Document p226wLyqMargK7DpBdmKrYyNB

MIAMI. FU. HERALD 0 404.101-S 498.507 MAWKSHMPOLllANARtA MS 19 IS'3 4ifrt>p,. - T?Tf f ;C pviicoa r-'h/rv' H. ; vy7* A^ //-\.\ iCn^ Carolina Se?s Red Over PCBs Mf!0 J*< < Wtr Rntflk McGEE'S CROSSROADS, N C. -- Jfrith Lur--ion rlanned lo <\ - hr::ie his birthday iist Satureay having some friends over to brother's farm near this map dot in c? tern North Carolina. f*u; Lar.gdon chatted his mirrj wi.at made him ct'ir.js his h.-' much of the Tar ricei state in an 'almost unbelievable anger." as or.e re.-ident puts it. Several days earlier, workers on, the L&ngdon farm began to feel -.1!. `I thought it was my high blood pressure," said M.H. Coates. "I was. weak, sick at my stomach." T thought it was something they wre spraying on the tobacco or the potatoes," said Anne P. Stephenson. HUT IT wasn't Coates* Mood pressure, and it wasn't something they were spraying on the crops. It was fumes from the industrial ehtmical PCB, which had been dumped -- illegally -- along State Eoad 210 near the tangdon farm. The deliberate spills, about a foot er a foot-and-a-half wide, extend far beyond the s-.retch of State Hoad 2)0 between Smtthfield and Anpirr. They havo matted the grass and din in the swales along 250 miles of rural roads, roughly in a SO-mile radius around the capital city of Raleigh. "The wind could be a-biowtn' it to you and your eyes would sting, your nose would burn and you'd he sick to your stomach." said Brartun M.l*?. another worker on the l^rm of .'..itcheil Langdon. "You'd want water, but if you drank water . mi ieU like you wanted to throw it up. "You sure didn't want anything to ::c at dinner that day." The dumping apparently occur red ta the first week cf August. Gov. James Hunt denounced it as a **U..stardly act" or. Thursday nr.fl aid the slate will .Tend up to .2..' million to d1!} up i-c u`>ntariir-.it^u earth !> also .v.u ') pr-.y ft-* aloud tc?.;:. r. el:s:ik they mignt i;;.vc U*v ex posed. "T?I2R IS no imminent health danger." Hunt's press seereiary, Gary Pcarc*. said Friday. "Bui FCB contamination is a long-term thing. That's what makes it scan'. We dor.': know the long-term eifects of PCBs on hum.ins " PCBs. or polychlorinated biphe- i nvis, are extremely stable hydro- i carbons the: contain chlorine. Be-} cause they arc fire-resistant, they i have been used as an insulating j fluid in electrical equipment since j the late 1920a ! It wasn't until 1966 that scien- | tists discovered that PCEs don't break down, that they remain in the ` environment unless burned at about ' 2.200* Fahrenheit. j The other shoe fell a few years 1 later: Scientists found that PCBs are a possible cancer-causing agent and also are suspected of causing birth ; defects. By eating PCB-eontaminat- ed foods, which can include fish, beef, poultry, dairy products or vegetables, 'human*, may have a buildup of the chemical in their fatty tissue and. risk Joog-term health problems. Just two months ago the U.5. En vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed that the importa tion and use of PCBs be prohibited. MONSANTO CO., which had been tacTmly U.5. manufacturer of I PCBs, voluntarily stopped produe- I mg the chemicals a year ago. But! EPA office's say about 410 million pounds have found their way into the environment through leaks, va- j porizction and Bumping -- both t legal and < Stuart George, of the North Caro lina Department of Natural Re sources. theorized Friday that "Tom'? company, sitting on several -bcurnrid j-..alcms of the st>:ff, mavbc y.isi titdn't have the assets to dispose o: it properly." t The state's Bureau of Invesriga- j lion is looking into the dumping, al* | though tne cced is oeiy a misJe-j mcanor m North Carolina. Stiffcr! federal chemical-durr.pmg laws l carry a maximum 225.000 fioc and one-year jail term. ! Gov. Hunt said health officials to j the 15 affected counties will deliver - notices cn the danger of prolon***d expr sure to PCBs to residents of the contaminated areas. Warning signs j also are to be posted. ! AND, WITHIN the next two ' weeks, state Department of Trans portation employed ire to begin ' cleaning up the roadsides. First j they'll cover the foot-wide spill i. areas with activated carbon to suck 1 up as much of the chemicals as pos- ; sible. Then they'll dig up the tainted grass and soil -- an estimated 52.500 tons -- for burial on three or | four isolated, state-owned tracts in l the eastern part of the state. ' Meanwhile. North Carolinians j struggle with their anger over the , dumping. Natural Resources Seere- [ tary Howard Lee called it "an out* ' rageous act against tne environ ment." Stuart George, a Lee subordinate, said. "People are incensed that any one would jump into a tank truck in the middle of the eight and dump such a long-lasting, nasty enemi es!." -- STEVE SINK MOMS 010937