weeds growing in the marsh. Oily grey film floats on the surface of the water, which is covered in spots by a foamy,' slightly pink substance. Recent chemical tests of water, collected York landfill. near the southwest dump and elsewhere An examination of local, state and federal around the complex- also, suggest con government records concerning Monsanto's Springfield operations has revealed con siderably more information about .the tamination. The Easlhampton,. Mass., consulting engineering firm of Tighe ahd Bond found surprisingly high amounts of company's waste disposal practices than was supplied to the House subcommittee. Many certain .metals and chemicals in two samples taken near the exposed drums. Of five of the documents uncovered , in our search " are Official Monsanto submissions to various agencies, on company letterheads liftd bearing the corporate logo. Tlie records show Monsanto disposed of much of its chemical waste on the "south plot," an undeveloped section of plant property. A railroad line divides the area and separates two major dumping spots. ` The southwest dump included "pits,.;pqnds and lagoons," a fjye^and-a-half acre laridfill and a burning pit. The other dumpactually ' consisted of kettlgholes bn higher ground east of the railroad tracks. Kettleholes; or what the workers call "sinkholesj-'- are geologic depressions formed by retreating chemicals tested, all were .above levels allowed in drinking water, some by as much as 5Q;000 times. Tests were also run on two ( water samples taken from a culvert at the edge of Monsanto's property. The samples showed very high levels of chloride. According to lab director John Lambert, the high iron readings,in the first set of samples "could be from decomposing barrels or it could be from some kind of chemical material." The high chloride levels exhibited by the second set "indicates contamination is coming from the dump area," according to consulting engineer Tom Coutere. "It's : not-caused by man's.normal activities," he /added.;"- glaciers thousands of years.ago,"/gild ~are common near the Chicopee River/ Gbrnpany documents show that one kettleholes 100 feet wide and 300 feet long, was used as a "wet dump" for liquids, and the other, 80 feet across at its ,widest point andr25jELfet long, as a "dry dump."" '' - .IBp* Cozens of city, state and federal officials interviewed for this story say .they are not aware of the dumps. The Monsanto dumpsites were not listed by- any of the "We are living in a fool's paradise if we think industry will do anything until it's forced to. " -: --Leo witte~'an'd"''lCfdrcyBei lock Wasteland, Nader Study Report. Water Group many hazardous waste site surveys con-, ducted since 1979 by various Massachusetts agencies. Nor do the company's sinkholes "What you've got .there," Lester Brown appear on EPA's "quick look"' roster of said in an interview at his Washington, potential hazardous waste sites. (Monsanto D.C., office, "is an imminent threat to the may have informed the federal agency under Bush and Mlchak photo environment under RCRA." Brown is new "Superfund" regulations, but the EPA Hinckley-Windsor,' or sand and gravel. The ,1963 a federal Department of Health, Special,. Assistant to the House Sub Office of Uncontrolled Waste Sites in area was probably forined either as un Education and Welfare/conference on the ' committee on Energy, Environment and Boston has not released any information to derwater deposits or as a beach on the' Tower/;Connecticut, River basin identified Natural Resources, chaired by Connecticut ' the states and has refused to allow its'to .shrinking shore of pre-historic Lake Hitch Monsanto as one of the "chief contributors "inspect Monsanto's submission, despite our cock, six to 12 thousand years ^ ago. Soil to river pollution." The conference report Rep. Toby Moffett. "RCRA" is thefederal government's new hazardous waste law, Freedom of Information Act request.) No map of Monsanto's landfill operations is filed at the Springfield 'Health 'Depart ment, despite a 1973 State law. No records of the company's overall disposal practices are held by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental j Quality Engineering, although state inspectors regularly visit the plants. Similarly,^Monsanto Tailed tq list its southwest dump and misreported the size of the kettleholes in its" mandatory Resource Conservation and Recovery Act report to EPA last""year. If stale' arid' federal authorities had found .the, per^nnel, resources and" political- will- to uncover Monsanto's dumpsites, they would have found clues in their own files. Eight sets of-aerial photographs were taken between 1952 and 1980 for the U.S. Geologic Service, the Soil Conservation Service and