Document rx25m1KJbdLJN1a4MDN9M8597

NEWS FOR RELEASE IMMEDIATELY . Monsanto t ----- r---------------------------------------------------- - i) MONSANTO INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS CO. Sarah G. Collins (314)694-3860 Dan R. Bishop (314)694-2891 PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT 800 N. Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis, Missouri 63166 MONSANTO ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF DIOXIN SAMPLING ST. LOUIS, Jan. 9 -- Monsanto Company said today that low levels of dioxin have been found in two old and essentially idle buildings at its John F. Queeny Plant in St. Louis. Company medical officials said that these isolated areas of contamination do not present a hazard to employees, the public or the environment. According to Queeny plant manager, George F. Knolimeyer, 15 composite samples, obtained'from scraping encrusted grit from beams, crevices and cracks in several structures and taken from soil beneath paved areas, were tested. Twelve of these samples either detected no dioxin or levels below-one part per billion (ppb). Only three of the 15 samples revealed levels above one ppb; the highest was 21 ppb, the others were 2 ppb and 3 ppb. Mr. Knolimeyer explained that relatively small quantities of the herbicide 2,4,5-T were shippped to the Queeny Plant at various times between 1949 and 1964 for further processing. It is now known that this herbicide can contain dioxin as an unwanted contaminant. "However," he continued, "2,4,5-T was never manufactured at Queeny and thus, no dioxin was ever generated here." -more- C02598 2 Mr. Knollmeyer pointed out that until recently it was thought that dioxin broke down rapidly into harmless materials^ "However, findings learned from the Missouri dioxin experience during 1983 made it clear that dioxin.can remain in the environment for years, bound tightly to other substances. Based on these new findings, the plant decided to search for dioxin in virtually every nook and cranny in areas where it likely might be found," he said. George Roush, M.D., director of Monsanto's Department of Medicine and Environmental Health, said there is no evidence to suggest that any Queeny Plant employee has ever been adversely affected by dioxin. "The plant, which has extensive medical records dating to the early 1950s, has never experienced a known case of chloracne, the acne-like skin condition commonly associated with dioxin exposure," he-said. Dr. Roush added that the "one part per billion" safety guideline recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was intended for residential sites only and does not apply to industrial locations. "The' guideline is. based on the highly unlikely assumption that a small child would eat one gram of dioxin-contaminated soil every day for several years while at the same time being exposed to another gram every day through skin contact. This obviously does not apply to any past or present situation at Queeny," Dr. Roush said. -more .t > 3 Mr. Knollmeyer said, "Although there is no reason to believe this low level of contamination presents a health hazard to our workforce, the prudent course, now that we know dioxin is present, is to determine as quickly as possible the best way to remedy the situation. One ofr the first steps," he continued, "will be to undertake a more extensive sampling program to better define the extent of the contamination, and this process is underway." The Queeny Plant produces hundreds of chemicals for use in a cross-section of industrial and commercial applications. Approximately 1,000 employees work at the plant, which is located on South Second Street in South St. Louis. -0 O0- 010984 Monsanto tt^CCT D. R. Bishop - F3EE - -2891 : January 25, 1985 cc' J. F. Hussey TO : J. G. Nassif - E2KG Attached is the press query sheet I filled out after the interview with the Post-Dispatch reporter, Jo Mannies. Incidentally, she works in the Washington, D.C., news bureau. What I actually said -was that NIOSH approached us in the late '70s with a request to inspect the work and medical records of employees at our'WGK and Nitro plants who may have been exposed to dioxin during the time we made 2,4,5-T and Agent Orange. I explained that we made "T" at Nitro from about 1948 to 1969 and from about 1963 to 1969 we shipped "T" from Nitro to WGK where it was blended in a 50-50 mixture with 2,4-D (made at WGK) to create Agent Orange. I did not say we have not made anything that could have generated any of the dioxin isomers since 1969. I was talking only about the NIOSH registry and its focus on employees who may have been exposed at WGK during the period .we made Agent Orange. The reporter and I did not discuss anything else. She didn't ask me about any other product or process or time frame. The Globe-Democrat, in today's edition, also had a story on this subject in which I am misquoted twice where comments attributed to me state in effect that the plants (WGK and Nitro) still generate dioxin. D R B :ec \V\ Attachment .- . an R. Bishop G0240 r PRESS QUERYf- ~*Yi3 Vw- 'j. C O M P A N Y (OpUnit or Corporate): MIC SUBJECT: OCF S P I L L AT S T U R G E O N , MO. REPORTER & MEO! A: H o w a r d M i t c hell, KFRU-Radio (314) 449-1400 TIME & DATE: September 11, 1979 QUESTION l RESPONSE: yy Q\ 'WV A V Li>- * fV,\3y j\-\^ P1 .J X News Bureau X J. T. Nolan _X_ J. E. McKee X J. v. Morse ___ D. R. Bishop *' __ W. J.McCarville ___ W. R. Mulhall X J, F. Husscy-Washinutou, D.C. X S. PickaidAViisIiingion, D.C. .X New York Public Relations ___ Brussels Public Relations ___ M A P PR y - -L X f / M XT' ill U 1 IV MIC PR G. Young ___ M P & R P R --- M T C P R --- INT'LPR X K. W. Easl e y X J. R. F o e h r X T. L. G o s s a g e X E. L. H e a d X J. C. K c P h i l l i p s X R. A. S to hr X Jv S . Metcalf Q. Will y o u c o n f i r m my notes that y ou t o l d me in F e b r u a r y t h a t y o u f o u n d TCDD at 22 to 37 p pb in the OCP a nd t h a t this i n f o r m a t i o n w a s p a s s e d to 'the E PA? A. On February 9 our chemists reported finding TCDD at a .037 p p m average level in the product reserve sample. We informed the EPA of this that evening and contacted the cleanup contractor the next morning. Q. A Mr. W i c k l a n d of the K a n s a s City E P A o f f i c e says y o u n e v e r not i f i e d ' their office that the isomer was TCDD? What do you say? A. We c a l l e d the E P A O n - S c e n e Coord i n a t o r , Mr. H a r r y G i l mer. I b e l i e v e he was in the field, probably at the Mayor's office or fire-department or vrherever the EPA communications center was in Sturgeon. I suggest you contact Harry Gilmer to confirm that. In addition, we supplied two samples of OCP from the reserve sample and delivered these to the Lambert St. Louis airport on February 10. These samples were pick e d up by the EPA and flown off for analysis . Q. isomer. C0041 Page 2 A. That's not i n c o n gruous to me. We r e p o r t e d a v e r y m i n i s c u l e a m o u n t in the product sample, just .037 ppm on average. That's a very small amount. Now, let's say your arm got soaked in the O C P , which would burn you badly. Then, someone asks how much of the dioxin impurities got absorbed through the skin and is in the blood. The amount actually in the blood would be astronomically low. I doubt w h e t h e r there is anyone who can say absolutely which, if any, of the dioxins was found in the cleanup w o r kers blood. T h e r e are 75 d i f f e r e n t i s o m e r s of dioxin and they are difficult to identify in very small quantities. (Later called the Kansas City EPA to i n f o r m them of this slant.) Source of Answer: Notes H a n d l e d by: R. C. I s h a m