NCD980602163_19810618_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_New York Times article - Treating PCBs with Chemicals-OCR

,{
Dl THB NBW YORK TIMBS, THURSDAY, JUNB 11, 1981
T ec~nologylBamabyJ.Fcder
I
Treating PCB's
vVith Chemicals
~M IIESE doys, there are frequently seven1I w11ys . · In thliury to solve a tcchnlc.al problem, but only · a scleet few that ha\"c won approval from the
relevant rer,ulatory ogcncy. Take, for ~•ample, th1t
problem of oow to hnndlc PCD's, the ha.zortlou3
chemical compoWlds lhnt ho\"e shown up every-
where rrom rt ll!r beds to chickens.
PCl;l's, polychlorlll31cd blphenyls, have c:iiused
cancer and blrlh delccts In anlm:1l1 and skin diseases
In humar..s. Sy the lime furlher production of them
wu b:ulneti In tm, mllllnn~ or rounds hnd lenked
Into the environment, and mnny !Imes that amount
conllnue to be used os a liquid coolant :ind Insulator
In power :r.nuformer, and os o.n Insulator or heat
transrcr liquid In lnd~strlol equlp1nent.
BurM and Incineration under htavUy regulotl!d
c:on1llll•n3 11'1! the two methods currenlly used.to dls-
p,i,e of l~ese compounds. Last mQnlh the Environ-
mental Prote..lhm Agency announced that ·hence-
forth anoU,er way nr :;cttln3 rid ol PC B's-destruc•
tlon by olher chcit,icnls -would be ~v:illlible under
certain condlibns.
Be<ou~c th blphcnyl! are closely releted to
numerous other hazardous the'T!lc:ils, lndmllnr, sub-
stances .ruch a:, DDT and Kepone, the annour.cement rnlsed hope!' that the day was approcchlng when
chemicals would become a mah;re wespon In the
wute-manogcrnent arsenal.
• • •
The approved proce,s wns developed by Sunohto, 11
partnership forn,"'1 by the Sun Compar,y and the
Ohio Transformer Corpomtlon and b:ised In Cnnlon,
Ohio. Sunohlo set nut In 1?70 to clean anti recycle oll used In tronsrormer,, but quickly found that such oil •~s usu~lly so laced with l'CB's that an eUectlve
method or disposing of the blphenyla wu of primary
lmporuo.nce.
The trick ls to ;trip the PCB molccule of Its chle>-
rine atoms. SW.O:UO doa It by ral.,lng the temJ)l!ra-· •
A typical PCB mol~ule
cirbonatom Chlorine atom
ture and pressure of the oll/PCB mixture and then
adding a c:hemleal to which the chlorine wlll be
slrongly attrncted. Sunohlo will not disclose the
chemical na1ure of the re~gcnt, the substance added
to react with the chlorine In the bl phenyl, but becnuse
the chlorine emerges aflcr several mlnu.les of reac-
tion as part or a s:ill molecule, the rengcnt must In-
clude sodium or a close chernlcal relative such as a
salt th Rt lacks chlorine.
The other prU<luct of the reactlon,.eccordlng to Olis
Jordan, Sunohlo's vice president ror research and
development, Is a polymer th~t L• chemlc:i!ly similar
to the plastic In a lelr.pJ11,ne receiver, ror example.
When It Is dry, It looks like a tan powder. At the end of
Sunohlo's process, II resembles a paste because It
hangs on to some or the oil. Howevet, arter lillering
through various ag~nt,, such ns the cl:iy called Fu!l-
er's earth, most of the oil I! clean enough to be put
back In a t.ransformer, Sunohto says.
• • •
SUnohlo's processing unit Is mounted on a truck to
make It portable. Its use Is contingent on approval
from regional E.P.A. ofllces. So far, approv:il has
been recclvm from offices In New England, Kansaa
City, Mo. (s~rv1ng Kansa,, Missouri, Nebraska and
Iowa), and Atlanta (for four teat sites). Approvala from the seven otheror:tces are expected llhortly .
P.age 8 Hazardous Materials ln1clugcnce Report 26 June 1981 © 1981 WIS
• Franklin Institute plans to test new PCB detoxicant at Piccillo waste site.
Nor b It likely to be long before Sunohlo hn~ co,n.
pcNtors. OM company, Acurex Wnste T,•rhn11loelt'S
Inc. or Mounlaln View, Call!., has alrcndy npplied for
opprovol of a sodium-based pro~css II pl:ms to
dcmon.s1ra1e at n yet-to-be.named site near Clncln-
nntl later this summer.
Dolh of thi,se proce<.ses ore aimed at wasle-nll pr>
ccsslng because this sector represents thr m~! con-
centrated PCB problom and thus the first ohvJOUJ ,
market. Willlam Gunter, the E.P.A.'s rt-rul:itlor:,
team leader for the biphenyls. estimates that 33 mil-lion ~lcctrlcal traMrormcr,useoll o.nd that one-third
of them may beconlamlnatcd by PCB's.
The broader problem ol cleaning up the biph~nyls . In the gencrM environment ls being atlncl:ed t,y
E.P.A.-lln:inced research under tho dlrectloo of the
Franklin Re,;earch lnstttule. On thi, basl!: ul hbora-
tory test~, Franklin's upproacb· could wor~ on con-
taminated soils ond sludges. Unlike the othe1'3, It re-
quircs exposure to oxygen.
