Document mBVrKKG52KzOvXywvXB28YpmJ

Pitswater (202) 755-0344 Robinson (202) 755-0344 POR RELEASE AFTER 11:00 A.M. MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1975 TRAIN ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CONTIOL PCBl Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Russell E. Train declared today that the United States must move toward totally eliminating the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as rapidly as possibli and must, in the meantime, make every effort to assure ihat PCBs do not enter the environment. In announcing a comprehensive action plan of regulatory and administrative actions. Train cautioned that many years may pass before a significant decline in the level of PCBs occurs. ....................... "The public should be under no illusions as to the difficulty of dealing with this problem,* Train said. *We have absolutely no authority under existing law to stop or restrict uses of PCBs. until the passage of Toxic Substances Control legislation by the Congress, we must rely heavily on voluntary actions by industry. In any event, it will not be possible to eliminate the use of PCBs overnight. Evan if we could eliminate these uses immediately, we would have to face the fact that there are hundreds of millions of pounds of PCBs'out there in the environment--in landfills, soils and the bottom sedimeits of rivers, lakes, and estuaries-- Imm Mb ssm rm$ 4m MOT Ms* i 10A FOAM tSIO>1 tCV. MTIt + weir i R-Jll . (more) ' .. vs At* materiel Q, m If Missus sf MMit M ssillf Q MQNS 029595 IkMCA |4 MM. Exhibit A-5 2 which will b there for years, like a delayed-action bomb, and which we have no way to kejp frcm moving into life systems, including humans. With all that we can do, it may take many years before we are able to see a significant decline in the levels of PCBs in the environment. Never theless , we must begin at once. " PCBs threaten to destroy the commercial fishing indus tries in the Hudson River, the upper Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and along the Southern California coast. 911 PCBs are extremely stable, fire-resistent, low-cost liquids used mainly as insulating fluids in electrical equip ment, notably in power transformers and capacitors. Train announced the following actions against PCBs: --EPA regional offices were directed, in active coopera tion with the States, to immediately establish requirements to virtually eliminate PCBs from the process wastes of all manufacturers of PCBs. and of capacitors and transformers that utilize PCBs. --The leadership of the manufacturers of PCBs and the major manufacturers of transformers and capacitors were called on to develop safe and environmentally acceptable alternatives for PCBs as rapid .y as possible. Train scheduled a meeting in January with reprjsentatives of these manufacture to $iecuss and lay out specific plans to achieve this end. --The presidents of major electric utility companies and other major users of large capacitors and transformers, such as railroads, were asked to assume responsibility for con trolling the use and disposal of thair PCBs. To this end, Train invited representatives of the companies and their principal industrial associations to meet with him in January to discuss how this might be accomplished as rapidly as possible. ' --Regulations were proposed to control the environmental damage that results from spills of hazardous substances, including PCBs. EPA will move as rapidly as possible to finalize these regulations after a public comment period. --State Governors were asked to carefully examine and apply thair authorities to deal with the PCB problem. --Selected Federal agencies were asked to immediately inventory their uses of PCBs and PCB-containing materials and to develop plans to assure adequate management and safe disposal of these materials. _ (more) Exhibit A-6 HONS 029596 -3- --In addition to these stjps, Train initiated a number of other programs to find ways of eliminating the environ ment discharges from other soirees of PCBs including pacer recycling operations, the investment casting industry, and the disposal of electrical coi sumer products which contain PCBs. -. "With regard to all of these actions,* Train said, *1 wool again like to caution that thi y will not lead to a quick and easy reduction of the current levels of PCBs in our environ ment and particularly in the commercial and sports fish taken from those waters most contaminated. Hopefully, the control of discharges will he. p arrest the rapid growth of the problem. Ultimately, howe ver, only the elimination of PCBs will yield a significant and permanent solution.* Prior to 1970, half the iCBs produced in the U.S. were sold for use as plasticizers :n paints, plastics and sealants, as lubricant additives, hydraulic fluids, heat exchange fluids, and for use in carbonless copy paper and other pro ducts. In 1970, Monsanto, the sole U.S. manufacturer of PCBs, restricted PCB sales to manufacturers of capacitors and transformers. Monsanto h. s been making PCBs since 1929. Train said that of 700 m: llion pounds of PCBs produced and used in the U.S. since 19:9, over half of this amount has already entered the environment. "We believe that about 100 million pounds have degraded,* ha said, "while about 200 million pounds ara in FCB-containing products buried in landfills and 100 million pounds ara prasant in the air, soil, water and the bottom sediments of . waters, and in the body tissues of living organisms, includ ing sian.* . The rest, 300 million pounds, are currently in use. Train said that only about 10,000 pounds ara discharged annually by the Monsanto plant and 37 manufactursrs of elec trical transformers and capacitors. ' - X list of the 38 manufacturers of PCBs or electrical equipment containing PCBs is attached. *Ii R-311 MQNS 029597 * Exhibit A-7 0.8. Transformer Manufacturing Industry Using PCBs Company Nama Meetinghouse Electric Corp. General Electric Company Research-Cottrell Niagara Transformer Corp.' Standard Transformer Co. Helene Corp. Hevi-Duty Electric Xuhlman Electric Co. Electro Engineering Works R.E. Optegraff Hfg. Co. H.K. Porter Van Tran Electric Co. Location of the Plant South Boston, Va. Sharon, Pa. '< Rome, Ga. Pittsfield, Mass. Fin Jerne, N.J. Buffalo, N.Y. Warren, Ohio Medford, Oregon Helena, Alabama Goldsboro, N.C. Crystal Springs, Miss. San Leandro, Calif. Scottsdale, Pa. Belmont, Calif. Lynchburg, Va. Vandalia, 111. Waco, Texas U.S. Capacitor Manufacturing Industry Using PCBs Company Name Location of the Plant General Electric Company Meetinghouse Electric Corp. Aerovox . Universal Manufacturing Corp. Cornell Dubilier P.R. Mallory 6 Co., Inc. Sangamo Electric Co. Sprague Electric Co. Electric Utility Co. Capacitor Specialists Inc. JARO Corp. . York Electronics NcGraw-Edison RP Interonics Axel Electronic, Ii.c. Tobe Deutschmann Libs. Cine-Chrome Lab, Inc. , Hudson Falls, N.Y. Ft. Edward, N.Y. Bloomington, Ind. New Bedford, Mass. Bridgeport, Conn. Totowa, N.J. New Bedford, Mass. Waynesboro, Tenn. Pickens, S. Carolina ; North Adams, Mass. LaSalle, 111. Escondido, Calif. Bennington, Vt. Brooklyn, N.Y. Greenwood, s. Carolina Bayshore, L.I., N.Y. Jamaica, N.Y. Canton, Mass. Palo Alto, Calif. PCB Producer HONS 02959S Company Name Monsanto Industrial Chemicals Co. Location of the Plant Sauget, 111. Exhibit a-8