Document ojaYRQQo4Joxzovp0NOXxNer

I: f-'.-.v *ewi anoKEr !,cws EDinofi AUG 2 fi 1978 /'awpcnnv') (pacons) r i^r-rrrrrTi.' s :`ipfUn t-;0-B!)'f.>t'ifnml8.B-5AT0* *br?UrcOA'Jl0 br>*-r]^*'wr^3>?31 ifj ^ liic'.ri * Ci JACK THOnilTOM ( HICAGO--H-rjrin^s this week in Washington and lawsuits filed over the cost of <L '!f.:n,! in Waukegan, Ill's harbor spell trouble for some die casters. Vhv.' prottimi is polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), poisonous chemicals found in some t> ; i at I >i!r:.uiio fluids that were used in high-pressure die casting machines until a few yc.-r* ago. The issut s are how much die casters wiil have to spend to get PCHs out of their ma- chines ;-nd, more imjxirtant from a cost standpoint, who wiil pay for cleaning up what d.uiMi'-' has already been done. At Ou I'cnti r of the dispute Is Outboard Marine Corp. manufacturer of Johnson and rviisrud'-oull* ird motors with large die casting operations in Waukegan. A parly to the ' > 0 A <gh so fur not sued, is MensontoCherniral Corp., St I^ouis, which supplied OutI ' i j M ime wilhS-nnllion pounds of Pydraul from KM to 1971. Pydraui ia a PCB-cont-'n-:-, aydrnulic fluid for die casting machines. Monsanto stopped manufacturing it in <ucording to pn|>crs filed in the Waukegan case 1 h ?! (f'..i gM into the drains and subsequently into the harbor when hydraulic fluids lei' ! Ii :i i tlic die casting machines. linkage occurs in neatly every system that uses hydra' V fi'ijd*;. I'li :: c. tors with lie PCB problems arc only those who used the PCB formulations of M tutn I ihe only manufacturer of tiuit type of phospliate ester hydraulic fluid. Acer: lim;; to tUiiri'th Garcia, former Pydraul product manager at Monsanto, Mons.u.m's < -.'titors did not use PCBs Garcia is now general sales manager for Cliem* Tiuvl !m .. I In.; oil, Midi., which manufactures watcr-glycol fluids. Tiv. ; dor.'.iul co .ls of thcdcanniparc high. Rased on draining, cleaning and refilling fiv > < f if% o ;n die rusting machines, the company estimates the bill will be J3.030 per n> .< i.i: !!<:!;ld!. TIiouias, Outboaid Marine's senior counsel, said that cleanly out two c. t`J.u ' t lies a week for five men on each of three full shifts. Ttio company's die cast ing machines range from 400 to 1,600 tons, he said. Similar costs were cited by General Motors Corp. in testimony before the U.S. En vironmental Protection Agency a year ago, Thomas said. Those figures include hydrau lic fluid at nearly $10 a gallon, solvent at over $2.50 a gallon and 57 cents a gallon m dispo sal costs. Carcia at Chem-Trend said the GM and OMC cJc.*m-out figures appear high. Those are based on $9-a-gallon costs of fluids and not recycling. Chem-Trond's water glycols are about $4 a gallon, lie said. The inacliinc cleanup standard is not yet law. It was first published as a proposed regulation in Utc Federal Register JuneO. Thomas said the standard is a maximum of 90 parts per million (ppm) of PCIts in the hydraulic fluid or the machine's tubing and pip ing. GM's testimony was that its die cr- ting machines typically had PCB levels of 109 to 500 ppm, Thomas said, while Outboard Mamie's were typically SCO ppm. He said he did not expect the standard to be altered by this week's hearings and, if not, for the 50 ppm limit to t ike effect in November. Tile cost of cleaning up die Waukegan Harbor on Make Michigan north of Chicago wiil run into the millions of dollars. Wlio will pay that bill is being litigated. Ironically, this aspect of lire litigation was stalled Inst March by Outboard Marine when it sued Uie Environment^.! Prelection Agency after clean up negotiationr, broke down. A $300,029 harbor si udy, for which Outboard Marine paid, came to no concision, said Tkimas. The td'A countersued, demanding that Outboard Marine and not the government pay for both the cleanup and the research fur a technology that has net been needed until now. lastly, three weeks ago the Illinois EPA tiled cssmtuliy the same complaint against Outboard Marine. So far Monsanto, manufacturer of Pydi anl, has nut Iwen sued. Rut Thomas said Out* board Marine's buyers arc holding disci-'ssicnr. with the chemical company, lie said Outboard Marine believes licit Monsanto shares some responsibility. . AMERICAN METAL MAflKETMETALWORKING NEWS. AUGUST 28 1976 HONS 010938