Document rxQxYgR5a4RyJbNEDzKzNyE87

.. Monsanto Ml D. R. Bishop - F3EE - 4-2891' January 25, 1985 cc- J. F. Hussey T O : J. G. Nassi xr E2NG 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. 1 D R B :ec Attachment C02410 COMPANY (QpL'nit or Coiponitc): MIC SUBJECT: OCF SPILL AT STURGEON, MO. REPORTER & MEDIA: Howard Mitchell, KFRU-Radio (314) 449-1400 TIME & DATE: c . , .. ln_D September 11, 1979 QUESTION c RESPONSE: t. - yv M) r . t\ ^ ^ \ ^ a j NV n \P X News Bureau _X_ J.T. Noinn X_ J. E. McKee J.v. Morse __ D. R. Bishop __ \V. J.McCarville __ W. R. Mulhall X J. F. Husscy-'A'nsliin^lon. D.C. X_ S. Pickaid-Wasliington. D.C. _X_ New York Public Relations __ Brussels Public Relations __ MAP PR x X /''T 1^T> . > 1 A 1 1 i\. X MIC PR G. Young MP & R PR MTC PR INT'L P R X K. W. Easley X J. R. Foehr X T. L. Gossage X E. L. Head X J. C. McPhi H i p s X R. A. Stohr X J . S . Metcalf Q. Will you confirm my notes that you told me in February that you found TCDD at 22 to 37 ppb in the OCP and that this information was passed to the EPA? A. On February 9 our chemists reported finding TCDD at a .037 ppm 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. Wickland of the Kansas City EPA office says you never notified their office that the isomer was TCDD? What do you say? A. We called the EPA On-Scene Coordinator, Mr. Harry Gilmer. I believe he was in the field, probably at the Mayor's office or fire department or wherever the EPA communications center was in Sturgeon. I suggest you contact Harry Gilmer to confirm chat. In addition, we supplied two samples of OCR from the reserve sample and delivered these to the Lambert St. Louis airport on February 10. These samples were picked up by the EPA and f1own off for analysis. Q. This is an incredible story. Senator Eagleton recently asked the Kansas City office which of the dioxin isomers the cleanup workers got in their blood and the EPA says they're not sure even now. Yet you told them in February that it was the 2,3,7,8 tctrachloro dioxin isomer. They've kept it a secret: all this time. coon 0 o : :vi7( n r v . Page 2 A. That's not incongruous to me. We reported a very miniscule amount 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 whether there is anyone who can say absolutely which, if any, of the dioxins was found in the cleanup workers blood. There are 75 different isomers of dioxin and they are difficult to identify in very small quantities. (Later called the Kansas City EPA to inform them of this slant.) Source of Answer: Notes Handled by: R. C. Isham