Document wKXJoM67jOrJ10DzEKaQ2bN8o

volm Charlotte bscruer ' if ` Tuesday Aug. 15* 1978 _ . . PCB Spill Has N.C. Undecided By SUSAN JETTON 9Ufnrtr Iwm RALEIGH -- North Carolina official* (till haven't decided whether they'll have to di| up road shoulder* along 250 mile* of highway to |et nd of soil soaked with the cancer-causing chemical polychlorinated bi phenyl (PCB), Slate chemists couldn't tell from Initial soil sam ples exactly how deeply the chemical is finking. Limited analysis indicates the chemical is not moving from the top soli iavers exposed to PCS. hut state experts say they need more toil samples before they can decide whether to put aomething on the chemical to control its spread or dig up the soil. Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Investigation still Is trying to find out who dumped the PCB iking state roads in 15 North Carolina countfea. including John ston. Harnett, Franklin, Granville, Nash and Wake. Gov. Jim Hunt has offered a $2,500 reward to* anyone who givca the SBI information that lead* to the arrest and conviction of people responsible for (he dumping. State and federal officials meeting Monday in Ra leigh said there is no doubt the dumping was deliber ate John Dickinson of the federal Environmental Pro tection Agency in Atlanta said deliberate dumpings heve been found In other Southeaatern state* PCB Is used to insulate capacitors and high-voit- age transformers. Strict new laws governing the handling or such chemicals have Increased the coat or getting nd or them, and state officials believe the dumping in North Carolina may have been an effort to circumvent the laws. Dickinson met Monday with representatives of the attorney general's office and the state departments of natural resources, human resources, transportation, and crime control to talk about the situation. The state must decide whether to dig up the PCB- soaked soil or to cover it with a charco*l-and-*o*p substance to stop the chemical from spreading. The state estimates it would cost million* of dol lars to dig up the soil cxpo-cd to the PCit Officials are reluctant to pul an exact cost on the job, Originally, transportation officials talked about having to dig out soil a foot derp in the exposed areas along 250 miles of highway -- about the same dis tance as a round trip from Raleigh to Charlotte But they now believe they'll have to dig down only ahout three inches, probably using a bulldozer with a blade. They're also looking for a place to dispose of the soil if they dig it up. Natural resources spokesman Steve Meehan said one possibility is federal property -- perhaps a military artillery range. A huge hole would have to he dug and lined with an absorbent rock to hold the so>l. No new dumpings of the chemical, shown to came cancer in mice and illness in humans when ingested, have been.found since last week. The chemical when freshly dumped glistens on the soli or grass like oil. Later the grass turns brown Immediate exposure, such as children playing in exposed soil, then putting (heir hands in their mouths, probably wouldn't be harmful, But long-term expo sure to the chemical could have adverse effects. The major disaster traced to PCB was in Japan, where the chemical got into an ml used on rice and heavy consumption of the PCB-soakcd rice over about three months caused deformities. HONS 206810