Document xjQzwyxLLvLJ7pYqr90GXwKmJ

UACKC>t'OU'ID STATEMENT CY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AVIlIinsniMUK. ftUSSCLI r. THAIII AT A PRCSS COiiFEF.iihCE Oil KO's. MONDAY, DECT:IRES 22. 1975. WASHINGTON, D.C. I an announcing today an EPA iction plan to reduce, as rapidly and effectively a", vie can, the serious threat of polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCB's) to hum..n health and the environment. Since tneir introduction some A5 years ago, PC3's have beet used in a variety of ccr.eercial and Industrial products such as trans".orrnors, capacitors, paints, inks, paper plastics, adhesives, sealants and hydraulic fluids. Because of this wide use and because PCB's dc not readily degrade, we find, today, that they are widely dispersed throughout the envirorv?,ent--in landfills, soils, river and lake sediments, in our air and water and in wildlife and human tissue. Of partiiular concern, we are currently finding PCE levels exceeding the FDA licit of five parts per million in fish taken from the Great Lakes, the upper Mississippi P.iver, off the Southern California coast, the*5u+^*ov"Mext and in the Hudson River and other waterways in New York State. PCB1:; are known to cause sign if icant adverse effects in fish and aquatic life at these and lesser levels. In addition, they have been 'ound in laboratory tests to cause reproductive failures, gastric disorders, skin lesions and tumors in mammals. Consequently, we believe that PCB's constitute a significant hazard to human health and the environment and must be immediately ar.d effectively controlled with every neans at our disposal. Because of this Hazard and oy finding that the environmental burden from PCB's is already too greet an! is growing, it is plain to me that /. we must, as a society, accept and work toward a goal of totally eliminating the production, importation and use of PCB's as rapidly as possible. Furthermore, we must make e ery effort to assure that those PCB's now in use do not enter the env;ronmen:. At the same time, the public should be under no Illusion: as to the difficulty of dealing with this A problem. We have absolute!;, no authority under existing law to step or restrict uses of PCB's. Until the passage of Toxic Substances Control legislation by the Congress, we must rely heavily on voluntary actions by industry. In any event, it wil' not be possible to eliminate the use of PCB's overnight. Even if we coild eliminate these uses immediately, we would have to face the fact tha . there arc hundreds of millions of pounds of PC3's out there in the environment---in landfills, soils and the bottom sediments of,rivers, lakes, and estuarie$--which will be there fo years, like a delayed-action time bomb, and which we have no way to keep from moving into life systems, including humans. With all that wo can do, It may take many years before we are able to see a significant decline in the levels of PCB's in the env ronment. Nevertheless, we must begin t once. Even though our authori ies are inadequate, we must do all that we can. I am, therefore, taking the following steps: . MOfcS 06C644 ] am directing our regional offices, in active cooperation with the states, t' i:T.ediately establish requirements to virtually el j-ir.atr PCB's fren the process wastes of all manufacturers of PfB's an I of capacitors and transformers that utilTze KuT 1 am calling on th leade-ship of the manufacturers of PCB's and the majo- ranuficturers of transformers and capacitors to develop safe an I tnvir inr.tentally acceptable alternatives for PCB's as rapidly as p>ssible. I am scheduling a meeting in January with representitives of those manufacturers to discuss and lav out speci:ic plans to achieve this end. I am calling on the presidents of major electric utility companies and other major users of large capacitors and transformers, such as railroads, to assume responsibility for controlling the use and disposal of their PCB's. To this end, I am writtinq representatives of the companies and their principal industrial "asso: iSnons ~,.o meet with me in January to discuss hew this might be accomp ished as rapidly'and effectively as possible. I am proposing regulation; to control the environmental damage that results from spills of hazardous substances, including PCB's EPAv/ill nova as ripidly as possible to finalize these regulations after a public comient pe-iod. I am writing State Governors to as': them to carefully examine and apply their authorities to deal with the PCB problem. I am writing the heads of selected Federal agencies to asl: them to immediately inventory their uses of PCB's and PCil-containing materials and to develop plans to assure adequate management and safe disposal of.these materials. 