the Mass. Department'of Public borings reveal the sandy composition of the concluded "sewage and industrial wastes land, a characteristic which-allows water from Massachusetts endangers the health and other liquids to pass rapidly through the and, welfare of persons in Connecticut." soil; A 1978 state soil survey warned: T?Four, years later, a second HEW conference "These spils are limited for most sanitary found' Monsanto was1?still "not in com waste disposal facilities by the rapid per pliance with the recommendations of the meability Of the siibstratum." Secretary" from 1963. Early maps show the "wet dump" ket-, tlehqle was originally deep enough to, cut Last July, EPA .liste'd the Chicopee as one ^bf..,34:irivers and streams most seriously. into the water'table.'One expert believesthe -'polluted by"'toxic che/micajs- According to bottom of the hole may have been as much the,government, the Chicopee'may be so as six feet below the water table. A detailed map of the "area made for' the Works' serioysly,, contaminated ,byv, industrial discharges that it may require clean-up Projects Administration during the 1930s beyond pollution requirements already on indicates watef in one of the kettleholes. ..the ibqoks. ' Many of - the- chemicals . the Once thousands of gallons of liquid wastb, have been dumped into a hole'which in-' tercepts groundwater, chemical contimination can spread'through'aquifers to points unknown--perhaps even entering public water supplies, surface waters used -./'- agency believes, are in the. river are known or suspected carcinogens, including various' Jreayy metals and PCBs. Monsanto reported ' disposing many of the same toxic chemicals on its property. which 'Brown helped to shape as an aide to the (louse Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations^ chairman. Bob Eckhardt. It was Eckhardt's committee to which Monsanto reported its "mixed disposal methods," and'Brown was angry about the company's failure to supply the committee with complete;; descriptions of its past , practices.. He.notedthat a section of the law allows'EPA .to sue-b|. `-`take such action as necessary" . tp .'end 7 "an imminent and substantial endaiigerment to health of-the environment" arising from hazardous waste disposal. 1 j. If EPA were to sue Monsanto because of its sinkhole dumping, it lias; legal pre cedent:,' Last year, EPA sued two chemical companies for groundwater con tamination from PVC sludges and river contamination by many of , the same chemicals that Monsanto has dumped. Works. The photos of Indian Orchard for fishing ahd recreation, etc. Since there Neither federal agency, HEW or EPA, It is increasingly unlikely, however, that provide a history of Monsanto's operations have been no groundwater studies in the suspected Monsanto of contaminating the EPA will sue Monsanto for violations of over, the last 29 years, graphically showing Indian Orchard -area, it is difficult to rivers with polluted groundwater as well as- federal law. Ronald Reagan's recently the original condition, operation and closing determine precisely the distance and - with permitted industrial discharges. But appointed EPA Administrator, Anne of the disposal sites. direction contaminants would flow from evidence of chemical contamination is not Gorsuch, announced her intention last In 1952, forest still covered most of the Monsanto. Polluted waters may simply have hard to find. ' summer to completely restructure the south plot, A network of dirt roads cuts the flowed directly north into the Chicopee The first indication of sub-soil con agency's independent Enforcement Division. land, including several that lead to the' River, or-they may'have followed a stream tamination on company property appeared Critics charge Gorsuch has effectively kettleholes, edged by large clearings. - Ten south around tjie Bircham Bend trailer on May 14, 1941. During a series of ground dismantled the office in a move which years later dumping was in full swing. Trees, Park before _ meeting the river. Chemicals borings taken along what is now Grochmal "spells the end to civil or criminal litigation in the southwest area are; replaced, by w;hat. trapped in lower levels of groundwater Avenue, a field worker for the city by EPA in all but the most extreme cases." appears from the air to be a rectangular may also^ have traveled considerable engineering department found "some In a related development, Reagan appointed formation of '"dikes. (Burying;, barrels in" '. distances into northern Connecticut by gelatinous material" in four. separate Carol Dinkins tp head the Justice Depart layers and covering the cells to form \valls is m9yirig'"alqng the region's bedrock. A 1980 locations, some as-deep as 16 feet. In three