• • •
Franklin's reagent Is described b:, Charles RC1cer,,
E.P.A.'s rr.onltor of the project, os a SOl.lium atom
surrounded by a rinr, of polyethylene gl)·ml, which Is
similar to ontlfrttze. The rcoi;cnt.ls •prayt'fl on th>!
conlan1lna1cd material. The pnlyethykn~ clycul ·
reacts with oxyr."n In lhe air to rom1 on o•)'r,rn mole-
cule that nuacks the PCB. The bi phenyl I:: sl rlpp'!tl or Us chlorine, whkh t!1c:t combines with lhe r,w'.ium In
the re~gcnt to form s,lt. The rest of the l'Cll 1nolc•
cule for ins :i compo"n1 lh~t, unlike thl! blpheuyl. cr.n
be brokm do-.vn by b.1c1erla In o landflll.
ll1e lab ICSIS lndic:ited th.it lhe procrss wC111ld de-
strny nb<,ut GO percent of the PCD's In conl~miMle<l
soil In 5.1 ,lays II the air :empcroture wRs S:> tk1;recs.
Ayenrlong test ata sllelnCoventry, R. I., h to 11-:g!n
this summer. ·
One big name lhit could enler the lleld Is the Good-
year Tire r.nd Rubber Company. Lost summer,
Goodyear announcelf th:lt It had dcvelnpcd and.
dcmonstrntcd on a commercial scale a sodium-based
PCB dr.struction pro=s 'Nhlle working on wn}·s to
recycle heat transrer liqulds. The company's R5;;css-
ment of whelherit will enttr the w■ste-managt-menl
business will reach at least a preliminary cnnrlusloo
by the end of the ye11r; aceordlns to Allen Kovalchik,
manager of pro Jee ta aad tpaterlal• COOTdlnatlon. ·
Under a S78,000 grant from the U.S. EPA in Cincinnati, Ohio, scientists from the Franklin Institute
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will begin field testing this week of a new chemical reagent designed. to
detoxify polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in contaminated soil. Scientists will conduct the testing on
PCB-contaminated soil located at t.he Piccillo Fann waste site in Coventry, Rhode Island. (HMIR.
17 Apr. 1981, p.4.) Charles Rogers, EPA project manager, told HMIR that, unlike other chemical
detoxification techniques which require the absence of moisture and oxygen to be effective, the Franklin
Institute reagent is activated by oxygen and is therefore ideal for treating PCBs in situ. EPA and the
Franklin Institute decided to perform the test in summer because the activity of the reage:it increases ta..s the
ambient temperature rises. In order to test the possible applicability of the process to soils in other regions,
projecf crews will use a variety of spray application techniques and solvent systems to apply the reagent to
the soil. The project will run for up to one year, during which time the Franklin Institute will monitor-the
soil for PCB degradation. John Schmilz, director of physical and life sciences for the Franklin Institute,
told HMIR that the reagent consists of an activated complex of sodium and polyethylene glycol. In the.
presence of air, the reagent strips chlorine from the PCB molecule, replacing it with oxygen~ontaining
groups such as hydroxyls, .:thers, or quinones. Schmitz said that at least part of this reaction involves !he
formation of the superoxide ion. He emphasized that the reagent is prepared from inexpensive substrates
and that it can be shipped in a stable, nonreactive cortdition. At temperatures of over 100°C, the PCB
de.;radation r.eaction will be completed irt hours instead of months, but Schmitz stressed that the Franklin
Institute process is most valuable because of its ability to continuously reduce PCB co.ncentrations in soil
with the aid of ambient microorganisms, and without the need for high temperatures or for moisture-free
and oxygen-free conditions. For further information, contact: Jo Carrnosky, Franklin Institute, 20th
Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103; Tel: [phone].
Huardous ~f:ui:-ria~ ln1clliieni;e_ Repon is rublishcd weekly by World InformJ.tiun Systems. P.O. Box SJS. Har•ard Sqaarc St.1.1i,:m.
Cambrii.!g~. ~fili\.1,;hu::i.i.:a....> tJ1~lM. U.S.A. Pubfo•her .1nd E.,ctutivc Editor: Ri..:.ha-:~ S. Gi)lob: Editor: :\dam !\f. finkd~ Asso-:U.te EJicor: Robert
Kunzjs; Con1ribu1iitr, l-:d1tors: Enc Brus. Daniel \V. McShu: Circulation: ~£an.1i~r: Anne Lous ... te: !\b.r'-:etins !\bn:i;cr: C. Liu !Yl:onrose.
Sc.i:,s.:oiy;ion r;:;:1 er. rc~:.;cs: at Td: 6:7....;';j.JJOO: r,·,;h ; 7i~3Z~i0::8 ·w·o Ri...Oi;,FO; Cai:>1e: v.,)RL(JINt-U. CopyriJnt ,l:Jl9~l by World
Jn(orma,ion Syncms. Ail rights r~r.ied. Rg,roduction in any form whauq_cvcr forth.!dcn. wn~out upr~ pcrini.uion of the copyrigh: 01,1rncr.
ISSN 0272-9628
4