7. In addition to these stejs, 1 am initiating a number of other programs to find'ways of eliminating the environment discharges from other sources of PCI's including paper recycling operations, the investment casting industry, and the disposal of electrical consumer products whch contain PCB's. Before I describe these and other actions in more detail, let me describe the history of past efforts to deal with PCB's and the nature of the problem. NQNS 060645 fi\ kJ )'AI(LY r.rrcr.TS cy- >*'j In 3972, a federal intern; cr.cy task force vas forr.e.l to address the quest Sen: wl-.at do v.e lnv-- md wh.st should be done nhout fCBs in the environment? At that time, !Os had been in wide industriaZ,use in the United States for about 40 years. Approxirately SO nillicn pounds were being domestically produced anr.vnliy. These-FCBs ' wore used in various ccrr-.erical ar.-J industrial products including electrical cquipac.et, print in; inks, carbonless copy neper, paints, sealants, adhesives, plastics, and heat transfer and hydraulic machinery fluids. Tire task fo:cc concluded that PCBs were highly persistent, could be found ir. i.U parts of the environn^tnt, could "bioaccirr-.ilatc" to unacceptably hiph levels in fish, and could have serious adverse effects on huann health. The tas); force also recognized, tint PCBs had significant ad vantages over ether materials for uses in closed electrical systems. They conduct heat but not cleotricity, : nd in 1972 it appeared that the oriiy available substitutes for FCBs in capacitors and in trans formers--which are wiiTely used in indoor electrical systems--ygra_too flairiTabla. To have prohibited PCBs for there uses would, in effect,' have sniistlfutrd a safety fcsra-d for a healtli hazard. The task force recentten-! cd - -and the Federal Givcirjscnt adopted--a policy ox confining PCB use to closed electrical systems. The Monsanto Company, the sole Ameri:m producer of FCBs voluntarily restricted sales of PCBs, prior to the tusk force report, to uses in closed electrical ;ystems.Tin- American National Standards Institute issued guidelines for industry on the use, disposal and labelling of PCBs. Tho Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would take steps to limit disci arges of industrial effluents of FCBs into rivers and lakes. The Fi od anf Drug Administration established temporary tolerances for PCBs in several types of food and set limits on PCB contamination in food packaging ana in food processing plants. In addition, the General Services Administration banned FCBs in paper, purchased by the Federal gcverrnrnt and the Department of the Interior prohibited future use of PCBs in off-shore oil operations. In February, 1973, in the ) irsl international -agreement nined at limiting tha production find usr of chemicals in order to protect the environment, the Or ;anisation `or Econco-ic Cooperation and Development announced a decision to rcaertaitne! to member countries that the use of PCBs bo prohibited for industrial or corrnorcial purposes except in certain closed systems. Cnr r.crier country, Japan, subsequently banned the future production or import of PCB:; for all uses, after PCB contamination of rice oil adversely affccti-d 1000 people. MGNS 06Q6<6 At tll.1t t)"C, vc believed that thcr.c ncr.r.urcs would "take care" of the PCJ |;rolilc:i and enable us to continue to talc advantage of the uaic:ue properties of PCI's while insular in;: the public and the enviror.r.'.cnt against exposure to hazardous levels of these chemicals. Since 1971, annual U.S. sales of PC?s hat been cut in half - from approxirntely 80 million pounds to about 40 million pounds. In retrospect, it is appairat that ve could end shculd have done rare. In 1975 we find that aithoui ) PCB levels -in most foods have st(53T]jTceeriKeJt It&.reaa.n. prescnt'.ih our environment tp~a"far greater.decree and at higher .!< pels than vc>puld.Javc-thouplit. ICBs are highly persistent - fir move S( titan l:!JT - and bio-accu.'