Document zzkg19awaY6n9EoqKRY3qZZg

NOV 3 rLD polluting beds of rivers. '"1GREENSB0R0 (AP) -- Most North Carolina' -riverbeds downstream from a waste-treatment plant probably contain the cancer-causing substance PCB, a . research chemist says. '%' Ih 3. ;** A. ' " '/'Hobart Souther, a member of the Southern Academy -of'Arts and Sciences and author of several scholarly ; papers on water treatment, said PCB -- polychlorinat- - ed byphenyls -- have been dumped indirectly into the ' state's waterways for years. . Souther said spent PCB, once used as an insulating : material in electrical transformers, had been dumped : routinely into municipal sewerage systems that eventu- : ajly emptied into streams. ^ No tests made : - ^ . / "sK*State officials, faced with the task of removing PCB illegally dumped along roads two years ago, say that : ^Stouther's theory may have >-.j*b>beeee n conducted. merit ,, , but that . no tes.t.s...h. ave >j' >~TTed Mew, head of the enforcement and emergency /^`response section of the state Department of Human Re sources,said a search for waterborne PCBs is not eco- * i nomically justifiable. ' [ "You're looking at 18,000 to 19,000 miles of rivers in 1, x^orth Carolina," he said, `There's just no practical [ \?ay to begin such a test. . , < ( "We know of no concentration of PCB on riverbeds. If : \\ we were to learn of a specific location, we would check l j it out immediately." ... , .,.js ' ' ; J Official knows of theory " 4 i .. . ,> / :../' w'.-v* -s , ' : Russell Radford, an assistant supervisor with the * Department of Natural Resources and Community De- Both state officials noted that water quality samples [ are taken routinely. However, Souther pointed out that t PCB probably would settle to; the bottom of waterways ;|| .. J, ajtid might not show up in water te$tsrf'-|^|^ "S sFirst manufactured in 1929, PCB once were heralded . i _ / as*a miracle chemical. Resembling a colorless syrup in . ./ 3PBC also were used in the manufacture of such prod- /; ` dgts as paint, fluorescent light fixtures and carbonless ; 1cnv pnapnecr The used transformer oil was used for ' v ( 'j .i' ^^ears as a spray to settle dust on dirt roads rMmi "I.S'.# 'i/'V k: r v.-.-. w*!* ' , 4,'* .4JJ-:nii feiS called wrong W ' Unltsd Pmi IntemaNeiwI ' ' J / 4*ublished reports that the state Industrial Commis- ".'sion had described a Bladen County man's illness as ' 5 "PCB contamination" were incorrect, the-commis- : Jsion's chairman said Wednesday. '-? - f, ; William H. Stephenson said in a letter to several ei ^i j-news organizations that the commission has never filed _areport on the man--Douglas T. Roberts of Kelly. u "*A worker's compensation form was made out for u ''S Roberts in connection with treatment he received at Bladen County Hospital Sept. 26, Stephenson said. But' :;g Stephenson said the form was for treatment renderd by ^ Dr. Van E. Helms, an emergency room physician.;^ . "Dr. Helms is in no way connected with the Industri- al Commission and any statement made by him is not an official report filed by the Industrial Commission," i s- Stephenson said. " ,, ; Helms said on the form that Roberts was in a PCB ; S' contaminated area. PCB was dumped along about 200 i t, miles of North Carolina roads two years ago. ;The 4 i f chemical has been linked to cancer. PCB-ARCH-EXT0376294