NCD980602163_19810618_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Providence Journal article - New process to remove PCBs to get first field test at R.I. site-OCR

J
Providence Journal, June 18, 1981
New process to remove PCBs
to get first field test at R.I. site
By ~fiCHAEL A. Hll. T7.IK ~lll::,.·.a"'·r1,w
,\ ptomiJln1 aew process lhat could
•d tb, ecological threat ol PCBi. • da.•~
' envtroomentally dunble 111d cancer-
a.uiaa pollutants. will get its lint firld
.'St thiJ moatll on a mOWld ol contami-.ated IOIJ at the Warmi V. Pkillo , hemlcal dump la Coventry uader &II
,nYlroameal&I Prot?ctloa A~ency &flll.
The proceu. developed by the noa•
,ront Fra111U1n R!5U1Ch Center ol Pbila•
· lelp~ strips chlorine atams from ~B
·:no1ecu1-. yte141aa two lnllOCIIOIIS pro-
411cta: tablt salt · an4 a biode&radablt
ll)'dn)..-.OXYJID compound. Cbl~ rlllt t, wllat lmcla PCBI both their
!OXldty &114 tlleir utraotdl~ ~ tfflce 111 tht e11Yiro11111r111. PClll an
puUcu.larly d.llllUIIIII becal&M they dO
not ~turally bttak dO.wn.
Wllat NU thil proceu apart from others developed ta datroy PCIII.
Cbarlea J •. RocUJ.-the proi-,t'a EPA supervl,ot, ui4 yntll"da7, Is that lt cu
~! •l'l'lled at tht coatamlr.at1on site. The
other,, lncllldin& Qlle pr~ inua:t<I
by Goodyear co.,,. re,earchtn; fu11Ctioa
oaly. Wida la»:-atary conditions.
11&"4 011 small·scalt laboralory n-Jd.
le,. Rocm said from his Clnct1111a!I
officr, "we an pretty· mud! convinnd
~t this process bolds promiJ&." :i !ht 1~ru are sue<:esslul, he said. "we
hope lo c!evelop t..:hni~uts · ,, treat
~,111.1 la waler." Amoag lhe ob,ious
•??licatlons ol th;it would be purttyfna
the Acushnet River and ~ew Bedford
Harbor, where tans ol PCBI discharged
by two Acushnet manufacturers de-
stroyed the lobster lis.~ery yell."s a,o.
"This really looks like a ni~ process."
said Thomas Wrt&ht. ch.it! ol tht hu.ard,
ous maurtals divislOQ of tbe state De-
partment ol Enviroamt111&1 M1111ge-
meaL The procesa. he said, caa 11.sa
detoxlly other h&urdoul chlorl111ted
compounds Iha! are commonly !oull4 ia
Ule1aJ chemical dumps. "Thl.s is a()(
goia1 ta remove everything.~ he said,
"but what'a left will lead ltseU ta other
trutmtnts.''
* • * Tht tuts. due ta 51.arl June 29 and rua throu1b the summtr at lhe Pldllo site. :11·1~lve about !O,!l'JO cubic yards ol soil
contami<1ated with oil, ,a.;~•Uial ,ol.
vents, 111d a IOUP ol highly taxil: thlorin•
ated compound.<. n-.e s.Jil wu appueot•
5
ly coatsnunatcd while Picillo r311 an lllldtcheadtalc!umpin 1976and 197ht ·
bl.s remote. hllltap pig farm in Coventry.
PCBs. or polychlortnated bipheayls.
were ,~vtntl'd ~y Mon,onto Co. re-
searchers in 1930 and applied to an ,ver•
exp&.adinc inventory ol iadustri.al uses before they were banned by the federal
gove!"Dmeat and their manulaclure was
lalttd in the early 19i0s. By then,
scientists had concbded thal !he com•
;:,ound.•. loun~ in .:ubon pa~tr, electrical
trans!ormers. :uid dozens ol other com•.
mon i~ms. could ca11Se csncer. miscar•
riages. 111d a host ol other serious;. [
ailmeats. ·· I The Pldllo dump wu selected for the ,
comiag expertmealJ, said spokesmea for.· . EPA and lhe Fraaklin cealer, in part· ·
because such a large qua.atlty ol raw.
malerW wu avail.able at an isolated sitt;
Under EPA's plan. RSW'thea will sepa--
rate the :1011 into a awnhcr JI pi'.es and
,pray them with vuylag concentra!lo111
111d ,-olumes o: ir.e c~lorint-strtppiag
compound. Some ol the soil will be left
unt:-u~ ta oro,ide a mea.sure for the
process's ellideacy, sai4 Roaen.
John SdlmiU. director ol lhe physical•
aad life 5dences brMch ol F'rink!\n
Research Center, said tbe process wu.
4Js~11?.l!d by Lou!s Pytlewslc!. a Franlt·
Ila :.cienliSt seeking to· apply si::iple
chemical proces.HS-to tht problem ur
PCBs ·pollutln1 seaslt!Vl! areas.
He di.scoYered th.al a mixture ol mol•
tea sodium and polyetbylent alYcol -a
aonto:lie compouo4 related ta aalifr:eeza
111d ,ollledmff u3ed u ·• food additive -woul4· strip tbt chlorine atoms from the
PCB molecule. Tbe chlorine combines
wltb sodlwn ta proclll(e sodium chloride.
or table salt. lll4 tht resld\la is a
aontoxlc hydroxyl compound (three ~y-drogen atoms linked ta a single oxygen
atom) th:t breaks down naturally Ill the mviroam~t into other hydrogn and
oxygen CODIJX>Wlds.
Tbe reaction takes weeks or m~atl\s
acd prodUCH a small amount of beat.
Under normal circumst.111ce, the reac-
t!OA prodw:a no visible m&llilestltloli such u fire or stnokt.
Tht disalYery hu beef! tested oa
COlltamiDltld soil OD !hi franklin Cal-
ter's owa rooltap. Schmitz 1&14. tDd
other labontory 1e,u ladicau tlW it
will work well ill the Opell,