.ulatc in the food chain. PCB contain, nation tl reatens to become pervasive in the environment. We have foist; high PCI levels -- levels greatly ex ceeding FDA guidelines of 5 peri -- in f;sh taken from the Great lakes, the upper Mississippi Ri'er, o f the Set them California coast, Jiho-Gt11-f-of-Mexior, in t ie Hud ;on River and other waterways in New York State. Specifically, high concentrations of PCBs have been detected in recent months in f sh in Lake Michigan (up to 165 ppnt), Lake Pepin (up to 40 ppm), and in the Hudson River (up to 350 ppm), - although the average levels are significantly lever. The presence of ' PCBs in these waters threaten.* to destroy coz.ttercial and sport fishing and associated industries, sijee contaminated fish are often rendered . incapable of effective repTodvztion and become unfit for htsan con sumption. The evidence we have acciaiulated over the past three years has underscored our original concern over the toxicity of PCBs and over the potential health hazard posed by the presence of high PCB concentrations , in water and in fish. It indicates that the most serious potential health probslm from PCBs which we are able to identify today, wqtiid come , n from eating fish which c.ontaii PCBs exceeding the FDA toleranceUntil * awiror.r.zntnl levels go down substantially, the human health threat from PCBs can only be controlled through not eating fish that exceed the limits prescribed by FD\. PCB compounds have also been shown y pto cause reproductive failure:-, gastric disorders, skin lesions, ' Land tutors in mammals. As a result of this pew evidence, I called a Rational Conference on PCBs in Chicago last month, to examine the latest scientific findings on environmental and health effects of rCBs and to identify actions tint might be taken to control the problem. Let me sunrnariv.e what we have learned. . MCNS 06064 7 PWSE.7 13iVlR0!C-!rOTAL BURDEN . V.'e estimate that over the jnst <15 vears, serve _700_nil Hon pounds of Puis haw ba'-.i proceed niuTiispr'In the United States. Of that nr..aunt rare than half has already entered the environ.-.'nt tlirour.h discharges to the air, voter and land. Although seme of this has been conically or biologically degraded, the vast majority is contained in landfills, coflaminated roils, bottom.scdlrenuLxf--. riversvlskes and coastal vst< rs and in sir "and" water concentrations where-they are available' "for Tot a he into fisli, and shellfish. Un fortunately, there appears to he relatively little v.e can do to remove POIs from the environment, h'e fir.d ourselves,in a situation similar to the one v.e faced with KIT. The cnvirnrcrer.tal contaminant is, practically speaking, beyond cur reach tlirough known cleanup techniques and r.ay take many years to degrade to any substantial de gree. This means, that it may be 10 to 20 years before some of cur viators will be suitable cotraercial fisheries. POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL EiYTRCbETAL BURDEN ' At present there nrc seven.! hundred million pounds of PCEs current ly in use or inventory in closes electrical' equipment,' bidraulic'cqsiipniienrppoper'products, raid other cor.tr.ercial and industrial products. Without preventive measures, essentially all of these PCEs will ultimate ly enter the environment and add to the existing soil, sediment, air and .water concentrations that I just described. A large part of this amount can be kept from entering the environment if effective disposal and use practices arc followed. The remainder nay be Virtually uncontrollable and will result in a continuing addition to the environmental burden. FUTURE PRODUCTION In addition to the amounts already in the'environment and in use, we arc domestical ly prod; cing 35-i||; million pounds per year and are importing at least }'till ion pounds, 3nd perhaps a great deal more if account is made cf PCP - containing products entering the country. Only a relatively small amount -- perhaps as much as 10,000 pounds annually is t isc'narged dircc`..ly..into .vhe.enyironn merit (in wastewater, aiT or sclid.\ astQ-dischrjxgsI_iii the course of'product ion' ar.d manufacturing processes. Tie remainder is gonig to uses where it could ultimately lie discharged into the environment. V.'e can probably fully control the direct discharges but can only par tially control the-ultimate discharges from that amount going into use. MONS 06C648 OOWffiCTivu r-aws;.v.