ment's ` Hazardous `-Waste Section, which a common industrial landfill fpractice.) groundwater availability map describes the cases the material was discovered below the prosecuted many'of EPA's toughest cases Black smoke blowing north from a-5 south be.droclc tinder . Monsanto property as water table. Three of the borings were near against corporate polluters. Dinkins, who west dump corner suggest the company's "sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone, the Bircham Bend Plant, the fourth was at formerly practiced jaw in'John Connally's burning pit was in use. In photos taken in siltsone and shale that contain and transmit the Springfield facility, between the ket Houston firm, was described by the May, 1965, liquids are visible in the "wet" water in open fractures, pore spaces and tleholes and the river. Washington Post as "one of the staunchest kettlehole, and ponds or lagoons can be .bedding planes." Consulting engineers hired by Monsanto (Continued on next page) OCTOBER 21,1981 VALLEY ADVOCATE 8S RSJVnn?447R V'"25'MairvStfe&i 'Nortlwjwjfefon'. MA 01060 (413) 584-355 Otober26-Dacemb r4 EVENING FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAM S10O 14 languages Classasmaeltwlca weekly D 1 _____ ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM Morning and Evening - ail levels 3 CHILDREN'S AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM- Call lor information- ) Classes a( the Institute locus on developing oral language skills and cross-cultural awareness, the staff Is composed ol ex perienced professional language teachers who use modern, creative leaching methods. AH ESL teachers have Master's degrees in the Teaching ol Engllsh as a Second language. Classes [United to 4-8 students. Master Charge and Visa accepted. skisam: la Conjunction with Our Annual Fall Sale. NOW THROUGH OCTOBER 24TH EMS is your HEADQUARTERS for X-Country Ski Equipment. Choose from the bestjelectiori of cross-country equipment in New England. iupiar igsi-iesx Cross Country Values V , Save up to 46% SPECIAL xc; SKI PACKAGES Knnissl 'muring Package (Waxable) Reg, HALF Knelasl Touring Ski ,.......... ................................... V Waim EMS Rvnmern&aot.......... ....................................... *48TM 18 LMN 3-Pin Binding................ ................ .................. *ioTM Save KMHIhnkinPole ...................... .................. ' iqm *68' ,, KbbIssI 'muring Package (Waxtass) Kneissl'muring38 ........ .......................................... EMSRunner II Boot........ .......................................... EMS 3-Piu Binding........ ......... ............................. .. 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' llynafllCnntriiCu"p* . *365TM' *199** All Nordica Models 30% Oif SKIS SALE Fischer 8M ........ *150TM * 89** K2 233 Mid ....... *200TM >139** Fischer Extralite .. *215TM, l59**,, K2 244Mid .......... *230TM *159* Kastle Performance IWun.................. . *230TM , *109** SPECIAL SAVINGS ON ALPINE ISQIIIPMIOT' 1981-1982 Custom OownhUl paekages: For this wepk Only save 20% off regular retail prices on any combination of sjds, boots and bindings. ', FREE Ski Turing by our trained mechanics with any ski, boot, binding combination purchase. 4MK, . Not all sizes and models available in all stores. flH mi flatly that this is a false assump tion. ..." --Dr. Louis Fernandez, Pice-Chairman of Monsanto Co., Superfund Hearing (Continuedfrom Page 8) testimony..-' Despite Monsanto's claim that it dumped critics`of federal programs.' . V .Much of her own work involved corporate clients doing battle over federal air and water protection laws." "I think you're just going to see the government go to sleep for the next four years," said an attorney who left the section^ Similarly, the Reagan Commerce Department has targeted many of the npw hazardous waste regulations with its "terrible 20" regulatory hit list. On May 28, EPA also directed its regional offices to stop ordering clean-up of alleged hazardous waste sites .without prior approval from Washington--limiting direct regional en forcement of regulations still on the books. As a result, the company may never have its day in court for possible violations of the chemicals in What were 'once acceptable and legal procedures, the.