Word: pcbs
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Toxins like organic solvents, PCBs and dioxin will be broken down ^ completely only when burned at temperatures exceeding 2,400 degrees F. Some conventional incinerators can generate such heat, but without careful controls to maintain high temperatures they may spew toxic gases into the air. People fear the fumes may prove as perilous as the chemicals from which they come. But new technologies may overcome these obstacles...
More chronically worrisome to environmentalists are the secondary disasters, those that lead to the slow poisoning of ground or water. Hazardous-and nuclear-waste dumping fit into this category. With little knowledge or thought of the long-term consequences, factory trash containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chloroform, dioxin and radioactive traces is buried underground or dumped into the ocean. Although absolute links are difficult to prove scientifically, many of the chemicals in hazardous wastes are believed to cause cancer and birth defects. More than 66,000 different compounds are used in industry, and less than 2% have been tested for possible...
...until last week, it looked as though a new killing ground had emerged for destroying U.S. toxic materials: the ocean. But the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has appeared to favor the burning at sea of deadly substances like PCBs, announced a preliminary decision to delay the issuance of operating permits for incinerator ships. The halt meant that three specially designed vessels were temporarily left high and dry. The move did not calm environmentalists, who are concerned about the fate of the oceans and the coastlines. Says EPA Director of Water Regulations and Standards Steven Schatzow: "The definition...
...principal issues in the campaign will be transportation and the environment. The quick completion of repairs on the Southeast Expressway, which connects the South Shore with Boston, heads the list of area concerns. The presence of toxic PCBs in New Bedford Harbor and cuts in the Coast Guard budget have upset district residents and are major campaign issues...
Panelist Ken Ferrucio, president of Warren County Citizens Concened about PCBs, said that in choosing the Warren County site, "The EPA has built into the siting regulation a mechanism for discrimination...