-> . These facts lend me to tye conclir.j -ns: 'first/ wo must as 8 nation ccrtsit ourselves now'to phasing cj.it the pro h'.t.tion and importation of PCBs if wo arc trcr^io-ac; csOhtTf.m'.'ins cor.cmtrr.- tions of rCSs in our environment.. freon/, we mint assure that .those PCBs in use do not enter the envirormcilt to the extent this can be done"; ' Kith respect to phasing out PCBs in the United States, I hive invited the bunds of companies which ainr ifnclure electrical equipment containing ICs to meet with r in January l`>76. 1 will a si; then to accelerate, their research, csting, and development of alternatives for PCBs. At the meeting I will be icoi.ing for a plan from this industry on herw they will proceed nnu on what schedule. I wiil also offer f.i">A',s~ssiatancc"in the :rssessaenr"on'jfdiBff>;,s"est data to establish the environmental accptability of proposed alternatives. In this regal'd I an directing iur Office of Toxic nyhsjjrgiajto. prococd at nnxi::.'m spee5~ to fu rush. industry itiTorrc:tion.onJjte. tests tj- that"w5-bel icvelKould be conducted.. .to_;isses's_t);ose__su;!t i tut5_r:ovj_. / TthoTwrltbif'and''thas^yat t- be 'dcvclotigd. TTholild point cut tint this"will be a difficui 'and t r.'.e ccr.sv.rdrj erfort, the results of which cannot be expected to b : achie- ed ovenv'gbt. In my view, however, it is the only r.p?rr.ach to an eventual iicirtment solution to th.o PCC problem. I should note that a phasc-ou'. of PCBs will wholly depend on the voluntary cooperation o" industry in the absence of any statutory authority for EPA to reruire a restrict on of production, importation of use of PCBs. Over the five years since Toxic Substances legislation v.as first proposed, an estimated (00 chomic.nl co.T.jioDnds arc introduced into the commercial market each \ ear. IVc do so without any systematic advance assessment of their potintial impact upon public health. Yet, as we Jiavc lcaniod throi gh out experience wj.th such materials as vinyl chloride, we may rot distover how harmful a compound can be until years after it has bccor i a rathe'- commonplace item in our everyday life, even a significant facto' in our economy. And wc, again and again, find ourselvrs engaged in an extremely difficult and drawn-out struggle to protect the public from a hazard to which it lias already been exposed while at the same time trying to avoid putting people out. of business or out of work, h'e find ourselves HONS 060649 trying to choose between n health hazard and a safety hazard. ------ Wc finJ ourselves without ti'.S authority vc need to really cope with the prcbUr.s like those par-cd by PC's -- the authority to Unit selected uso and distribution of toxic rhittcials as well nr. to require testing concerning the health and ccilogiccl effects of proposed substitutes. Enr.ctr.ent of a Tcsic Substr.r.ces Control Act would substantially strengthen wy nbility to achieve a phr.sc-out. I will therefore continue to press for passage cf such nn Pet. We also pirn to con !uct a thorough review of^tjprdnpanesc experience in inpl^nanting their ban on the^uorttefion and use of KBs. V.c have reccnti-jt^invitel represts-tafivos of Japanese industry, and they have agreed to m?st.witj^s''in Washington early next year to discuss this ratter. be ashing the environmental camittee of the Gnfjh-fttf'its next muct-ir" to reassess and strengthen their previotis^-eCbiir.er.datior.s on PCDs. .Ye-c^yh this mechanism, I tope tr^eiTcourage world-wide phase-out of PCba. Pending success of a naticnal and, hopefully, world-wide phase out of PCBs, it is imperative that we take aggressive action to minimize the environmental impact of ex-sting and future uses and disposal of these chemicals. Accordingly, I intend to proceed with the follovjing specific actions. SPECIFIC ACTIONS 1. In order to rediee total contamination of the environment from 37 plants that manufacture transformers and capacitors using FCBs as well as from the PCB manufacturing plant of Monsanto in Sauhet, Illinois, ^ I have directed ot r regional cffices to complete ongoing surveys of these ' plants within the next 60" days to~determine the.precise manner.in.which PCHs "enter the'latid,-aiT.'ahH'>hter'.'r^ each plant and what precise measures' can bo taken jet each plant to eliminate or drastically inimze~suih~"PCS' contamination. I have i:urr.her~d treeted'our regional offices to assure immediately thereafter that all water discharge ppermit^issujd to these facilities are