-fact remains that groundwater has been contaminated by wastes that may pose serious threats to our health and environment. Company officials, state and federal authorities have no idea which watet-resources may be threatened by this newly exposed underground hazard. Although groundwater is almost impossible to dean up once contaminated, government policy requires all efforts be made to stop the spread of toxic substances and prevent further degradation of this increasingly important resource. Although the company has stopped on site dumping, the discovery of chemicals in water supplies near the dumps indicates contamination is continuing. Extensive 1899 Refuse Act, the 1948 Water Pollution testing will be necessary to determine the Act, the 1972 Water Pollution Control Act extent of the damage. Chemicals may have Amendments and the 1977 Clean Water accumulated in river sediments, creating Act, the Wetlands Protection Act, or even "hot spots," or may have spread through -the 1980 Resource Conservation and the water table affecting areas beyond the Recovery Act. plant property. Discovery of chemicals in The Company's chances of being hauled the Connecticut River will not prove they into state, court are even slimmer, par originated at Monsanto. Other industries' ticularly given Monsanto's past cozy river dumping could be blamed, unless relationships with environmental regulators special chemicals used only at Monsanto are and Massachusetts' sorry history of found. hazardous waste law enforcement. Testing will also be necessary to discover Examples of reluctant regulation abound. any adverse health effects caused by the In 1976, the state Department of Water dumping. Workers on the yard gang, Pollution Control sent Monsanto hazardous children who played in the dumps and waste transporter license applications for the 'neighbors of the plants may have been company's unlicensed outside haulers, directly exposed to chemicals, while people instead of summonses for violations of a living downstream or over polluted aquifers 1973 statute. In 1977, the same agency may also have been affected. In addition, recommended "that no up-front fine be toxins may have bio-accumulated in fish imposed," and that "no publicity be taken . from the Chicopee or Connecticut generated for this so-called violation" in a Rivers, and those Who have eaten the fish letter sent to the state Attorney General may be at risk. requesting legal action against Monsanto for Only Monsanto may be able to pay the "failing to eliminate the discharge of costs of an environmental and health polluted wastes to the Chicopee River by - monitoring program. "Neither the EPA nor January 1, 1977," Ip 1978, according to the states have the staff and funds - to DWPC field memos, officials responded to operate and manage programs effectively for a report of "therminol" spilled at Monsanto the control of hazardous waste diSposl,,^ and diverted into the Chicopee, made an the U.S. General Accounting OfficeTecemly inspection, supervised the clean-up and reported. EPA's operating budget has been wrote a report without ever mentioning cut by $130 million, including $17 million "therminol" is a trade name for chlorinated less for water pollution control, $17 million biphenyls, as in PCBs, a hazardous waste. less for solid waste disposal regulation, and $50 million less for 1 'SupeLfund"-j;leraifeup '""ft-* v:projecU;:,v4|^ .......... " The determining factor may be the public. "I am concerned, though, Mr. With government unable to undertake testing and clean-up and unlikely to pressure Chairman, about a thread which weaves : its. way throughout S. 1480. And it is that ' fine chemical industry is evil,, that it Monsanto into action, citizens may be forced to intervene; Local citizens mayhaWS to begin class-action lawsuits againlt^ Fhe .needs to be punished for the sins of the company, or even directly sue the'state and past, that it does not care about its workers or the citizens of this country, and that it has enormous profits which cap he tapped indefinitely to solve ^societal ills. I am here today to state PIP*:1- ..... federal governments into doing their'jobs. Since government could or would not uncover a problem120 years in the making, it .may. depend on the people of westerti New . England to end this "imminent hazard."' OUR ANNUAL Is;. FALL SALE EVERY ITEM IS ON SALE TWO FULL WEEKS V OCT. 12-24 |: Thousands of. yards of 1st quality decorator fabrics are on sale * QUALITY * SELECTION * PRICE * VELVETS - UPHOLSTERY AND PRINTS (FEATURING MANY SMALL SCALE PATTERNS) ANtldUE SATINS. SHEERS, AND THERMAL ENERGY SAVERS BETTER THAN EVER! FINAL FALL SALE EASTERN MOUNJAIiy SPORT& cant get to our STORK? All Itrunnn hr iniV 1 til 1 ftvb*uiirFrt**Ixldngl \ 1 Vtt8i KtuunlrivnSihuimwrimlilnHin|HniTl i> -Petlit*trough. ?J1 PMSS Hours: Mon -Fri. 9AM-9PM. Sal, 9 AM-5:30 PM: , Route9.Ainliersl-Hadley.Unf Amherst, Massachusetts <413)253-9504 Mfe ACCqifc iter 1 fQifrMERLY PRINT WORKS MILL STORE ime Fabric Mills Rte. 202, Belchertown, Mass. (413) 323-6321, New Hours: 10:00-9:00 Mon. Tubs. Wed. 10:00-5:00 Thurs. fri. Sat. OCTOBER 21,1981 VALLEY ADVOCATE 10S ibvi ,15 HJJJUI JO JIA30VQA Y3JJAV 217 RSV007.4479