Document oD7odMN1zGy8ewRJk4mKeMbQr

.-t -February 15, 1979 EPA Press Release "Confirming" Presence of 2,3,7,8-TSDD in Soil from Sturgeon, Mo. T O J. S. Metcalf - B2NK .C. F. Callis R. C. Isham J. R. Foehr R. G. Kaley P. A. Tierney - B2SA - BIND - B2SA - T2F - N3A Confirming our 2-15-79 phone conversation, Bob Kaley and I spoke by phone with the scientists referenced in the 2-11-79.EPA press release as having confirmed the presence of 2,3,7,8-TCDD in soil from the spill site. The scientists deny that they claimed to have found 2,3,7,8-TCDD! In a phone conversation with me on 2-12-79, Dr. Robert KToepfer of EPA Region VII stated that their analyses at the University of Illinois did not reveal the presence of 2,3,7,8-TCDD down to a detection limit of less than 0.01 ppb. I n ' a separate phone conversation between Dr. Kaley and J. Carter Cook of the University, Mr. Cook also denied reporting an unequivocal finding of 2,3,7,8-TCDD. He claims to have reported finding a compound having two ions characteristic of TCDD and eluting at the same retention time as 2,3,7,8-TCDD. Both scientists, after we read them the pertinent sentence from EPA's press release, said they had been misquoted. Both scientists acknowledged, after some prompting, that certain of the other 21 TCDD isomers could, and probably would, exhibit these same characteristics. These conversations put a different perspective on the EPA press release. J. P. Mieure /sf . COO 49 c