revised to require tiist'all ' those measures affecting water disciiargcs arc undertaken expeditiously, and to further assure that such mcasurrs are also undertaken by facilitics which discharge into municij il treatment works and are not therefore required to procure such permits. The results of those surveys will also be used to determine whether an air emmision standard for KBs shouldtbc d(veloped and, if so, what it should be. Finally, the surveys will alsc enable nor regional offices, in cooperation with State and local solid waste disposal authorities, to assure that land disposal c_f_wnstes. from these plants will not cause additional land contanuTation from FCBs. MOWS 060650 cost in rest in'es Utroug'.i process cI-mpcs, subs',iluticn an-.i/or in'sta)).:lic;i of co:r.rol T wouM h-rvio tint these actions can proceed expeditiously red that industry t ill cooperate. If not, I an-, prepared to exercise my authority under Section 501 of the Federal V.'otcr Pollution Control /jet to ensure inr.ediatc action in individual eases. 2. In order to ensure the ssfe hsndlin:: nr.i dispssl of PCfcs r.c.u inscrvicc, I have called on the president:; of rvt-icr electric i-.riv-.. companies and other csjor users _cf^Jare Lcf-focitcrs-cni-transit^surs to~assu5<rrespKtsiblifyTor'ccntroliin* thv use and disposal of ^Hheir PCH's. To this end, I hxye writ Uni rcprvstat L'l?f_c the cornanirs end their principal inoastTIaT assccicHras to- rest With tie in Janvnry to discuss hew'this r.ijht'bo'r.cctv.pTishte. as rapidly and effectively cs possible. V.'c will offer to assist then in these efforts and if cpproprisvte, I intend tc folic;; the voluntary industry effort with any needed regulatiensi-whare; I have the authority. V.'e would expect these actions to substantially reduce the potential risk frost tlic large quantities of PC3s which ore presently in use, and to thereby avoid their eventual addition to the existing environmental burden. At the snxe time, I will ask the Astericon National StrtSards Institute at its fcrthccrtiiv;, meet ing in January to assist in this effort to develop and ir.p!c.'.-.cr,t necessary guidelines and a ox".' of good practice for the mnituc.nsrcc handling, servicing, and disposing of existing equip.ent containing pas. 3. I have signed propot ed Tegilations under Section 311.of the F.'TCA to control spills of th ce hundred identified hazardous 5ubst~ncj;s, Including PCds. These i cgniat ions w'ill'estaBlisirreporting rrcuiroments, civil penalties, and hazardous quantities, and ultimately will enable the Agency to require industry tc prepare spill prevention control plans. I will press for rapid finalization of these regu lations after appropriate public review ar.d cor.ir.ent. 4. I am writing the State Governors to ask them to carefully examine and apply their authorities to deal with the PCI' problem. 5. I am writing the heads of selected federal agencies to ask them to isnwdiatcly inventory their uses of I'CBs and FC3-cc;;tainirig materials, and to develop plat s to assure adaqtieye management and safe disposal of these materials. . 6. I intend to investigate the JPC3 discharges fI'omjvijorJ.rste paper recycling plants to develop appropriavccfflucnt guidelines and establish appropriate effluent limitations in NTPES permits. MOMS 060651 7. I intend to invertip-itc th: invcr.tr.cnt castir.fr in-rusrry ns-------develop appropriate r tan lards .ml guidelines for its air, enter and solid waste discharges. 8. I intend to ermine the anxur.ts and types of I'CHs in irteiicip.nl and industrial solid wastes an I to develop guidance for the proper disposal of these v.astcs. 9. I intend to v.nrk with the U.S. Amiy Corps of engineers under the Section <01 Permits for Dredged or Fill 'tittrial program and to pive special attention in our Clean l-::i cs and In-place Toxics Program to deal with the difficult proHens of PCDcontier.inatec sediments in rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Kith regard to all of these actions, I would again like to caution that they will not laid to a quick and easy reduction of the current levels of PCI's in cur environment and particularly in the cormcrical ar.d sports iish taken fron waters most contam inated. Hopefully, the control of discliarges will arrest the rapid growth of the problem. lltir-atcl , however, only the reduced use of PCB's will yield a signi ;icant and permanent solution. HONS G6C652